Mission Mission

If you didn’t make it to the Bicycle Music Festival yesterday, you missed out.

For a little while, there were performances in the middle of Dolores St. Oddly enough, this did not appear to bother the police.

As soon as they tried to setup in the park, the police tried to shut it down. Luckily they were able to get permission to use the movie night's permit and eventually played.

This is the power-generating setup they used. 5 bikes in total; the three far bikes were all connected to the same unit.

After everyone confused this object with a bong, it was revealed to be the power meter. There was a fan at the bottom of the tube whose speed was regulated by the power being generated by the cyclists. As they pedaled, an empty beer can would move up and down the tube--into the red if they were pedaling too much and into the orange if they were not pedaling enough.

I never did figure out if this was a cello case or a coffin...

Time for the haters to hang their heads in shame.  Rachel, the girlfriend of the cyclist we mentioned who got taken out a couple of days ago, fills in the details:

This was my boyfriend, I was riding in front of him.

We had lights on our bikes, were in the bike lane, single file and as far to the left as possible in the middle of the block riding north on Valencia.

I passed this parked car, she zoomed out after me and my boyfriend hit her front tire and went flying.

He suffered multiple facial fractures, some stitches and a bruised shoulder and is damn lucky.  He also doesn’t have insurance so there’s that.  Probably the worst part of it was being stuck in the emergency room of SFGH for 15 hours.

Thanks for the words of concern and those who realise that it is not always the bikers that disobey traffic laws that get hit. (link)

Biker being loaded into an ambulance near 20th and Valencia. Looked like he’d been hit, but can’t be sure. Careful out there, friends.

(link)

For one of those “only-in-SF” experiences, be sure to check out the “Bicycle Music Festival” Saturday in Dolores Park (among other places).  Bicycle-powered sound systems and musicians performing in the middle of rides across town? fuck ya.

A last minute tip.  Timbuk2 Turns 20:

Just in case you didn’t know, this Sunday is Sunday Streets in the Mission.  From 10am until 2pm, a chunk of 24th and Valencia will be closed to motorized traffic so people can be good neighbors n’ stuff.  Now you can pedal your fixie with reckless abandon into moms with baby strollers from “da Noe” instead of  2-dollar Toyota’s from the 1980′s with 600-dollar rims.

There is a long list of events I’m not going to bother summarizing.  However, you can check out Mission Loc@l’s movie slideshow with audio about the events.

This past weekend, Mission High School held a “green prom,” in which students powered the DJ equipment using a bicycle pedal powered stage.  You can see the full photo gallery on Rock The Bike’s flickr account.

There has been some well documented hate directed towards Valencia St. fixie start-up Mission Bicycle, but this seems a little over the top.  Was it random or targeted?  We will only be able to speculate…

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to SF Vegan Drinks and spotted this lovely bicycle parked right outside:

Animal hide is an elegant and classy status symbol, especially when stapled to a wheel obviously fished out of a dumpster.

PROTIP: If you are going to troll a bunch of drunk vegans, learn how to properly lock your bike.

Bike-lock fail. Return to sender landfill?

Rock the Bike is hosting the “First Annual Dolores Park to Maker Faire social ride” this Saturday, May 30th.  People will be gathering at Dolores Park at 8:30 and the mellow ride departs at 9am.  Additionally, you’ll get $10 off your admission to the faire if you ride your bike.  Rock!