(assuming it’s not raining): Wednesday 12/15: Butterlap with a group of 20-40 friendly strangers. I may bring the bike stereo. Sunday 12/19: SFBC-organized evening ride around San Francisco to tour the elaborate Christmas light displays. See http://www.sfbike.org/?chain and scroll down. Roads are slick these days– ride safe.
Today I did the Supermarket Street Sweep, a combination bike race with prizes (in the general Alleycat style) and mission to collect food for the SF Food Bank. 170 cyclists participated and collected about 7000 lbs of food. [you can skip past this text to the map and photos, if you want] Here’s how the race aspect works (I’d never done one before): A group of cyclists gather without knowing the route, and then a manifest sheet is handed out with a list of supermarkets around the city you have to visit and things you have to purchase for the food bank at each one (you have to bring back receipts as proof). The first stop was prescribed (in Daly City, the farthest-out location), but after that you were free to visit the supermarkets in any order and by any route, making the race a combination of raw speed and navigation (well, and teamwork if you have a team, allowing some members to run in at each stop and shop, while others hydrate, watch bikes, plan the route for the next leg, and so on). ...
I’ve talked to three people in the past few months who were gripped by this NYtimes article about cycling in the Utah / Arizona area. [2025 edit:] This stayed in the back of my mind, and 10 years later I finally made time to bike this area, with the guide company from this article I remembered… though on a challenging jeep trails significantly off-road route, The Hayduke Option
I plan to do the Supermarket Street Sweep, Saturday at noon. A race around town to pick up a collection of food (to be donated to the SF Food Bank). You get the checklist of stores to visit and things to buy at each one when the race starts, so you have to decide right then what set of routes to take to optimize your path… The SF Bike Coalition throws a party (beer, auctions, DIY activities, raffle, food, art) every year. Winterfest is this Sunday evening. You can get in free if you volunteer– I’ll be pouring beer in one of the tents.
Hey, I already have a waterproof roll-top backpack– why not use it as a pannier? Mandrel/anvil and heavy-duty spur grommets (with teeth). Grommets added to the bag, rack hooks bolted to them with locknuts. I could redo this later to have the grommets set in a separate piece of sturdy webbing, which is then sewed to the bag to distribute the force. ...
Impromptu Marin Headlands ride this morning by myself (I didn’t email the list because it was last-minute, and I expected it to be a slog through the rain that no one would be interested in, but the weather ignored the forecast and cleared up). Photos: Park rangers were handing out free fruit, snack bars, and patch kits to celebrate the reopening of the road: ...
A stereo on the bike rack– why not?
Dragon boats practicing on Lake Merced (on a surprisingly clear and warm day).
Giants tag along the ocean.
A rare non-rainy weekend: time for a ride. Saturday, an early (8am-ish) ride from the Mission to Trouble Coffee by the beach and back. I expect no one may join me. Sunday: Someone else is agitating for a Headlands ride since it’s recently reopened to bikes. Meeting perhaps 11AM-ish, location TBD, call/email if you want details.