NOPA VELO's "Duel by Death" All Over NOPA

This Sunday, Feb. 28th, NOPA VELO spins through the neighborhood and beyond for its second monthly bike ride for neighbors and friends. "Death by Duel" gives a nod to U.S. Senator David Broderick who gave his name to one of NOPA's streets ... and, yes, his life also to keep slavery out of California or, the less heroic version of his story, to settle a personal score with his one-time best friend, David S. Terry, California Supreme Court Justice. More details here on that deadly and explosive spat.

After a meet up at Matching Half Cafe, NOPA VELO riders spin a block to Broderick Street, tip our helmets to NOPA's own "Painted Ladies" and then glide into the Panhandle and through Golden Gate Park to the Great Highway. We'll ride south on the interior street, not the highway, and keep going to the shores of Lake Merced, the site of the infamous Broderick-Terry duel to the death. Expect a re-enactment with last month's Ranger Dale taking on the role of a U.S. Senator and Rick Helf, designer of NOPA VELO's outstanding posters, transforming himself into a Supreme (Court Justice).

We'll roll along the east side of the lake and head back to Golden Gate Park until we reach our drinks and lunch destination at Bistro Gambrinus. Everyone welcome. Kids with their own bikes and in the company of an adult guardian, please join us. A flat, easy ride for all with a cafe break and lake shore stop in the middle. Sunshine expected. Legislative and judicial attire optional.

Sunday, Feb. 28th

9:30 am meet at Matching Half Cafe, corner of McAllister and Baker Streets

10:00 am kick-off

12:00 noon or a bit after: drinks and lunch at Bistro Gambrinus, 1813 Fulton near Masonic

Questions: Lenore at lmcjunker@gmail.com or 415 300 6744.

New Bike Racks Along Great Highway

A winter's day

A holiday present with a bow? Found on New Year's Day

Two new stands of bike racks have been installed along the Ocean Beach promenade and the Great Highway. One set of three inverted U racks are positioned near the Balboa Street intersection and the the other similar set across from the Lincoln Street intersection. Prior to these new racks, there were few options for cyclists with no parking meters and with light posts too large at the base for most bike locks.

NOPA cyclists: take a spin with your friends to the beach knowing you can park your bikes (but perhaps with just 12 at a time).

Heard While Biking

I heard the surf, the waves, the Pacific Ocean while biking along the Great Highway today. My first time biking the western edge of San Francisco without cars for company. A good day to be a San Franciscan with temps in the 60s and 70s. For those of us who live and bike in NOPA: Just a few blocks to the park and then to the ocean: what better location?

San Francisco's Sunday Streets came to the Great Highway today and opened one long stretch of highway from JFK Drive to Sloat Blvd. (Motorists might say the highway was "closed" to cars. It's a matter of perspective). The highway has been blocked to traffic before, most frequently to clear misplaced sand dunes from the roadway and recently for the Tour de California cyclists, but I've never before been here amid bikers and peds only. This was special.

I heard -- and saw -- kids on bikes. On the highway. The Freedom from Training Wheels crew were out once again to help parents help their kids with biking skills. This is biking of the present and the future.

Just when the serenity of the ride lulled me, I was jolted by Fossil Fool, the Bike Rapper at the Rock the Beach Bike Party. This otherwise lonely stretch of sand at the intersection of Noriega has never seen so much bike energy, literally. A line-up of bikers provided pedal power for Fossil Fool's band and mic -- although FF projected so much of his own energy he might not have needed them. What they say about themselves: "We're bike people. We're inventors and advocates working away in a sweet little workshop in Berkeley, California, pushing the limits of bike culture." Visit their site, check their tunes, get to their performances.

Sunday Streets in San Francisco has been so popular that planning is already underway for more street openings next year and more frequently. I loved the long open ride through Golden Gate Park to the ocean -- we don't "go to the shore" here -- but I'm looking forward to more Sunday Streets in city neighborhoods next year. But then, why wait? Why not open our blocks regularly on our own?