Summertime Weather Swells Turnout for NOPA's Sunday Streets

This time the weather was perfect -- sunny, warm and only a slight breeze -- for Sunday Streets in the Western Addition, NOPA, Alamo Square and the Fillmore. Today thousands of neighbors and friends from all over San Francisco gathered on several blocks open to walking, biking, games, painting, live music, dancing and claiming a sofa seat in the middle of the street.

Thanks to the organizers -- the amazing Livable City with Sunday Streets director Susan King, program coordinator Beth Byrne, the hundreds of volunteers with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and collaboration with the SF Municipal Transportation Agency -- for an amazing event where everyone could enjoy public spaces and envision a safer, more equitable way to share our streets.

For views of Summer Streets in NOPA 2010, check here.

Sunday Streets Returns to NOPA: Block-by-Block Route & Programs

Only once a year can you see nine blocks of NOPA like this -- streets wide open for walking, biking, painting, live music, kids events, dancing, more live music, bike rental and repair, hanging out with neighbors in the middle of the street and much more.

This Sunday, September 11, Sunday Streets returns with hopes for even better weather than last year's drizzly debut. From 11am to 4pm blocks of Central, Grove, Baker, and Fulton will be free of vehicles. Check out the info here (pdf) about the route and all the events in NOPA and to east in Alamo Square and the Fillmore.

Advisory for those with vehicles: don't park on any of the nine blocks along the route through NOPA after 11pm Saturday night. Cars will be towed.

Sunday Streets Set for Western Addition/NOPA September 11th

Adding more pink, Sunday Streets NOPA 2010 Photo: Michael Helquist

Which bands will play outside Matching Half Cafe this year?

Photo: Michael Helquist

Western Addition/NOPA Route for Sunday Streets Sept. 11, 2011

No sooner did the "clear the streets" call come at the close of the Civic Center/ Tenderloin Sunday Streets yesterday than organizers shifted into gear for the September 11 street celebration in the Western Addition, NOPA, Alamo Square, and the Fillmore. (Perhaps it was low-gear with a day or two off).

A few route changes accompany this year's event after the successful, if drizzly, debut in the area in 2010:

• the west-end still begins in the Panhandle and travels north on Central and then east on Grove to Divisadero with a spur up the Baker hill to stop at McAllister. This year the crossover street, the east-west transition, is Fulton. Still a hill to ride and walk but not the steep slalom Golden Gate presented last year
• Alamo Square will be more directly involved -- hello neighbors! -- with Fulton sidling Alamo Square park
• Fillmore defines the east-end from Fulton to Geary but the route doesn't extend further north or further east

The new route is more compact, manageable and focused. Programs and scheduling are largely left to the wishes and initiatives of residents, local businesses and organizations. But Sunday Streets will provide the usual kids activities, dance, exercise sessions, skate time, bike programs and lots of music.

More information to come but Save the Date and plan your events.

Details:

Sunday Streets Western Addition

Includes North Panhandle, Alamo Square and Fillmore neighborhoods

September 11, 2011

11 am to 4 pm

www.SundayStreetsSF.com

Parking Restrictions

Sunday Streets works so well because it opens the streets to walking, biking, people-watching, bands and kids play. But that means no parking from 11pm Saturday September 10th until 4pm Sunday September 11th. Remind yourself, remind your family and friends. Vehicles will be towed and who needs that?

Sunday Streets to Return to NOPA, Western Addition in September

In 2010 NOPA found all sorts of new things to do on car-free streets

Impromptu parklet with the Wigg Party on Central Avenue in 2010

Sunday Streets -- the celebration of open streets for walking, dancing, strolling with the kids, and biking -- will return to the North Panhandle on September 11th this year. Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office announced last Friday that the “safe, fun, car-free” event will begin in April and continue on the second Sunday of every month through October. In a press release Newsom hailed the success of the program begun in 2008. “Sunday Streets has opened up miles of City streets, connected our neighborhoods and brought thousands of families and visitors out to play.”

