To cope with high-pressures jobs, some people head outdoors to sweat off the stress, while others seek out friends to talk it out over a drink or a cup of coffee. When you have good friends to ride with and beautiful places to ride right in your backyard, you can multi-task by sweating it off and talking it out all at the same time.
How do you deal with stress? Do you prefer to go it alone or seek out others? Is there a special place you go?
The wheels on the bus may go round and round, but the Caltrain flies down the tracks at 80 mph. This large group of lucky school kids were headed up to San Francisco for a tour of AT&T Park while I was headed down to San Jose for work. If I were a kid, the train ride, not the SF Giants, would be enough of a field trip for me.
About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and indeed it is when the execution is top-notch. I was thrilled to see that Pep, a local blogger and hard-core roadie, dedicated a recent post to her trendy folding bike and her personal bike style à la Fashion Friday. I love the way she pulls together classic pieces in neutral colors with a chunky knit scarf, and how the ensemble highlights her silvery mane and bright white little bike.
Every morning, Pep rides her STRiDA bike to a shuttle stop where she quickly folds it up and hops on one of her company’s fleet of private buses. It’s quick and easy, much better than driving or riding the whole way.
Folding bikes are hot these days because they solve “last mile” issues for suburban transit users as well as “no space” issues for urban dwellers. How hot? Well, my most popular post of all time is by far a review of the Bromptons Dick and I rented in London. If you haven’t tried a foldie, you have no idea how amazing they are.
For more details on Pep’s STRiDA bike and her stories of riding the backroads of the San Francisco Bay Area, check out her About Pep blog. Her photo-driven tutorial on descending is worth the visit alone.
All photos in this post are courtesy of Pep of About Pep and are used with her permission.
One thing I love about working in Silicon Valley is the quirky workplace environment that goes way beyond Dress-Down Friday, ping-pong tables, bean bag chairs and stand-up desks. My current job is a little more buttoned-down than most, so when they declared it “Bring Your Pet to Work Day” I was a little surprised.
Turns out the CEO has a new Labrador puppy that he wanted to show off. I can’t blame him, who wouldn’t want their furry friend cuddled up next to their desk? I love working from home with my cat curled up beside me. So why not take him to work for a day? He’s no fraidy cat and setting up my bike for his carrier wasn’t hard.
The trip went as well as could be expected. He cried a little, but no more than he does in the car. He made a few friends along the way and is now settling in here in my office. I hope the ride home goes just as well.
Does your workplace allow pets in the office? Have you ever brought yours to work? What about on your bike?
In my parent’s generation, Catholics ate fish on Fridays to observe the day that Jesus died. Back home in South Louisiana, where seafood is fresh and abundant, eating fish hardly seemed like a sacrifice. My dad’s town even had a fish man who came to town every Friday, ringing a bell for the housewives to come out and buy.
But it wasn’t always sac-a-lait and crawfish for me. I ate my fair share of tuna casserole and fish sticks during Lent and was happy to do it. So it just seemed right that Dick and I are more modestly on Good Friday than on our usual Bike Date Fridays. Our choice: counter-service fish and chips at Cook’s Seafood in Menlo Park.
It was nothing like the frozen fish sticks I ate as a kid. Nice firm, flaky halibut with a crispy, non-greasy batter. But don’t take my word for it, fish & chips is a favorite of Dick’s and he declared them top-tier.
If we were back home for Easter, we’d be having a big meal with my big family, perhaps even a crawfish boil. I usually plan a special dinner for just us two, but this year we rode up to the Gamble Garden for a impromptu bike picnic. Who cares that the weather report said rain by 3 o’clock?
Unlike our last bike picnic at the Gamble Garden, we kept it simple, packing a few things from home and grabbing sushi from Whole Foods on the way. There were a few sprinkles, but the rain didn’t come. The garden was busy with visitors, but we got a quiet picnic table under a big oak tree. It was a refreshing change from the usual holiday meal. And we got to see the glorious tulips and daffodils blooming in the garden.
Do you celebrate Easter or another Spring holiday with a special meal? Where do you go? What do you eat? Do you like to mix it up from year to year or are you a traditionalist?
About Bike Date Friday: Since September 2010, my husband and I have had a standing date every Friday night. We eat at a different place every week and arrive by bike. There’s no better way to end the work week.
When facing a tough negotiation, businessmen will turn to red power ties to show strength, authority and dominance. For more casual settings, bold and dynamic red accents can give you a extra boost of confidence to help you make a statement and stand out from the rest of the crowd. There are no red shrinking violets.
About Fashion Friday: Inspired by a 2011 Bike to Work Day challenge sponsored by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, this series highlights the broad range of “dress for the destination” bicycling fashions.
Did you know that Susan B. Anthony, a fearless leader in the American suffrage movement, believed in the power of bicycles, especially for women? Her famous bicycle quote begins: “Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” That’s a strong endorsement from someone who fought for 40 years to earn women the fundamental citizen’s right to vote.
