NOPA VELO Rides With the Presidents

Start of the Dead Presidents Ride

Mojo meet-up for breakfast and coffee

Teddy R stand-in at McKinley Monument

Liam's presidential pose; Garfield in the distance

Perfect addition to Golden Gate view

A bicycling day doesn't get better than this. Clear skies, perfect temperature, good company, new and old cycling friends, three parks, one bridge, eight presidents along the way.

This post is all about the photos. See recent posts for the back story, the route, the NOPA lore, and the good times in store for NOPA's newest bicycling group.

One Ride, Seven Presidents: NOPA VELO's Park and Bridge Tour This Sunday

Image: Rick Helf , www.helf.com

The President William McKinley Monument in Panhandle Park

Another Slain Ohio President, James A. Garfield, in Golden Gate Park

President Theodore Roosevelt might never have visited NOPA if the original plan to place a monument to his predecessor, William McKinley, at the intersection of Van Ness Avenue and Market Street had held. Instead, Teddy R stopped by the site of the future monument at the eastern end of the Panhandle in May of 1903, ceremoniously shoveled sod, and eulogized McKinley.

San Franciscans kicked in $30,000 for the memorial of their beloved President, and local sculptor Robert Aitken won the commission for the statue. As authors Chris Pollock and Erica Katz note in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park: A Thousand and Seventeen Acres of Stories notes, "The McKinley Monument features an inset marble bas-relief plaque of McKinley set into a 15- foot-high pedestal on a stepped granite podium 45 feet in diameter."

This upcoming Sunday NOPA VELO riders will stop by the McKinley Monument, the site of the only visit to the neighborhood by a sitting U.S. President. Then it's on through the Panhandle and into Golden Gate Park with a second stop at the President James A. Garfield Memorial along John F. Kennedy Drive. (That's four past presidents, if you're not counting). Of the three monuments erected to U.S. Presidents in Golden Gate Park, all three hailed from Ohio. As former NOPNA President Tys Sniffen, also an Ohioan, once asked, "What's up with that?"

In short order, NOPA VELO spinners will leave the park and head for the Presidio where they will encounter remembrances to Presidents Washington, Harrison, and Lincoln before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in groups. After taking in the view from Marin, riders will retrace their tracks to return to the neighborhood with enough Presidential Lore to last a good long time.

NOPA VELO Dead Presidents' Park & Bridge Ride

Sunday, April 25

Meet: 9 am for breakfast/drinks at Mojo Bicycle Cafe, 639 Divisadero

Start: 10 am sharp

(If you're running late, join the group at McKinley's Monument; even later, catch them at Garfield's)

End: about 12:30 pm, lunch at Herbivore Restaurant, 531 Divisadero

Mild to moderate climbs in the Presidio

All level riders welcome; kids on own bike OK if with guardian

Heavy rain cancels (but sun predicted!)

More info: Lenore @415-300-6744, lmcjunker@gmail.com

Join the NOPA VELO Google Group here

NOPA VELO's Ride with the Presidents, April 25

Image: Rick Helf, www.helf.com

Teddy R returns to NOPA, and you won't want to miss it. On May 13, 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt first visited the neighborhood for a stop at the east end of Panhandle Park. There the country's youngest president tossed some sod at the site of the future monument to his slain predecessor, William McKinley. Teddy recalled the grief he and the American people felt when McKinley died of bullet wounds fired by an anarchist at the Pan American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York in September of 1901.

"It is not too much to say that no man since Lincoln was as widely and universally beloved in this country as was President McKinley."

That's quite a tribute for the nation's leader who helped

launch the country into full-blown imperialism with the Spanish-

American War of 1898 and the Philippine Insurrection that followed.

For its fourth monthly ride, NOPA VELO spinners will first

fuel-up with breakfast at Mojo Bicycle Cafe and then kick-off for

a tour of presidential memorials in Golden Gate Park and the

Presidio before crossing Golden Gate Bridge. Here's your chance

if you've yet to cross on your bike. Riders will take in the views from

the Marin side and then leisurely bike back for a lunch stop at

Herbivore Restaurant on Divisadero.

Join us for a nod to seven Presidents and a great ride.