The Sunday Streets route will once again connect NOPA with neighborhoods to the east, including Alamo Square, Japantown, and the Fillmore. Although the specific route has not been determined, changes to this year's route can be expected. In 2011 the route will more directly engage the Alamo Square neighborhood with an east-west street like Fulton rather than last year’s choice of Golden Gate Avenue. Western Addition residents can also expect the specific route to be announced much earlier this year with more outreach to merchants, churches, and neighbors.

Last year Sunday Streets organizers were surprised (and dismayed) when the normally warm and sunny September weekend turned to a cool and damp drizzle through the day of the street fest. Even still, thousands of people took to the wide-open streets.

The 2011 Sunday Streets schedule (subject to change):

• March 20: kick- off event along the Embarcadero from Fisherman’s Wharf to Mission Bay
• April 10: Great Highway and Golden Gate Park
• May 8: Mission route, including 24^th and Valencia
• June 12: Bayview, Mission Bay, and Dogpatch
• July 10: Great Highway route #2
• Civic Center and Tenderloin route
• September 11: Western Addition with NOPA, Alamo Square, Japantown and Fillmore
• October TBD: Mission route #2

Sunday Streets is managed by the non-profit Livable City. For more information, check the Sunday Streets website here. Volunteers are essential to the success of each Sunday Street, and it’s a great way to help people celebrate San Francisco’s neighborhoods.

A Bright And Gold(en) New Year

Holiday good cheer prompted someone to enliven NOPA for the start of the New Year. Right in the center of the neighborhood and, for the occasion, a top hat as well.

BIKE NOPA has big hopes for 2011 in the North Panhandle and in San Francisco. I especially look forward to

• a new commitment to pedestrian safety
• a revitalized Panhandle Park
• planning for an east-west cycle track through NOPA
• a better Masonic with approval and funding for the Boulevard design
• a safer, friendlier Bay to Breakers celebration
• full-on sunshine for the return of Sunday Streets to NOPA (with Divisadero included)
• a second year of NOPA VELO bike rides

Let the opportunities and challenges begin!

Resounding YES to Sunday Streets by NOPA: 96.9% in Survey Want Car-Free Event in 2011

Kid-friendly blocks for biking, bike decorating, face painting and more

"I was blown away by how many people showed up to enjoy car-free space even in the rain."

Eleven car-free blocks an inconvenience? Not at all for 84% in NOPNA survey

Nearly 97% of survey respondents from the North Panhandle want the car-free Sunday Streets celebration to return to the neighborhood next year. The NOPA residents hailed the event that opened neighborhood streets to walking, biking, live music, and games on September 19th. One resident who identified herself as "Diana (driver, cyclist, pedestrian, citizen)" added a comment: "I support community use of the streets, and the more reason to come together the better." The online survey was conducted by the North Panhandle Neighborhood Association (NOPNA) last month and sent to members. Thirty-two completed the survey. The survey was emailed to several hundred neighbors.

NOPA neighbors have been supportive of Sunday Streets ever since the prospect of bringing the event was first proposed early last year. In addition, Jarie Bolander, NOPNA president, said the association received only one complaint about the removal of parking and the restricted street access. Eleven blocks along Central, Grove, Baker, and Golden Gate were closed to parking from 11pm Saturday to 3pm Sunday. In the NOPNA survey, 84% said the removal of parking caused no inconvenience while 12% said the situation was manageable. NOPNA helped arrange for 200 free parking spaces for residents along the route, but only 20 of those were actually used. Similar high percentages of neighbors said they were "very satisfied" about event promotion, behavior of participants, and the quick and thorough clean-up.

