SF Cyclotouring

Ride reports and other ramblings from a San Francisco cyclist.

9/25/2008

Cyclist Arrested on Caltrain?



This video came my way via the Party Car list. Supposedly the bike-commuter disagreed with a Caltrain conductor's instruction to not board the bike car because it was full. Reportedly this person boarded the car just as another bike-commuter was detraining with his bike, so he didn't understand why the conductor was telling him that the car was full and not to get on board. I wasn't on that train so I don't know the whole story...but from what I can see on the video, the guy was throwing some major attitude which just made the situation worse. This is a classic case of fighting the wrong battle at the wrong time with the wrong people. Sure, the whole situation seems ridiculous, but the commuter's beef should be with the conductor, not the cops -- they're just there trying to do what seems to be a mostly unpleasant job. At the start of the video, the officers seem to be mostly trying to understand what the complaint(s) are and refereeing, and things degrade from there after the officers warn the guy multiple times. Also, the guy with the video camera doesn't seem to be helping much, either: if an officer told me to get out of his face, I would certainly do that. Call me a sheep, OK, but I don't relish thoughts of handcuffs and jail. Video guy is being all pseudo-journalistic and self-righteous...and all that does is crank up tension levels all around. I know if someone came up to me while I was trying to do my job and stuck a video camera in my face with a "what are YOU doing right now?!?", I'd feel pretty self-conscious about it too. Nobody likes to be micromanaged! I'm not opposed to the video-ing of things like this, but give the folks involved some personal space at least. At any rate, it seems to me the proper way to fight this battle is by filing a complaint with Caltrain management and/or disputing in court any citations a conductor might issue. The police only exist to enforce public laws, they don't make them and can't change them. Fighting fire with fire only burns everyone.

Now, the real question is: If this guy really was arrested and taken away in handcuffs -- and we don't know that for sure because the video ends abruptly -- what happened to his bike, which was presumably left on board?

9/21/2008

Box Dog Bikes 100k Rallycat

Mileage: 63.4
Bike: Fuji CX
Time: noon to 5pm (5 hours)




SO yesterday I participated in the Box Dog Bikes 100k Mixed-Terrain Rally Cat ride. Overall, it was a great day on the bike and the ride went off without any drama. The weather was great (not too hot, not cold). Although they'd planned for 75, about 100 riders showed up. Most folks were on road or cyclocross bikes -- there was one hybrid-style bike with butterfly bars, a couple of fixed gears, and I think I saw one MTB. Lots of old steel bikes made for some good bike-watching. Overall it was 700x25 underbiking heaven, and I saw only a couple of folks suffering from flats during the off-road section, despite the trail conditions being rougher than expected (there's been additional construction/maintenance work on the in the past week, with lots of new digging).

Gary Fisher showed up at the start, although he didn't take part in the ride.

The ride was well organized and operated mostly like a "real" brevet: Each rider was given a time card and a (somewhat open-ended) route sheet, there were multiple staffed check points with stated opening/closing times, and friendly riding was emphasized over fierce competition. We started at about 12:05pm with a mass roll-out and then a whistle blast to set us loose. Some super-fast folks finished the 100k course in well under 4 hours, while it took me a little longer (I met my 5-hour goal by finishing at exactly 5pm). I tried to severely limit my stops, which I mostly was successful at, but I bonked while climbing Railroad Grade and had to stop for 10 minutes just short of West Point Inn (which, in retrospect was good, because at least I was in the shade then).

There was free beer and pizza at the finish (at a bar next door to Box Dog Bikes), and an announcement of an awards presentation at 8pm. I wasn't able to stay for that, but I heard later that a multiple sponsors donated a healthy amount of schwag (including a nice Phil Wood fixed-gear hubset and BB, and a Chris King headset, plus numerous bags, hats, and socks) and it sounded like nearly everyone came away with something. (Gabe saved me a nice Swrve hat -- thanks Gabe!)

Things I learned:

+ Starting a ride at noon screwed up my internal clock somewhat
+ I picked a bad week to lay off the caffeine
+ Bonking sucks (it'd been awhile)
+ I am nearly not as fast/strong as I thought I was (ride more!)


Thanks to Gabe, Jon, and the rest of the Box Dog crew for putting on a great event. Looking forward to the next one!

9/08/2008

WANT WANT WANT!!!


1966 MOULTON DELUXE
Originally uploaded by niniferrose
I've always wanted one of these...how could I not?