The Snitch reports:

​The hefty cop with the handlebar mustache had a problem with a handlebar of a different sort. “Look,” he yelled at the despondent fixie-riding hipster he'd just flagged down, “do you have brakes on this thing or not?”

This didn't happen just once. At least one rider tried to explain that, like Fred Flintstone, his legs served as brakes. That answer didn't cut it.

Cyclists traversing Market Street this week have noticed an uptick of riders being flagged down and cited for rolling through red lights or stop signs — or, as in the case above, not having handlebar-mounted brakes. Apparently cyclists don't read San Francisco Police Department press releases — as, on Aug. 5, the cops were kind enough to announce they'd be doing this throughout the week.

The story goes on suggest blame the recent ticketing stings falls on bicyclists themselves, claiming that recently accidents in SOMA has forced SFPD's hands.  And while the checkpoint of sorts at 5th and Market will be winding down soon, SFPD suggests they'll keep up enforcement.

Idaho's laws sure are looking nice these days….

[SF Weekly | Photo by rmcnicholas]

Our pals at the Get Outdoors Blog alert us to this video of a woman administering a sweet dose of street justice to a would be bike thief:

Kristen Bell, creative associate at WCG, dished out some justice when a would be bike thief outside her  offices in San Francisco tried to ride off with a colleague's bike.

They didn't kick the shit out of the thief or chase him down, which struck me as unfortunate when I first saw the video.  However, that ended up being a smart idea, as the thief apparently pulled a knife on security guards as he was running away.

But not all hope of avenging the crime was lost, as The Bay Citizen brings us this:

Bell said that before trying to steal the WCG intern's bike, the thief apparently had chained his own bicycle to a sign outside the building. During the courtyard scuffle, he dropped the key to his lock.

The key ended up in the hands of building security guards, who happened to notice the improperly locked bicycle. They unlocked the bike and confiscated it, Bell said.

The whole ordeal is beautiful to watch unfold.  Action starts about 25 seconds in:

Don't get me wrong, I'd miss having that giant Skippy peanut butter jar full of worthless zinc and cooper on my desk if we banned pennies outright, but it's about time someone started rounding out pennies.  And for good reasons too!  From Mike's Bikes laundry list of reasons for ditching the coin:

Pennies are 3% copper, and 97% zinc and are primarily made from virgin ore. Making pennies from zinc means and copper means mining for those materials. Red Dog Mine, which is the largest zinc mine in the US is by far the #1 polluter on the EPA's list, because of large quantities of heavy-metal and lead rich mining tailings. The process of refining both metals can release sulfur dioxide (SO2), lead and zinc into the environment.

And:

Pennies are so worthless now that it doesn't even pay the California Minimum Wage of $8/hour to pick them up off the street.

Of course, this isn't going to make a huge dent in the problem (especially considering the zinc industry lobbyists crushing related US legislation / the fact I never shop at Mike's Bikes), but perhaps the Board of Sups can take Mike's lead and make this the next San Francisco environmental cause du jour.

[pic via reddit] (Thanks Tony!)

As anyone who has biked over the Golden Gate Bridge over the past month can tell you, The Bridge is an unbearable mess right now.  At the beginning of June, the western side of the bridge, which is dedicated to peak hour bike usage, was closed for four months for construction.  The result of this closure is now San Francisco cyclists must try to ride around the disoriented mob of tourists and photographers—a task this blogger can assure you is enough to make you leap off your bicycle and find the quickest exit from the madness.

Thankfully, the SF Bike Coalition has been taking the Golden Gate Bridge District to task over the situation, as announced in yesterday's newsletter:

The SF Bicycle Coalition asked for added measures to help bridge users understand what's going on and safely manage the capacity reduction (such as posting uniformed staff at key points to help sort things out), as well as asking the District to provide roadway space for bicycle traffic during the sidewalk closure, or at least bike shuttles across the bridge (already done for other bridge sidewalk closures). But the District claims that it can't be done.

Really? Impossible to mitigate the loss of half the bridge's non-motorized capacity? If the District had closed half of the bridge's roadway lanes for four months would they just shrug and look the other way? We're letting the District know that cramming all their summertime foot and bike traffic onto just one sidewalk is impossible — it's time to bring real solutions to this serious (and long-planned) capacity reduction. Give bike traffic a temporary lane, or give it a shuttle. You can let them know as well — tell the District what you think at ggb@sfbike.org. Take extra care if you do get out on the bridge, and please show some extra kindness to other folks dealing with this disruption — now more than ever it's about giving and getting respect.

I'd also recommend taking a Xanax.

[Photo by SF Examiner]