Respondents suggested changes for next year's Sunday Streets in the Western Addition:

• devise a less-fragmented route, perhaps from the Panhandle to Fulton to Fillmore streets
• include Divisadero for a mix of residential and commercial activity
• add more activities along the connection between NOPA and Fillmore
• allow more food stalls and food trucks
• add even more live music and give the route a music theme
• get neighborhood more involved and inform neighbors that they can hold garage sales
• "more sun next time please"
• post No Parking Signs earlier-- 8 days rather than the 72 hours required -- as a courtesy to those neighbors who use their vehicles infrequently

One neighbor concluded, "Sunday Streets will get even better during the second year." All the routes for the 2011 program have yet to be determined, but a return to the Western Addition is definitely anticipated according to event organizers.

Los Angeles CicLAvia on Vimeo: Another Look at Sunday's Event

CicLAvia, Let’s Go! from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

BIKE NOPA readers who include a daily stop at Streetsblog for more features about livability in San Francisco and the Bay Area already noticed this great new video of last Sunday's street celebration, CicLAvia. (The CicLAvia site has even more videos). Everyone else: take a look at what had LA buzzing far more than the Blue Angels over San Francisco. The Los Angeles Times estimated 100,000 people took to the streets on foot and skateboards, with strollers, and riding bikes. Great stretches of the city came together in a completely new way. Enjoy the latest production of Streetsfilms.

Note to Readers: BIKE NOPA is taking a light week. Perhaps it's the summer that almost never appeared. But I'm also working on more in-depth stories for the weeks ahead.

Sunday Streets in the North Panhandle: How Was It For You?

Seemed to be a good day at this doggie table

Sometimes bike decoration is essential

Drizzle didn't stop the music

UPDATE, 8pm, Oct. 12. A point of reference: Los Angeles held its version of Sunday Streets -- la cicLAvia -- this weekend. There was no organized programming along the full 7.5 mile route. 10,000 people joined in. Get the full story here at Streetsblog and scroll through the comments. People were amazed with the open streets. "Toni" reflected, "The cicLAvia allowed many of us Angelenos (to) rediscover our city."

On the morning of September 19th before the event got underway, I saw NOPA in a completely new way: completely open streets, 11 blocks cleared of vehicles for perhaps the first time ever. And then people came outdoors to play.

-----

A warm drizzle kept the numbers down for the first Sunday Streets to come to the Western Addition three weeks ago, but thousands of NOPA residents and visitors took to the streets anyway. In the North Panhandle eleven blocks were opened to walking, skating, biking and dancing. From 10 am to 3pm, people roamed the neighborhood -- some perhaps for the first time taking a look at what the NOPA buzz is all about.

Before we race on to the next big events -- and the last Sunday Street of the year, scheduled for October 24th in the Civic Center and the Tenderloin -- take a moment and let other BIKE NOPA readers know what you're thinking. Here's a few questions and a bit of background to get things started:

Did you, your roommates, friends, or family enjoy the music, disaster prep demos, kids bike rodeo, roller skating, bike decorating, and being in the streets?

• If this was your first Sunday Street, was it interesting enough to participate in again next year? (2011 routes have yet to be determined)

Do you live in the neighborhood ...or make a special trip here for Sunday Streets?

Did you travel the route across Golden Gate Avenue to the Fillmore and Japantown for activities there? If not, what kept you from doing so?

Would you prefer a different route through the neighborhood?

• Selecting a route isn't easy, especially since Sunday Streets tries to avoid disrupting Muni lines. One possibility is to use Baker Street (instead of Central) between Fell and Grove, but that might restrict senior residents at Mercy Terrace too much. What about the Golden Gate hill between Broderick and Divisadero? Too steep to use or just a minor San Francisco hill?

What would you like more of next year -- or less?

• Sunday Streets does not attempt to fill the streets with programs like a block party or street fair, but it does try to provide "activity stops" to encourage people to travel the full route.

How much inconvenience for you was the removal of parking on the eleven blocks?

• Note: Sunday Streets and NOPNA secured 200 free alternative parking spaces for residents who had to move their vehicles. Every residence received a flier about the parking; about 100 requested a parking pass. Only two to three dozen actually used the free spaces.

Mostly, how was it for you? Leave a few comments here. Thanks!