To honor women like Susan B. Anthony during Women’s History Month, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition hosted a Women’s History Bike Ride around the city. Margaret, the new volunteer coordinator at SFBC, was our enthusiastic host. Her passion for the women who broke tradition to give us the rights we take for granted today shone through at every stop in our leisurely two hour tour.
At our first stop Margaret told us how Susan B Anthony bullied poll officials and dropped her ballot in the election box in 1872 (nearly 50 years before it was legal) and how she successfully fought her case in court. Despite being denied the chance to testify and being convicted of voter fraud, she never paid a dime of her fine.
The second stop focused on fashion and how the need for less constrictive clothing in general dovetailed with the need for sportier bicycling clothing, an effort spearheaded by Amelia Bloomer. Every woman who wears pants today should tip their hats to Amelia for paving the way to split-legged efficiency and comfort.
Next was a stop at a corner in Japantown where suffrage supporters held a victory party after women were finally granted the right to vote in 1920. All it took was a mother’s letter to her Senator son imploring him to be a good boy and vote for ratification. Sadly, Susan B. Anthony died before she could legally cast a vote.
At our final stop Margaret told the story of Annie Londonderry, a petite young woman from Boston who left her three children with her husband and rode her bike around the world. Why? Who knows Annie’s true motivation, but I’d like to think that she’s not that different than we women today who challenge ourselves with daring rides. Then again, how many of us have the chance to win $10,000 in prize money?
We ended the tour with cupcakes, but not before Margaret read us the rest of Susan B. Anthony’s bicycle quote, which rings true over 100 years later: “[Bicycling] gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”
What does bicycling do for you? Are bikes freedom, self-reliance or something other than that?
My trusty little bike trailer can haul more than groceries. With careful packing I was able to transport my prized Chili Verde to the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition’s Volunteer Party and Chili Cook-Off last week. The trick was not filling the slow cooker too full, nestling it amongst other party supplies, and dodging potholes and riding very carefully over bumps. I made the short trip without spilling a drop (but I put it in a plastic tub just in case).
I got to the party early to help set up and entered my Lazy Woman’s Chili Verde in the #1 spot for the cook-off (call me superstitious, but I think that helps). We mingled, we ate, we laughed. I was so busy having fun I forgot to take photos. I won the spicy category by a single vote and I promise I didn’t stuff the ballot box.
My recipe is no family secret nor something I learned in culinary school. It’s all about recreating a classic dish in as few steps as possible. Because when you’re rushing to cook dinner after a long workday, there’s no time for tradition, just time for tasty good. Here’s the recipe, dedicated to everyone who loves to cook the easy way.
Lazy Woman’s Chili Verde
The traditional recipe for this classic Mexican stew starts with slowly stewing fresh tomatillos, but I cut corners by using salsa verde from a jar. You can keep it super simple with just salsa verde and meat or you can get fancy and add sauteed onions, peppers and garlic and use broth instead of water.
Ingredients: 2 lbs pork or chicken, 1/2 Tablespoon Creole seasoning, 1 onion, 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 large clove garlic, 12 oz jar of salsa verde, 12 oz water or chicken broth. All measures are approximate.
Remember those chicane fences on the Stevens Creek trail I wrote about a few months ago? I got a comment from Andrew who didn’t agree with my assessment that the fences were wide enough apart: “Try getting through these easily on a cargo bike,” he said. He has a point. I don’t have a cargo bike so I can’t say it works.
But I DO have a bike trailer, so I decided to test the trailhead fences on the way home from a Costco trip.
It was my first cargo grocery trip and I didn’t hold back at Costco, buying big and heavy items like toilet paper, dishwashing soap and bulk food items. Everything I would never dream of buying with just panniers.
I learned a lot more than whether the trailer could navigate the chicanes. I learned that an empty trailer is an unstable beast, that typical bike parking doesn’t work for trailers, that the angle of a curb cut can make or break you, and how hard it is to accelerate when you’re dragging 70 pounds of cargo. It was eight miles of hard work.
Did the trailer work on the chicane fences? Yes, much better than much of the ride.
To all you parents out there who haul kids and gear like this every day: you are truly amazing! Those eight short miles and four overpasses were more tiring than 40 miles of rolling terrain on my road bike.
Have you ever ridden a cargo bike or a bike with a trailer? What did you notice that was different?
As the Northern Hemisphere rolls past the Spring Equinox and Americans roll our clocks forward for Daylight Saving Time, the annual debate continues. When can we wear warm-weather fashions: white shoes, searsucker suits and straw hats? Yankees insist on Memorial Day, in the Deep South it’s Easter, and in California anything goes. So it’s hat’s on for Spring for me, but no white shoes until Easter.
Popular in the early 20th century, the close-fitting cloche hat is usually made with felt. But it works in straw too.
About Fashion Friday: Inspired by a 2011 Bike to Work Day challenge sponsored by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, this series highlights the broad range of “dress for the destination” bicycling fashions.
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An amateur enthusiast pedaling through the District.
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