NYE Ride

This is our second annual New Year's Eve bike ride. It's a mobile bike music party through the streets of San Francisco.

Best way to celebrate NYE: on a bike with friends and music.

One More Rack

One less car. One more bike rack.

Bike Rack

Nice to see some bike racks that match the elegance of the Globe Live 3.

Christmas Day Ride

I love social bike rides on holidays because the streets tend to be quieter and saner - and most people are in good spirits.

And wearing a Santa outfit while riding my bicycle is perfectly normal. Sort of.

Holiday Essentials

Essential items for the holiday season in my front bike basket: Santa hat, bell, mug, iPod mount, and speaker computer bag.

Santa Claus

Last year we started a tradition of a Christmas Day bike ride.

We had amazingly warm and clear weather this year thanks to Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas

I edited this video from clips I captured of the annual Holiday Lights Bike Ride organized by volunteers associated with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

The music is "Jingle Jane" and "Imagine Santa" from the first A Very Bootie Christmas.

Holiday Lights

About 100+ riders enjoyed a night ride to check out holiday light displays in the city.

It drizzled during the first 30 minutes, but then the rest of the night was spectacular.

The rain on my camera lens, plus the lights, distorted the below photo. It looks like luminescent snowballs are surrounding my Glove Live 3.

Car Battery Charger

Today I transported a car battery charger back to Kragen Auto Parts by bicycle.

Yes I fully recognize the irony.

Bike Angel

It's obvious to me that this stoic angel would be much happier if he was riding a Globe bicycle.

Marin Headlands

This is the view of the Marin Headlands and Pacific Ocean from the Presidio. It's one of the best rides within San Francisco on a beautiful clear day.

Globe Nativity

I think my Globe Live 3 fits perfectly in this nativity scene.

Ocean Beach

I love riding to Ocean Beach.

It's a 20 minute bike ride from my place through Golden Gate Park to the ocean.

On warmer days, people stake out spots on the beach for evening campfires.

My friend Lilia took this photo on one of my many rides. My Globe Live 3 works fine in relatively hilly San Francisco.

Efficient Parking

I dream for secure and efficient bicycle parking like this in San Francisco, especially near our transit centers.

Kickstand

One of the features of my Globe Live 3 that people always comment on is the double-legged kickstand.

It raises the back wheel higher than most other double kickstands that I have seen.

It almost makes the bike look like it's meant to be noticed with such a high stationary position. And people certainly do notice the bike.

Tour de France

For anyone who has ever watched the Tour de France, this is one of the funniest videos ever.

Night Ride

I've been taking a lot of videos of just regular bicycling in San Francisco to give people a flavor of how and where I ride.

I love riding home late at night. It's a quieter time on the roads with the city lights and shadows creating wonderful impressions.

The bike "sharrows" on Page Street signify that this is a designated bike route and encourages people to share the lane.

Tube Sleeve

One of my favorite new bike accessories is the Top Tube Sleeves by Rickshaw Bags with the message "One Less Car" emblazoned on both sides.

I think the yellow, which color matches with my messenger bag by the same company, looks pretty good contrasted with the blue Globe Live 3.

Food Delivery

For the 4th Annual Supermarket Street Sweep, 198 racers brought in 7,507 lbs. of food for the San Francisco Food Bank.

The overall winner was my friend Jeremiah Ducate, who pedaled in 962 lbs after stopping at 5 different supermarket checkpoints.

I accompanied him for most of his journey and filmed his progress.

Whoa

Apparently, some of my friends are in awe over the Globe Live 3.

Museum Bicycle

I love taking my Globe Live 3 to visit museums in the city.

FunCycle in the City

Last spring we rolled out the FunCycle with music system to explore the streets on San Francico on our way to the car-free Healthy Saturdays kick-off in Golden Gate Park.

People aren't used to seeing a 7-person bicycle on the streets, especially one that is powering the sounds of Tina Turner or Michael Jackson.

So it's always fun to see the reactions from people and the street dancing that inevitably happens when people hear a familiar song.

The FunCycle sits in my garage on extended loan from my friends at Bike and Roll. All my friends think it's hysterical that my prime garage spot in the heart of San Francisco is occupied by a 7-person bicycle instead of a car.

I actually lock my Globe Live 3 to the FunCycle in my garage so it serves as a bike rack too.

Where The Wild Globes Are

My Globe Live 3 is where the wild things are.

Christmas Trees

It's that time of the year.