Sunday Streets Comes to NOPA: 330 Parking Spaces Removed, Expected "Terrible Inconvenience" Not So Much Afterall

No parking here on Grove Street or anywhere else along 11 blocks

74 Free Spaces Waiting at City Center Plaza

Open but empty, 7am Sunday morning

The Quick Read:

• Sunday Streets coursed through 11 blocks of the North Panhandle
• 330 parking spaces removed for car-free streets
• 200 free alternative spots offered at nearby parking lots
• All households along route notified of free parking
• 100 households obtain passes
• Fewer than 20 actually used them

What happened? Where did everyone park? Maybe parking isn't so tight after all.

Sunday Streets promoters like to tout the unique features of the event: block after block opened to people to play and stroll, visit and bike, hear live music and sell lemonade, if they wish. Tens of thousands of San Franciscans endorse that view, repeatedly, by taking to the streets for every Sunday Streets event of the year. But a smaller number of residents complain about the streets closed to cars -- the block-after-block stretches closed to traffic and cleared of parking under threat of towing. An opportunity to see and use our public streets and public parking spaces in a new, exuberant way? Or, an inconvenience and hassle for residents who rely on the parking lanes to store their private vehicles? How did it play out in the North Panhandle?

The Sunday Streets route encompassed eleven blocks -- a diagonal wiggle from the Panhandle at Central Avenue to Divisadero Street at Golden Gate Avenue. Although corner groceries, popular cafes and restaurants, are sprinkled along the blocks, the route is mostly residential. The blocks, day and night, are usually full of parked cars -- an approximate count tallied 330 parking spaces along both sides of the 11 blocks. That's a lot of parking for one neighborhood to relinquish. Especially when SFPD's standard operating procedure for big events like Sunday Streets is to clear the streets beginning at 11pm the night before. From that time until 3pm on Sunday, no privately-owned vehicles were allowed to stop on the blocks.

No one wanted residents to get their vehicles towed -- not the Sunday Streets organizers, not the North of the Panhandle Neighborhood Association (NOPNA), and certainly not neighbors with cars, trucks, or vans. (Perhaps some churlish sorts hoped the cash-strapped city would get some bucks from tickets and fees for towing and storage). The point of Sunday Streets is to enjoy our public streets in a new way. No one who shelled out a few hundred bucks for a towed car in the early hours of the morning is going to enjoy the car-free event.

NOPNA and Sunday Streets developed an outreach strategy and an alternative parking plan for the neighborhood:

• NOPNA and Sunday Streets began outreach in the spring with talks at meetings and articles in the NOPNA newsletter, hand-delivered to each of 3500 households, and periodic email blasts
• Central City Plaza at Masonic and Geary and City College San Francisco, John Adams Campus agreed to open three free parking lots to neighbors with special parking passes*
• NOPNA copied and hand-delivered 800 fliers to every household along the Sunday Streets route . Fliers warned of tow-away hours and offered free parking passes via online
• Volunteers posted Sunday Streets signs in laundromats, cafes, and grocery stores
• NOPNA volunteers contacted each church, care center, and housing center about the parking restrictions; each was offered free parking passes in advance
• Sunday Streets volunteers posted SFPD No Parking/Tow Away Signs every ten to twenty feet along both sides of every block on the route: attached to utility poles and, if necessary, tree trunks at least 72 hours before the event began
• Volunteers placed No Parking notices under windshields of parked vehicles along the route as much as possible

Nearly 100 neighbors requested and received parking passes to use at one of the three lots. At 10 pm Saturday night, the evening before the event, only five vehicles were parked in the City College lots. One-hundred twenty spaces remained empty. At 7 am the morning of Sunday Streets, five vehicles found spaces among the 74 available at the City Center Plaza lot. Eight more were at City College. Perhaps there was coming and going between 10 pm and 7 am, but, really, not many over a Saturday night.

