UPDATE: The SF Bike Coalition responds to last week's accident. Read after the jump.
Original Story 1:30 p.m., Friday, July 15: This morning traffic was backed up on the Embarcadero after a cyclist ran a red light, hitting a pedestrian. According to police, the victim, a 60-year-old woman, remains in the hospital with a life-threatening head injury.
So often cyclists and pedestrians lament San Francisco drivers' carelessness behind the wheel. However, it's not uncommon to see cyclists using bad etiquette, or even breaking the law, like blowing through a stop sign.
So it begs the question: How often do police cite cyclists for running a red light or blowing a stop sign?
Cyclists commuting between San Francisco and Marin County face another three months of frustration as crews complete seismic work that has closed the bike path on the west edge of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Rather than speed to their destinations, cyclists must now inch through pedestrian tourists who are crowding the footpath on the bridge's eastern side. Don't worry, there's an app or that.
Well, not really, but there should be. Rather, we've been relying on something bigger and better than the small jingle-jangle of bike bells to navigate the crowds.
We got ourselves high-decibel horns and buzzers small enough to be mounted to a bicycle.
Oh, sure, you may think that the fantasies of municipal infrastructure bureaucrats are boring. But allow us to shatter your misconceptions with just five words: Two-Stage Turn Queue Boxes.
National Association of City Transportation Officials is a sort of national clearinghouse for transportation visionaries in major cities. This spring, the organization released the new Urban Bikeway Design Guide, an exhaustively researched document that looks into the future and tells us, "Bikes, y'all."
Let's take a closer look.
So long, Nat Ford!
This week, the man responsible for getting San Franciscans from point A to point B picked a Bike Coalition awards show to publicly discuss his departure. And you know, that was actually probably a good stage for him.
Five years ago, when Ford was a fresh face in town, the conversation was all about how he was going to fix Muni. So much for that! These days, we've almost given up on the buses and trains, and it's an unspoken understanding among the public and city planners that Muni is solely for suckers.
A 21-year-old woman recently proved that she is no victim. The San Francisco resident was unlocking the front door of her apartment on the unit block of Walter Street at about 2:30 a.m. when a white man wearing dark clothing walked up behind her and tried to force his way into her home. The brave and presumably strong woman fought back, pushing the creepy man away from her door, according to police.
The robber then grabbed her bicycle which was leaning up against the wall by her door. Again, she tried to stop him, but he elbowed her in the face.
As he pedaled away, the woman chased after him for almost a block -- and believe it or not, she caught up to the robber on 14th Street, says Police Captain Denis O'Leary.
Can you believe how many commenters on last week's article took the position that because some cyclists break the law, it is okay for drivers to hit any cyclists they see? Crazy!
We racked up 178 comments, mostly expressing frustration at cyclists who ride through stop signs or red lights or get in other people's way.
Yup, those cyclists are out there. There are lots of them. But that's not what last week's article was about. It was about drivers who hit cyclists who are obeying the law.
But that seems to be where some of the confusion comes from: What exactly does "obeying the law" mean? Are bikes allowed on Franklin Street? Are they allowed to take the full lane?
Pedestrians and cyclists stripping down and getting naked together? Now that sounds like a party to join. Or maybe it's the grossest-sounding idea ever. Regardless of what you think, that's exactly what San Francisco pedestrians want to do this weekend -- home in on the action at the World Naked Bike Ride.
But if previous pedestrian interloping at this event has proved anything, it is that walkers can't keep up. They'll be abandoned, only to wander the city pointlessly in the buff and left to decide if and when to give up and get dressed.
Well, it happened again: "Angry Driver Attacks Mission Cyclists," the headline reads.
Here's the synopsis: Two cyclists were riding down Shotwell Street. An aggressive truck came up behind
them, making it known he wasn't happy with their slower speed. So the driver rammed them from behind -- and then kept going. They had no serious injuries, but one bike was
totaled.
For what it's worth, there were plenty of witnesses and
the cyclists got the driver's license plate. But whether the SFPD will
take the time to hunt down the owner of the black Chevy Impala
with plate number 6PWS 040 is another story that's sure to make news one day.
Oh, sure, your commute to the office might seem far, but how would you like to ride 3,500 miles?
Two weeks ago, cyclist Mario Renteria, 23, set off from Miami on a cross-country ride to San Francisco. Google Maps estimates that if you pedal nonstop, it'll take about 11 and a half days to make the journey.
Why is he doing it? "For no particular reason."
CBS' 60 Minutes shook the sporting world Sunday with extraordinary doping accusations involving the seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.
According to Armstrong's former teammate Tyler Hamilton, Armstrong dosed his own teammates post-race with
droppers-full of steroids, received illicit transfusions of
oxygen-rich blood, and helped in the distribution of banned doping products.
But the 60 Minutes episode also included subtler details drawing potential doping culpability away from Armstrong, and toward team managers working for San Francisco financier Thomas Weisel.