Neighbors and friends of all skill levels are welcome. Kids too

on their own bikes if with a guardian. Mild to moderate climbs

in the Presidio. Presidential attire encouraged.

9:00 am Breakfast or coffee at Mojo Bicycle Cafe

639 Divisadero, between Hayes & Grove

10:00 am Ride begins

Noon Lunch at Herbivore Restaurant

531 Divisadero, between Hayes & Fell

For more information: Lenore @ 415-300-6744;

lmcjunker@gmail.com

To get all the NOPA VELO news, join our Google group

Heavy rain cancels.

Panhandle Monument to President McKinley Clean Again

McKinley Monument with graffiti

Photos by Dale Danley

Once again the McKinley Monument in Panhandle Park has been cleared of graffiti. There's no artistry to these tags, just tired scrawls of defacement. Dale Danley reported the vandalism to 311 two weeks ago. Today Dale happened upon the contractor hired by the San Francisco Arts Commission to clean the monument. The fellow said he had done this same work several times over the last six years. "Where I come from the penalty for doing this is three years hard time." If there's a next time perhaps someone will get a photo of the taggers and report them, three years hard time or not.

Shake & Roll: Put A Bike In Your Disaster Kit

Fault Lines (USGS photo)

1906 Earthquake Aftermath

McKinley Monument in Panhandle Park (Roman Eye flickr photo)

Riding a bike will often be the best way of moving around when the Big One strikes. With the damage and disruption expected from a major earthquake, arterial streets may be closed to non-emergency vehicles, leaving side streets clogged. Public transit may be limited or stop functioning altogether. Walking will be the only option for safe passage if too many obstacles disrupt the streets and sidewalks, but being on foot allows for very limited hauling of supplies or travelling greater distances quickly. San Franciscans with bikes may not get from Point A to Point B as easily as they do now, but having a bike may be critical to their welfare and that of their friends and family.

NOPA managed well during both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, and it may luck out once again. But anyone with bicycles will likely have an easier time checking on family and friends who live in more vulnerable and damaged areas of the city. In fact, anyone who can travel with first-aid kits – and know-how – may become life-savers around town.

In the 1906 disaster, Western Addition residents transformed the McKinley Monument in Panhandle Park at Baker Street into a meeting place and bulletin board for finding others or leaving contact information. In the aftermath of the next disaster, land lines, cell calls, emailing and text messaging may all be disrupted, and the city’s thousands of bicyclists may create a new kind of social networking on wheels, carrying messages to others desperate to know the condition and whereabouts of loved ones.

Leela Gill, mother of two young sons and a long-time NOPA resident, gives one more use for bicycles during a disaster: a way for her family to get out of town. With that in mind, she and her husband and two sons have made bicycles part of their overall disaster plan.

Bicycling won’t be without its own limitations and hazards. The City of Sausalito cautions (note: this is a pdf link) that disaster riding will be far different from recreational jaunts around town. The streets may be littered with debris and sharp tire-puncturing objects. People may throng the streets, and confused, erratic movements are likely. Fires may block routes and fill the air with smoke, impairing visibility. Bicyclists should consider a few precautions now: getting puncture-resistant or airless tires, and also strong rims that can withstand rough terrain. Hauling gear – from bike baskets and panniers to trailers – could be critical accessories.

To help get you disaster-prepped – but will they mention bicycles? -- San Francisco hosts “The Big Rumble,” a jumble of disaster education, remembrance, and entertainment in recognition of the 20^th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. First up is a statewide “Shake Out Drill” on Thursday, October 15 at 10:15 a.m. Millions of Californians will participate in the drill, and so can you. Register at www.shakeout.org/sanfrancisco . The city is also sponsoring Big Rumble Resource Fairs in four neighborhoods – the Mission, the Bayview, the Sunset, and the Marina – on Saturday, October 17, 11 am- 4pm.

Stay in NOPA, if you choose, for our own “Where Were You in ’89?” party on Saturday, October 17^th, 4 – 7 pm at Poleng Lounge, 1751 Fulton, between Masonic and Central. The neighborhood gathering will feature films and photos of the 1989 quake, disaster prep materials and a chance to win disaster prep safety kits. Perhaps most important: the event will give neighbors a chance to discuss their own disaster plans, recognizing that we will be each other’s first-responders in the immediate aftermath of the Big One.