Why weren't the 200 spaces used? We emailed the question to the pass holders; two dozen responded. Six used the lots, several expressed their appreciation, a few found it "super convenient" with no hassles. Although one neighbor found alternative parking nearby, he found it a "huge hassle" and he saw several neighbors' vehicles getting towed from streets that were "poorly signed." (One irate resident telephoned at 3am to vent her frustration over being towed. On Sunday afternoon, another neighbor said his vehicle was towed from a block that had no signs or none that were visible).

Lessons Learned? Arranging alternative parking, notifying residents, and managing the parking pass distribution was a time-consuming undertaking. Was it worth the effort? Yes, this time. No one knew how great the need or use would be on this first outing. NOPNA wanted people to enjoy the event, and made the effort to mitigate the difficulties. (Whether people used the free lots or not, everyone received advance notice of the parking restrictions, resulting in fewer tickets and tow-aways). But based on the experiences of other neighbors, those 20 or less who used the lots could likely have found parking after a search on nearby streets. Providing alternative parking for churches and for those with special needs remains important, helpful, and ... neighborly.

Much appreciation to all who helped bring Sunday Streets to the Western Addition and our neighborhood, including

Susan King, Sunday Streets Coordinator -- for her always impressive contribution

SFMTA, SFPD, Recreation and Parks, Dept. of Emergency Management, the Mayor's Office

NOPNA Board of Directors and President Jarie Bolander

City College of San Francisco, John Adams Campus and John Rizzo

City Center Plaza, Adam Miller and Doris Liang McDowell, Lubert Adler Mgmt. West, Inc.

Daniel Frattin, Attorney, Reuben & Julius

NOPNA volunteers

SF Bicycle Coalition, YBIKE, the Wigg Party, St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church -- staff and volunteers -- and so many others for all their work to make Sunday Streets a success

* Note: For many the most convenient parking option would have been the DMV lot on Fell street, but the state agency seldom makes use of their lot easy or free. It was not available for Sunday Streets.

Sunday Streets Surpass Summer Skies

Purple accessories found at St. Cyprian's busy deco corner

3 chocolate chip cookies for $1: best deal of the day from ruby & sam

Huge crowd gathered here: no one cared about the drizzle

At the top of Baker street at McAllister: just another biking day?

Heavy fog, mist, and drizzle along with warm temperatures greeted Sunday Streets on its first foray into the Western Addition and the mostly residential North Panhandle neighborhood Sunday. Everyone who ventured out into the gray expanse took the weather with exasperated shrugs and sighs and then got on with the business of having a great time in the streets. Here's a few photos of what we especially liked -- with a caveat. BIKE NOPA was so engaged with activities in the neighborhood that we never managed to travel east of Divisadero. Our loss for missing the fun in Japantown, Kimball Park, and the Fillmore.

NOPA Streets As Never Seen Before

Looking east on Golden Gate Avenue from Broderick

Grove Street before it wakens, from Broderick

Grove at Baker, soon to be full of kids and adults on bikes

Baker Street looking north from Grove

Early morning for Central Avenue looking toward the Panhandle

Sunday Streets came to the North Panhandle today for thousands of people to walk, skate, bike, visit, lounge, play and listen to live music. They romped on car-free streets, eleven full blocks open to whatever else people wanted to do on them. Anything but drive and park for five hours on a Sunday. Before the staging for activities got underway, I took a look at our neighborhood streets opened in a new way on a relaxed and quiet morning.

No Matter the Weather Sunday: NOPA Welcomes You for Sunday Streets

Sunday Streets is coming to NOPA and we'll be waiting for and welcoming you!

Variation on a theme at Baker and McAllister

Sunday Streets Route: East End Will Be Jazzed & Hopping

San Francisco's new SFMTA commissioner, Cheryl Brinkman, at Sunday Streets

Photo by Rich and Cheryl on Flickr

For three years Susan King has coordinated the increasingly popular Sunday Streets for other neighborhoods. She organized the routes through the Bayview and the Mission, along the Embarcadero and the Great Highway. But this Sunday she brings the street celebration closer to her District 5 home. "This time we'll be in the virtual heart, the center of the city," she said during a recent community meeting. "Our other routes have been mostly along the periphery." King added that she was excited to see such diverse programming for the upcoming event.