But thankfully I live in a region where I can bike year-round, even when the holiday season is upon us.

Golden Gate Bridge

Ever wonder what it feels like to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge?

I rode the Glove Live 3 across the bridge from San Francisco to Marin and back.

It was an amazing day. It's usually quite windy on the bridge, as you can hear in the video.

In fact, the headwind is very powerful at times. The wind was so loud that it almost drowned out the music blasting from the sound system sitting in my front basket.

Biking across the Golden Gate Bridge is a very popular tourist activity, but more challenging than most people expect because of the wind.

The west side of the bridge is exclusively for bicyclists, but it can be crazy with the mix of seasoned recreational cyclists speeding fast across the bridge mixed with tourists - many of whom ride like they haven't been on a bicycle in 20 years.

On this day, I witnessed an amazing sunset riding back to San Francisco across the bridge. You can also see the San Francisco skyline afar.

Glide Bike

A quick stop at Glide Memorial Church in the Tenderloin on my Globe Live 3.

Bike Box

This photo was taken by my friend Brian G., the editor of Streetsblog San Francisco.

He took this photo to capture the newly painted green "bike box" on Scott Street a few blocks from where I live.

Notice the front damaged fender in my basket. The photo was taken just before I went to Mike's Bikes to fix my fender.

These bike boxes are wonderful because it creates a space where bicyclists can move up to the front when the intersection light is red.

Bike Zone

Market Street in San Francisco is undergoing a car road diet.

Over the past month, the City has limited private auto traffic to create a more friendly environment for pedestrians, bicyclists, and public transit riders.

New colored pavement signals to people to respectfully share the road. This "sharrow" shared lane marking started in San Francisco.

Union Square

Union Square is one of the major busy commercial centers in San Francisco. The holiday tree is displayed in Union Square after Thanksgiving.

Whenever I bicycle in the area between Union Square and downtown, I'm extra defensive because it's sensory overload with so many pedestrians, cars, tourists, taxi cabs, and delivery vehicles.

Inspiration Point

This is the approach to Inspiration Point in San Francisco's Presidio with views of the Bay, Alcatraz, Palace of the Fine Arts, and Angel Island in the background.



We rode through the Presidio to get to the Palace of the Fine Arts, which is the far-away domed structure in the background of the video and top photo.

And below is the close-up shot of the lovely Palace of the Fine Arts.

Globe Yoda

We cycled to pay homage to the wise one at Lucasfilms's digital arts center.


Yoda said to my bicycle: “Do or do not... there is no try.”

And then Yoda said: “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."

And as we departed on our bicycles, Yoda said: "“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”

Fender Bender

Yes that's my damaged front fender of my Globe Live 3. I've been riding my new bicycle everyday.

Unfortunately, I was riding through the Presidio on Saturday when I ran over a tree branch on the ground.

The tree branch got stuck under my fender and completely bent the aluminum fender and warped the fender attachment (the wire to the left of the blue fender).

I've never had a bicycle with fenders so I didn't think about a tree branch getting stuck under my fender and essentially destroying it.

Now my bike has one less fender so I hope I can order a new one soon.

Consider this a warning: if your bicycle has a fender, watch out for tree branches!

Sundown

I'm quickly discovering the limits to my Globe Live 3. It's not a beach cruiser so I didn't make much progress riding in the soft sand. But that doesn't mean we can't admire a beautiful winter sunset over the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

Along The Bay

My computer bag is a brown Fi-Hi stereo bag with built-in 3-watt speakers and amplifier.

The bag perfectly sits in the front basket of my Globe Live 3 to connect to the iPod on my handlebars.

Unlike my other speaker systems, this doesn't require me to carry any additional equipment since the system is built into the bag. The sound doesn't project too loud, but it's fine for riding on my own or with a few other people.

While enjoying the late afternoon light on a dock in the Bay, I couldn't resist playing a setting-appropriate song. One man I rode by complimented me on my "perfect song for the occasion."

I'm pedaling on the dock back towards AT&T Ballpark, the home of the San Francisco Giants. Then I turn right along the marina to enjoy the outdoor sculptures along the waterfront.

Globe Dream

Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed that we haven't reached the mountaintop until more people ride bicycles.

Okay, not really, but The Martin Luther King Memorial at Yerba Buena Gardens is a lovely spot in the midst of a bustling part of San Francisco.

"No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. - Martin Luther King Jr.