Tag Archives: sanfrancisco

Giro di San Francisco

Every Labor Day (the first Monday in September), San Francisco hosts a bike race called the “Giro di San Francisco.” Giro is the Italian word for “tour” — in years past, the race went through North Beach, an historically Italian neighborhood.

Once upon a time, the race was known as the San Francisco Gran Prix, and some of the world’s greatest pros came to SF to suffer on the steep hills of Fillmore Street.

The Giro is now a relatively flat “criterium” race (meaning a lot of short, fast laps, which is great for spectators).

The Giro has caught the attention of Funcheap:

http://sf.funcheap.com/il-giro-de-san-francisco-bike-race/

The race promoter’s event flyer is here:

http://www.ncnca.org/sites/default/files/07/14/2017%20-%206%3A15pm/FL_2017-2356-Giro%20di%20SF_OKED.pdf

Lots of folks take video while in the race:

 

 

A Post about a Bicycle

Write a blog post about a bike you own or have owned
(or wanted to own). Include some visual element
in your post (photo, drawing, graph, chart, map…).

Like this one:

In a barn sale in rural Ohio, my mother found a rusty Frankenstein of a bike: two frames and some iron pipe welded together in a frightening heap. She bought it for $20. I managed to get it to San Francisco & fix it up. I don’t get to ride it much because I live in a hilly area and it’s almost impossible to ride this thing on a hill (up or down).

There is a “tall bike” subculture in the US and around the world, usually centered in urban areas, so it was a surprise that this bike came from a very rural area. Also, it appears to have been constructed 30 or 40 years ago, which is before the current tall bike subculture really got going.

Unfortunately, this bike has a design flaw that can cause the handlebars to detach unexpectedly from the front wheel. Although the bike isn’t super duper tall, this experience is nonetheless unsettling. If I can figure out how to fix this problem, I’ll bring the bike to campus one of these days.

PS. YouTube video of the tallest bike I know of:

 

David Binder Research, Summary Memo on Transportation

This report was prepared by David Binder Research. It’s a great example of how our discussion of credibility can be extended to talk about evidence — how to get it, how to use it, and how to evaluate it.

As you examine this report, think about evidence. How was it gathered, and how is it presented?

https://www.sfbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DBR-SF-Voter-Transportation-Research-Summary1.pdf

Expedition: Giro di San Francisco

This weekend, San Francisco hosts the Giro di San Francisco criterium (a bicycle race composed of many short laps). The race is held near the Embarcardero and Levi Strauss Plaza.

This historic race has been run in San Francisco since the mid-1970s. It’s fun to watch—the race has many short laps (known as “criterium racing”), so you get the see the riders pass by every minute or so.

The races run all day on Labor Day, Monday, September 5, 2016 (the first race is at 8:00 a.m. and the last race starts at 3:00 p.m.

More info here: http://media.wix.com/ugd/eb74ca_4d6a6ec072864f25b2be030e64b9f947.pdf

Here’s a short promo filmed in 2011:

 

If you go, be sure to leave time to walk up the astonishing Filbert Steps to Coit Tower — a really unique San Francisco experience.

map showing Battery & Union, San Francisco
Battery St. & Union St.

A Unnatural History of Golden Gate Park (podcast)

USF Professor David Silver teaches a famed first-year seminar on Golden Gate Park. When I mentioned that we will be exploring the park on bicycles, he recommended this podcast on the history of GGP and the role it plays in the social and ecological life of San Francisco.

Here’s the An Unnatural History of Golden Gate Park site. It was produced by the Studio for Urban Projects.

You can also find An Unnatural History of Golden Gate Park on iTunes.