Monday's BIKE NOPA post highlighted street-rocking activities planned for the North Panhandle, the western end of Sunday Street's route (see map). Today east of Divisadero with the Fillmore, Japantown, and points nearby get the buzz.

Golden Gate Avenue, Divisadero to Laguna

• Live Music with SF Creative Arts Charter School parklett (near Pierce) with music by the Monkeybutts
• Hula Hoops, kids' games at Hayward Playground with Buchanan YMCA
• Teens and Tweens get their own stuff, hosted by La Casa de Las Madres

Fillmore Street, Golden Gate to Post

• Rock the Bike pedal-powered stage and live music at Fillmore Mini Park near Turk)
• Church of St. John Coltrane celebrates 41st Anniversary near Eddy
• So many promotions, music and arts by Fillmore merchants
• Artists of all ages: paint away on the Free Wall sponsored by DPW and SF Arts Commission (all graffiti is good here on a 10 x 40 foot wall)

Kimbell Athletic Field Grand Opening Celebration at O'Farrell and Steiner

sponsored by City Fields and SF Recreation & Parks

• Tiny tot agility course
• Free batting cages
• Trash Mash-up Parade
• Community BBQ and picnic
• San Jose Earthquakes
• live music with Bobby Webb

Japantown Peace Palace, Post at Buchanan

• Bike Rentals from Blazing Saddles (free 1st hour, requires drivers license & credit card)
• West Coast Lion Dance Troupe
• Hawaiian Dance performances
• Yoga and Meditation with Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center

East end, West end: This is a Sunday Streets not to be missed. Look for a complete program in Wednesday's San Francisco Examiner, on signs posted along the route, and from handouts from Sunday Streets volunteers.

Sunday Streets Brings Skating Rink, Kids Bike Rodeo, 'Quake Shake Shack, Con Brio Band, Yoga, Dog Massage, Bike Repair & So Much More to NOPA

We hope the funcycle will return to NOPA: seven on board, get pedaling

Bike NOPA with no traffic, take on the Baker hill and the Golden Gate slalom

Sunday Streets in the Mission; now it's our turn

Sunday Streets is coming to the North Panhandle in a very big way. Neighbors will have one problem: how to indulge in all the fun and good times on the street in just five hours. From the Panhandle to Central, Grove, Baker, and Golden Gate, the route through NOPA will delight and dazzle with activities you won't want to miss, including these:

In the Panhandle between Baker and Central

• Free bike maintenance by REI
• Free chair massage by CPMC
• Kiss FM Radio broadcast
• A furry round-up of dog treats from Happy Hounds Massage, PAWS, SF Chihuahua Meetup, SPCA, No. California Dog Rescue and more

In NOPA along Central, Grove, and Baker

• Live Music with Con Brio band at Baker and McAllister
• Free test rides on PUBLIC bikes at Baker and McAllister
• Freedom From Training Wheels course by SF Bike Coalition
• Kids' Bike Safety Rodeo by Presidio YMCA Bike Program (the very popular kids bike course from last year's BIKE THE BLOCK party in NOPA)
• How to load a bike on the bus demo
• Music and dancing and DIY art presented by the Wigg Party at Central near Hayes
• Kids' face painting & bike decorating by St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church
• Mobile "Command Van One" from Dept. of Emergency Preparedness on Grove
• Shake shack earthquake simulator (then you'll know why to get ready)
• Magic and cooking shows at Divisadero Farmers Market

On Golden Gate Avenue

• Free roller skating rink, with lessons & skates near Baker Street
• Slumdog Millionaire skate dance (12:30 to 2:30)
• Thriller skate dance (12:45 to 2:45)

And lots of wide open spaces for strolling, biking, dancing, and people-watching. The streets have never been this open in the North Panhandle. Be sure to be here for all of this. Add your own events: front porch parties, garage sales, lemonade stands.

