Mona Caron's Market Street Railway Mural

Here's another installment in Bikescape's ongoing examination of San Francisco's main stem, Market Street. Every city has a Market Street where people, communities and history collide daily in the battle over the commons.

This time we rejoin muralist Mona Caron as she guides us on a tour of her landmark mural that asks the question. What is a street for?


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If you can't make it to the mural in person, tour it (and her other work) virtually at Mona's website.

If you haven't already heard the podcast on Mona's other mural, the Duboce Bikeway Mural, you can get it here.

The Shaping San Francisco historical project is mentioned as a source for some of the images in the mural.

Reverend Billy preaches against rabid consumerism in the mural

Check out the inspiration for the project.

The Tour of California website is here and it has video, rss, email updates, etc.

On Valentines Day New York State Supreme Court Justice Maichael Stallman repudiated the City of New York in their bid to outlaw Critical Mass.
Download the pdf of the judges decision

We like our bikes

All cyclists have a love affair with their bikes and they'll be happy to tell you all about it if you ask. Bikescape went down to Pee Wee Herman Plaza to talk to folks about their rides before setting off on Critical Mass.

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go to Bikescape in itunes

The folding bike I had trouble describing is pictured here.

Box Dog Bikes was mentioned as the source of an old tandem with twenty inch wheels.

Bamboo bikes!

Jim Swanson shot a couple of seconds of Critical Mass streaming down Lombard Street a few years back.

Fossil Fool the bike rapper supplied the closing music and sells great low rider style lights for your bike.

Ken writes in with this link about a recumbent coffee cart.

Sarah Tucker's untimely hit and run death was covered in the local press. Police are looking for a black Honda CR-V with a large scrape on the passenger door. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (415) 553-1641 or an anonymous tip line, (415) 575-4444.

Another bike related podcast to check out.

Dave Snyder – a velorutionary looks back

We talk this week with one of the founders of the modern San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. He was also the founding executive director of Transportation for Livable Cities and serves as Chair of Transportation Committee for San Francisco Planning & Urban Research, and as treasurer of the San Francisco Green Party. He's also active with the Thunderhead Alliance.

Listen to the podcast or
go to Bikescape in itunes

Read a article about Dave that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle a few years back.

Some good bike related podcasts
The KBOO Bike Show from Portland Oregon
The Resonance FM Bike Show from London
Bike Talk Radio from KDRT in Davis California
LA's Gear Noise for mountain bikers
From Texas, Zen and the Art of Traiathlon will give you an audio workout

Bike the Strike!

Bikescape talks to New Yorker Naomi Renek and Jym Dyer about biking during the great holiday transit strike of '05. Then we look at domestic spying and the infiltration of New York's police provocateurs into political events including a fifteen rider memorial ride.

Listen to the podcast or
go to Bikescape in itunes

While Transportation Alternatives counted a five-fold increase in cyclists at the bridges entering Manhattan, Times up! organized bike pools to help novices with their commute. Bike blog has pictures and accounts.

The New York Time's Jim Dwyer (not our Jym Dyer!) ran an exposé (subscription) about the situation. Video here. (click on the video link)

Listen to the Democracy Now! Piece about undercover police infiltration of Critical Mass and other events.

I-witness video uses video cameras to document police conduct at demonstrations and to deter police violence. They work with legal defense teams to support people arrested at demonstrations, and to support civil suits which may be filed against the police.

A trip down market street in 1905

This week Bikescape dabbles in found video. The 'scape is still primarily an audio show because I love radio and the challenge of conjuring up a world in your mind while you cook dinner or ride the bus.

But this time I couldn't resist sharing this old film shot from a cable car on Market Street, San Francisco's main thoroughfare back in 1905, just a year before most of what you see here is destroyed in the great earthquake and fire. There is a bit of bike content here but this podcast concentrates on the history of the street most San Francisco cyclistst use every day.

You can listen to my commentary or just turn off the sound and let yourself be transported to a time just before the rule of the automobile.

Best if viewed using itunes or quicktime. (I used imovie to assemble this and optimized it for viewing in itunes and on the ipod)

Watch the video

or to bikescape in itunes.

You can download a higher resolution version of the film in three parts and in various formats from the Library of Congress.

The very first Critical Mass style ride on Market Street took place in 1896, nine years before this film was shot.

The non-profit Market St. Railway collects and preserves old streetcars that you can ride down Market St. and beyond.

This article in the San Francisco Chronicle talks about Melinda Stone's 2005 remake of the movie to commemorate the original film's centennial. (All of the other sites I've visited had credited the film to "unknown" but this article attributes it to one Jack Kuttner.)

Here is a history of the ferry building with a nice sequence of pictures showing the it evolution over the years.

The music came from a treasure trove of old Edison cylindars from his old lab in New Jersey.

Transportation for a livable city

A balanced and sustainable transportation system, along with land use that will support it can turn cities into places where people actually talk to each other and community can flourish.

Bikescape visits Tom Radulovich at Transportation for a Livable City to talk about how to make it happen.

Listen to the podcast or
go to Bikescape in itunes

Here's a link to the song from last weeks show.

Times Up! wants you to complain about the proposed NY helmet law. (Scroll down a bit)

Check out the Geary Blvd. Bus Rapid Transit Study. and take part in the e-workshop. Be sure to encourage them to consider bike lanes as a part of the plan!

Sebastien, the guy that performed the closing song is selling his cd's here.

Taking off the training wheels

One never forgets one's first experience on two wheels. Bikescape reconnects with the feeling.

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go to Bikescape in itunes

That's my brother (left) and me on the red schwinn with the solid rubber tires.

Bikeboom is a great website for los angelenos with an open source calendar. (Anyone can post events)

The bike kitchen is the web site for the folks who'll teach you how to tune your bike.

Chris Carlsson will be leading his bike tour about San Francisco ecological history.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition will be having is winterfest, among other events. (check the calendar!)

The San Francisco Bicycle Ballet

This is just an experiment to see how video works on bikescape. Let me know how it works!

Watch the video

Bikescape didn't make it to the SFBB show last week because of birthday conflicts but here's a three second clip of the bikerinas doing a move knnown as the"daisy."

See you all next week with a new podcast about first bike rides...

-jw

Commuting together: The Genentech bike club

Why ride alone when you can ride together? Bikescape joins the Genentech Bike Club as they splash through the rainy streets fifteen miles from San Francisco to their suburban office park. We talk of many things: food, dress, and cycle commuter accommodations in the corporate world.

Listen to the podcast or
go to Bikescape in itunes

We also visit Nelson Nygaard and Associates and talk to Adam Millard-Ball about planning for better transportation

The Cranksgiving Alley Cat ride is happening in New York where this film by Lucas Brunell was filmed.

Don't Miss the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Winter Fest

Bridging the gap

This week Bikescape looks for a way across the San Francisco Bay by bike. We look at the BART train and the Bay Bridge Bike Shuttle and take a peek into future possibilities.

Listen to the podcast
or go straight to Bikescape in itunes

BART's bike rules

Here's an old movie about the construction of the Bay Bridge

Here's a link to the Bay Bridge bike shuttle

Let's keep an eye on the Rincon Hill Plan and make sure room is left for a bicycle approach to the Bridge

The Transbay Terminal is due for a makeover

Come see the Bike Ballet! Friday, Nov. 11, 7PM - Midnight; Dogpatch Saloon, 2496 Third (@22nd Street)*

Chris Carlsson will be leading a bike tour of San Francisco Labor History (scroll down)

Both the London and New York Halloween Critical Masses went off without a hitch. Check them out at Bikeblog