notes from Lori: San Fran, Montana de Oro....

27 Aug 2007
‘Clettes California beach camping! Cara, Melissa, and I slept on the beach last night at Montana de Oro State Park, under a full moon, with occasional wakings by howling coyotes. The moon is so bright it looks like a streetlight, with sharp shadows as it rises over the hill next to camp.

Well we just reached the charming city of San Francisco, and are driving along a typical street, lined with palm trees in the median, street trees at the sidewalks, and the colourful, beautiful, densely-packed bay-windowed townhomes that makes San Fran famous. The streets are uber-hilly, with exotic flowering plants on any plant-able square foot of soil.

Our collective breath is taken away.

We’re staying at the “Pink Palace”, a lovely co-op house in the Mission District with 8 wonderful hosts, including Gabe (from “Shake your Peace”), Rainbow, and Israel.
The show at Delores Park began with an instrumental piece made from bike parts. Next up was the fresh and inspiring “Secret Circus”, with dancing unicyclists, clowns, jugglers, balancing acts and acrobatics. A one-person pedal-powered stereo provided sound. ‘Twas a small but charming and appreciative crowd. (smile) Our ‘Clettes show was fun, red and black contrast to the green background. “Shake Your Peace”, a sustainable rock band with good mellow tunes, wrapped up the evening while audience members created our own CD covers from their DIY kits of printed card, hole-punches, paint, and yarn. Cute and fun- adorable really!! Ha! We left as a posse to check out SF Bike Polo, swag trailer in tow. Psyched that one polo player was sporting a ‘Clettes patch, yo!

Early to bed. Set the alarm for 3:15am to watch the peak of the lunar eclipse, spotted over the tops of San Fran homes. The moon was brownish and dark, but still visible, allowing us to view the stars though it was full. Red and I walked through the streets and called home to friends for the occasion, then watched in amazement as the shadow of the earth began to move off the orb of the moon, and the full strength of the sun reflected brightly in a growing crescent before our eyes.

28 Aug 2007
Our whole free day in SF!!! After a great breakfast at the “Palace”, of fresh local fruit and yummy bread dumpstered from the local bakery (Thanks Gabe and Rainbow!), we split forces- 5 ‘Clettes received a day-long personal tour by new-found friend Jamie, who saw our show the night before.
Meanwhile, Red, Jen and I shot off in another direction, beginning with a stop to Valencia Cyclery for a city bike map. We mapped a route that started downtown, passing the San Francisco Federal Building by Morphosis architect Thom Mayne: lots of layered screens, transparency filters, and disjointed angles created inquisitive instincts.
We spotted a cute new building by the Cal Trains station- for bicycle parking! Free parking for up to 48 hours, $2 a day afterwards. We met the awesome owner/operator inside, and chatted him up about his new business, how it operates (it will partner with a bike shop for sustainable funding), and got the low-down about the SF Bicycle Coalition, as well as a great Vietmanese lunch spot and directions on the ferry back if we biked the Golden Gate Bridge.

We headed off to the Bicycle Coalition, and on the way in ran into an engaging woman who recognized us from our show. Within a few excited sentences, we were already talking of bike crafts and activism, and immediately decided that we MUST have lunch together, right then, at the Vietmanese place. Awesome! Her name was Nancy Botkin- she has worked for and volunteered for the Bicycle Coalition and other groups in SF for years. Conversation flowed excitedly around the cultural- and educational- inspired bike rides she organizes, such as rides to the dump to properly dispose of and learn about toxic waste, rides to the recycling centers, bicycle-art rides, and “snack rides” to share goodies. All over a fantastic, authentic lunch, complete with iced vietmanese coffee! Yum.

Then: on to check out the Bicycle Coalition! We talked with lots of wonderful folks there, and took a look at the new “Bicycling and Walking in the U.S.” Benchmarking Report 2007, which they were releasing to the public the following day. Awesome research and graphical data about relationships between biking, walking, health, obesity, economics, and environment in the 50 states. They also had a great variety of rad, irrestible T-shirts, hoodies, and baby “onesies” for sale. The three of us bought multiple shirts for ourselves and friends.

We tore ourselves away to continue our bike ride along the sea, making a point to check out the “Wave Organ” at the end of a pier. Beautiful scene and sounds, and we met some fun local bikers who gave us directions to a posh Safeway for beer- we ended up seeing them 3 more times throughout the day---! Relaxing with sun and crabs. A view of Alcatraz beyond….

We biked along the bayside to the Golden Gate Bridge, climbed up, and trekked across the red, suspended icon of this beautiful city. We stopped to admire Red’s long hair blowing wildly in the wind, to enjoy the sun, wind, and views, to relish the moment, and to drink a beer in celebration of life. As we sat and talked, a woman wearing a helmet with a beanie propellor, and a tattoo of a chainring impression on her right calf stopped to ask if we had an Allen key. As she adjusted her new bike with the borrowed tool, we talked and she told us of her bicycle activist group called the Superheroes. They work to encourage everyday biking, especially for children through the “Safe Routes to School” program. Red realized that they had probably met years earlier in Vancouver!! Her name was Melanie Grubman- aka Superhero Rabbi Yikes. As conversation continued to unfold, I realized that a friend of mine had cut out an article from “Bicycling” Magazine about her group for me three weeks ago- Melanie informed me that she was the one photographed, with the bright blue wig! Melanie changed her afternoon plans to join us on our ride across the Bridge to Sausalito, where she showed us an art gallery with Dr. Suess paintings and sculptures. We enjoyed some snacks and beers at the water’s edge while exchanging thoughts of life and spirit and waited for the ferry.

Red, Jen, and I took the ferry back downtown, while the sun set behind the hills and the fog crept over the Golden Gate.

Upon exiting the ferry, a group of fixies rode by, and we joined in the fun. Paired into partners, we had a short dark sprint race down a pier and up a crazy hill. Then back to the sea edge, where a trivia quiz began. We left the group, stopping twice on the way home. Once for tacos, and once to see the long “bike mural” on the “Wiggle” bike route off Market Street. Home for the night, the last eve in San Fran, prepped for an early start to drive to Portland the following day. What a day it was….. Life is good, ya know? :)