There's More? NOPA's eleven open blocks are just the east end of the Sunday Streets route. Check BIKE NOPA tomorrow for everything planned to the west for Alamo Square, the Fillmore, and Japantown. (A few teasers: Hawaiian Dance and Lion Dance Troupes, free batting cages, open mural painting, Rock the Bike pedal powered stage and live music).

The full program will be available in Wednesday's San Francisco Examiner and will be posted along the Sunday Streets route.

Final note: with everyone coming to NOPA, post Welcome to the North Panhandle window signs along the route and through the neighborhood. Copies available at the NOPNA meeting this Thursday night or download and print your own.

Dads on Wheels: Jason Beers With A Lot of "Huh" From The Back Seat

Image by Meli of Bikes And The City

Jason and Phoebe tooling around the park Photo: Jason Beers

"Good way to get a nap going but don't tell the chiropractor": Jason Beers

Photo: Jason Beers

Trying out the wheels Photo: Jason Beers

Jason Beers and his wife, Jane Catherine Zimmerman, are active with Nopa Little Ones, a playgroup for neighborhood families with children newborn to five years old. Say hello to Jason and Phoebe if you see them on the way to school or in the park.

When did you start biking with Phoebe?
She was 15 months old.

How often do you bike with her now and where are favorite rides for you both?
Once a day to school and some weekends to Golden Gate Park. Our favorites are the park, Crissy Field, and anywhere ice cream is served.

How did you start biking with Phoebe?
When she was small, we used a front-of-the bike seat. By the time she was 3 we moved to a seat on the back of the bike as that fits a bigger kid well. She's really getting into the balance bike now too at 3 and a half.

What’s the best thing about biking together?
Using the front seat, she would chat up a storm with me. I put on handlebar extensions so that we'd each have a place to hold onto. We could talk about everything we saw, and I could even hear her. Now she still talks about everything, but she's in the back so there's a lot of "huh"!

What do you say to relatives or friends who think our city streets aren't safe for kids to bike?
You have to pick and choose your streets, but there are a lot to choose from.

What makes a street OK for you and your daughter to bike?
Not having to compete for pavement space with the cars. Bike lanes, low traffic streets, closeout of streets like in Golden Gate Park. When there are cars on the street, I bike cautiously and signal my intentions clearly.

How difficult is it getting kids ready for trips if you’re traveling by bike?
Bike riding is a treat and treats are an incentive for the little mind. Getting the helmet on is the main obstacle, but at least they're *slightly* easier than when I was a kid.

How often do you bike on your own?
I bike every day to work -- a 20 minute commute to the financial district -- and to run errands. I used to ride a lot for pleasure back when I had free time. Now I get pleasure from riding while I do chores.

Any advice for dads who are thinking about biking on their own or with their kids?
Try it - start with a manageable route. Consider a forward mount seat when they're young like the ibert (bright green seat, not to be confused with qbert - the scratcher you may have seen back when you had free time).

BIKE NOPA and Bikes And The City: every Tuesday, more Dads on Wheels.

For previous posts in the Dads on Wheels series, check here.

Dads, moms, kids: save the date. Sunday, September 19th, 10 am to 3pm, Sunday Streets travels through NOPA and the Western Addition. YBIKE will host a kids' bike rodeo for practicing the best street maneuvers and the SF Bicycle Coalition will lay out its popular Freedom from Training Wheels course -- both on Grove at Baker. Nearby on the Sunday Streets route, members of St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church will set up kids' games, face painting, and prizes.

Dads on Wheels: J.J. Strahle Rides with Cobalt

Image: Meli of Bikes And The City

First two-wheel ride in the park

First trailer ride to the ocean

Look what we got on Craigslist

JJ with Cobalt in Windy City

BIKE NOPA and Bikes And The City get the momentum going on our new collaborative series, Dads on Wheels. Every Tuesday on both sites find San Francisco dads who bike with their kids for transportation and fun.

