Streetsblog San Francisco

Move over, Nevius: The San Francisco Chronicle’s latest bicycle-friendly declaration from columnist Caille Millner is a breath of fresh air, giving voice to the need for safer streets and setting the record straight when it comes to anti-bike rants.

For readers weary of the Chronicle’s regular bicycling coverage — a space mainly filled by a victim-blaming former sports writer with an irrational fear of bike lanes – take a break and enjoy watching Millner hit the nail on the head:

My heart sings every time I see a new bicyclist in San Francisco.

The more, the better, I say. I want to see 10-year-olds riding to school. I want to see middle-aged women on wheels, wearing long coats and pedaling slowly so as not to disturb their full baskets on the way home from the market. I want to see old men, even if they’re a little wobbly, heading out to the senior center on old two-wheelers.

You should want this, too – it means a better city for all of us.

In writing this, I can close my eyes and picture the avalanche of hostile e-mail that will pour in. Nothing gets people around here more worked up than bicyclists, and they love to screech out their reasons for why the rise of bicycles in San Francisco represents a crumbling of civilization.

They write letters that are full of righteous indignation, presuming that bicyclists are the only uncouth people on our streets – as if they’ve never rolled through a stop sign (if they’re drivers) or (if they’re pedestrians) never waded into the street without looking, expecting the flow of traffic to magically cease in their presence.

There’s something unseemly about these letters, about the affront their writers feel at having to share the road with bicyclists. How dare they claim space that used to belong to me is the undertone of all of this sentiment. How dare they slow me down or force me to pay attention when I’m trying to get through traffic.

It’s tiresome, it’s whiny, and it’s wrong.

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Filmed by Streetfilms’ John Hamilton.

What better way to spend your Saturday than celebrating San Francisco’s bustling bicycle and music culture?

The Bicycle Music Festival will feature a caravan of 15 different musical artists performing on 100-percent bicycle powered equipment, starting with a party at Golden Gate Park’s Log Cabin Meadow before pedaling over to Showplace Triangle in Potrero Hill to dance the night away. And the music doesn’t stop on the ride – two on-bike performances will bring the sounds to the streets as the festival rolls by.

Check out the full schedule and more info on the website.

We’re taking the rest of today off. Have a great weekend! We’ll see you back here Monday.

With everyone under the sun boasting their carbon reduction initiatives, including laughable entries by oil giants like Chevron and ExxonMobile, it's nice to see an event that walks the walk, or pedals the pedals, as it were.

The Bicycle Music Festival is an all-day musical event tomorrow that runs entirely on human power. The sound system is powered by several people riding bicycles connected to a generator. As long as there are pedalers, there's a party.

Event organizer Paul Freedman, a.k.a Fossil Fool of Rock the Bike, emphasized that the bicycle is really only a tool in project; the primary goal is having fun with one's community.

"It's about the power of music to inspire people to make change. It emphasizes the positive message and not the guilt trip. The main message, though, is to get to know your neighbors. There is a community movement in this country that is bigger than the bicycle movement but includes biking. It's one amazing tool to tap into community, but it's only one tool."

Over the course of the day, Freedman expect upwards of 2000 people to take part, either dancing at the stationary locations in Golden Gate Park in the morning and Dolores Park in the afternoon, or riding along the two one-hour mobile concerts.  For the mobile events, Freedman and Rock the Bike have built a bicycle towed stage.

The morning event starts at at 9:30 am at Marx Meadow in Golden Gate Park near the 25th Avenue and Fulton entrance. The Dolores Park concert kicks off at 2:30 pm, with a roving show in between the two park events. Get more route and band lineup information here.

See more photos and watch a video of last year's event after the jump.

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