ALS Ride Saturday

In two days, the significant other and I are riding a Wine Country Century to benefit ALS.

I've only recently learned that ALS, popularly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," could just as easily be associated with Charles Mingus, Lead Belly, or Dmitri Shostakovich.

If you'd like to help us to support ALSA (see their Financials), our team is Caffeinated.

Thanks!

Yay Bike Lights Yay

The Masonic Death Trap has been immeasurably improved by the addition of swanky new traffic signals. And the lights are even in the shape of bicycles!

Thanks to all those responsible. My inevitable violent death has just been postponed a few years. I understand that not everyone agrees with this opinion.

(image courtesy of treadly.net)

MUNI Mayhem

I took MUNI last night (the bike's in the shop). It was enough to remind me why I never take MUNI.

I'm in Montgomery station. I can hear an outbound train approaching, and see its headlights in the tunnel.

The robotic female voice on the P.A. says, "Approaching: Outbound. J."

The red-LED sign reads, "NOW IN SUBWAY: N. 2 MIN: NN."

The big flat-panel TV is dead, of course.

The train arrives. It's a K.

I think we'd be actually better off with a couple of Mooninite signs, and the two drunks from the Bill Cosby bit, "A Nut In Every Car."

Yahoo StreetView?

Saw one of these beauties locked to a meter on Monday: a purple cruiser bike with the Yahoo! logo, and a small set of solar panels on the back apparently powering a digital camera on the handlebars.

Apparently there are several of these, all uploading to Flickr streams, and they've been spotted in different places in California (not just SF):

YBike
Gina Trapani's Yahoo Bike
Amit's Bike
Jessamyn's Bike
John Murch

The San Francisco Look

Under the Duboce Bikeway Mural, passed a scruffy, bearded guy wearing ratty, filthy sneakers, beat-up jeans, and a baseball cap.

He was also sitting on a $3000 racing bike, holding a paper tray of Starbuck's iced coffees.

This mixed-message style is completely typical of this town.

"If you're so rich, why do you dress like that?"

"Because I'm so rich, I can do whatever I want."