J.J. Strahle had the best of reasons for delaying his responses for this series. He explained that he and his wife "just got home from the hospital today with our newest bicyclist this afternoon." I like these early starts with bicycling! J.J. knows what to do when his "newest" is ready; he's been bicycling with his son Cobalt for a few years now.

When did you start biking with Cobalt?
He's 5-1/2, and we started bicycling with him in a bike trailer when he was about 2-1/2. It was mainly for recreation and weekend exercise and soon became a major mode of daily commute transportation for my wife and son.

How often do you bike with him now?
We try to get out as much as possible. I work long days on the peninsula and with afterschool activities all over the city and being on a tight schedule, it's not always conducive to cycling. For the time being, and with him on his own 2-wheeler, bicycling is more for fun. We will still, occasionally, take the trail-a-bike down to the ball park to take in a game, however.

How did you start biking with Colbalt?
We started off with an el-cheapo trailer from Craigslist. After we went on more outings and my wife got a new bike for commuting to work, we purchased a new Burley. When he was around 4, I found a trail-a-bike on CL and by age 4-1/2, he was using it daily for commuting to and from preschool. He received a 2-wheeler for his 5th birthday, and it only took a couple of times on training wheels before we took them off. Once off, he took off in a breeze and hasn’t looked back.

What’s the best thing about biking with him?
Exercise, time together, fresh air.

What do you say to relatives or friends who think San Francisco streets aren't safe for kids to bike?
They are both right and wrong. I also drive a car every day, so I know and appreciate being communicative and predictable on a bike (as well as in a car). I try to stick to designated paths and routes as much as possible. When it is not possible, I try to take less-congested streets. We will ride (slowly) on the sidewalk if the streets are not safe. In general, however, I feel pretty safe as long as we are smart, courteous, visible, wearing helmets and following the rules of the road.

What makes a street OK for you and your son to bike?
A street without cars is preferred, e.g., GG Park on Sundays. I try to stick to designated routes. I don’t know the classes of bike lanes off the top of my head, but we stay to designated paths and routes whenever possible, even if it is “out of the way” or “less convenient” to do so. For example, I will occasionally ride the Fell street route between the Wiggle and our house, but I also understand that cars drive close by at 25 mph, so most of the time I will make the short climb up to Hayes to head west.

Is it even harder getting kids ready for trips if you’re traveling by bike?
Harder than what? Than a car? Sure. Cobalt likes riding with us, even in the rain, but sometimes it’s harder to get him motivated to take the bike over the car. But that’s mostly when he’s tired or it’s cold. He loves taking the trail-a-bike out to the zoo, for example, even in the cold and fog.

How often do you bike on your own?
Not as much as I’d like to. When I can get away with it schedule-wise or because my car is in the shop, I will do the bike-train-bike commute, but that takes me an extra 45 minutes to an hour each way. On the weekends, I prefer to leave the car parked in the garage and bike anywhere I need to in order to run errands. My wife is the bike-commuter of the family…she works downtown.

Any advice for dads who are thinking about biking on their own or with their kids?
Seriously? Just do it (or at least try it). It’s easy! I just gave that advice to a dad yesterday. It’s a great way to get yourself and your kids some exercise. And for us, the transition to a big-kids bike was a snap. Bicycling in SF is really pretty easy and convenient when it comes down to it. The Bike Coalition and MTA have done a great job in the last couple of years bringing visibility and respect to riders and that helps make the move from biking as an alternate form of transportation to simply another way to get around.

For previous posts in the Dads on Wheels series, check here.

Dads, moms, kids: go the distance with your bikes on car-free Sunday Streets this summer. Next up: Golden Gate Park and the Great Highway, August 22; and the Western Addition, Sept. 19, with 11 blocks open through NOPA. More info on Sunday Streets here.

Dads don't have all the fun. Check BIKE NOPA's Women Who Bike series. And more women on wheels at Bikes And The City.