Dear Bike Coalition:

Sadly, I can’t say I was surprised when I read this week’s SFBC Newsletter and found absolutely zero mention of the 20th Anniversary of Critical Mass.  According to your own newsletter, apparently the only thing happening in the San Francisco bike world that is worthy of your 12,000 members knowing about on Friday, Sept. 28 is SFBC’s Valet Bike Parking at the DeYoung Museum.  Seriously?

This is the San Francisco Bike Coalition and you couldn’t even bring yourselves to stick a small mention of Critical Mass in your newsletter or on your website (or god forbid you actually celebrate/acknowledge CM and show some pride), a cycling event created here in San Francisco which has spread across the globe to multiple continents since its inception & inspired thousands of cyclists to take to the street?  It’s truly amazing that Critical Mass was on the cover of the Guardian this week and even SF Funcheap listed the event but SFBC wouldn’t even put a mention at the bottom in the “Upcoming Events” section, hidden away amongst all the SFBC sponsored events? Not even a listing of the critical mass website or the community events going on all week long?  Your website lists the celebration of the 15th anniversary of TransForm but not Critical Mass?

Wow.  I’m truly speechless.  How embarrassing but more to the point, how sad. Are you afraid of offending Chuck Nevius or Mayor Lee? I don’t know how, why or what SFBC has become as an organization at this point but it’s disappointing as a long time cyclist to see the city’s only (?) organized bike advocacy organization which continually touts how many members you have to not even show the smallest amount of solidarity to your fellow cyclists and to the city’s own cycling history.  That being the case, history will march on without you.

Contrary to our “biking” Supervisor David Chiu’s comments in today’s Chronicle (I always enjoy politicians running from anything deemed controversial), it’s actually SFBC that is simply one tiny part of a much larger movement made up of a variety of cyclists from all walks of life whose decision twenty years ago to ride freely in the street once a month for just a few short hours has laid the groundwork for cycling reforms, political action and transformative experiences across the country and the world.

What a shame that instead of celebrating all parts of the cycling community, SFBC has decided to distance itself from the historic roots of its own community in the name of moderation, families on bikes and political expediency.

Enjoy Bike Valet night at the DeYoung Museum, it sounds like an awesome event.

thanks,
Quintin

DAILY BIKE RIDES (M-W)

Mon., Sept. 24
11am: San Francisco to San Mateo and back again… join an expert trail rider who will take you on a scenic tour down the bayshore and through some hills (depending on riders’ preferences), finding the nooks and crannies south of San Francisco that even most locals don’t know about! Meet at Welcome Center, 518 Valencia… bring lunch and water!

Tues., Sept. 25
1:30-3:30pm: Chris Carlsson leads a 2-hour “Transit History” tour: Discover lost freeways, ghosts of train routes, and a vivid account of how San Franciscans moved around this peninsula through time. Hear about the violent strikes that shaped public transit, the graft and corruption that conquered the Outside Lands. It’s a social, historical and critical tour through the city’s transportation past and present. Meet at Hayes and Octavia (“Patricia’s Green”), we will leave promptly!

Wed., Sept. 26
12 noon: Susanne Zago (fluent in English and Italian) will lead a ride along theeast shore of the SF Bay, from West Oakland BART to the Rosie-the-Riveter monument in Richmond, California. It’s a fantastically scenic, beautiful bayshore ride, with easy return by BART. Meet at West Oakland BART at 11:45 a.m.

12 noon: NOIZ Ride: meet at the  McKinley statue across Baker street from the Dept. of Motor Vehicles on the Panhandle Park.  Bring eatables, drinkables, extra layers to wear,  and your ears.  There will be Three Bands!!! – we will ride around town exploring and stopping very often for some tunes and merriment.  Ride will last several hours and will not be strenuous with probably no hills.  We will probably intersect with the book opening.