Rock the Bike's Fossil Fool, builder and owner of the bizarre tall bike/sound system/mobile art project/Burning Man homing beacon that can be seen rolling around SF, was recently taken to court over the bike.  Apparently the fine state of California's Vehicle Code makes tall bikes illegal, as a rider of a bicycle must be able to stop safely while upright with “at least one foot on the ground.”  So to get around the law, FF built two stabilizing bars (called “roots,” because the bike is named “El Arbol”.  GET IT???) that can be deployed with a pull of a lever from the top of the bike, thus preventing the inevitable tipping-over that happens when stopping a tall-bike in traffic.

Of course, the safety measures were not good enough for SFPD.  FF explains:

Even though San Francisco is a pretty liberal city when it comes to enforcement of bicycle related offenses, I did get pulled over at Critical Mass when I drifted to the back of the group, where the motorcycle cops ride. I deployed the roots, climbed down and talked to the officer, pointing out the safety features, how I am able to keep both hands on the handlebars, how wide the roots are, etc. He thought that the rig was illegal due to its height, but couldn't recall the tall bike statute by heart and wrote me up for no front headlight instead. I thought that was odd considering how bright the Down Low Glow was shining, but he had to pick something, i guess.

Fool paid that ticket and kept on pedaling, but the same officer apparently obsessed a little too much over the bike:

So I was riding El Arbol to [the Fix Fell] protest. I was rounding the corner at Dolores Park when the I saw the same officer talking to a couple other motorcycle cops on a break. He smiled and gave me a hand motion to come over, and I think he said “I have something to show you.” It was unclear whether I was getting pulled over, and I was running late for the protest, so I gave him a shrug and kept riding. I guess in retrospect it was pretty obvious what was going to happen next. He caught up to me on Church St. and pulled me over. This time he had researched the tall bike law and cited me for it. My arguments ranged from “C'mon man, I'm not hurting anyone” to nitpicky.

So FF, feeling his ride was perfectly safe, took his ticket, rode the bike to court with some pictures and sketches of the bike.  The judge looked the bike over, asked him about how one gets on and off the bike, and simply dismissed the charges, noting that the bike and it's deployable roots were “novel.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how to beat California's tall bike law.

(Read the whole thing and see lots of construction shots of El Arbol over at Rock the Bike)

Reader AB sends us this poster, which I guess is attempting to depict what types of bikes represent various neighborhoods in SF.  Sure, the Tenderloin illustration is one humdinger of a joke, but the rest of the neighborhoods are just too literal.  I mean, I realize absolutely everyone in the Mission rides a fixie, but I have never once seen a unicycle in the Haight.  Is it trying to say the Haight is full of red-nosed clowns?  Perhaps the Haight should have been a tall bike, representing that it is a complete bastardization of what it once was.  And shouldn't Civic Center be the town bicycle?

Anyway, if you dig this poster, a cool 30 smacks and it's yours.

Our buddy Man Freckles spotted a duo of San Franciscans rolling down the Embarcadero with dandy horses the other day, which, you know, is appalling because dandy horses haven't been mass-produced since the 1860's.  I guess it was only a matter of time…

(link)

On Friday, I took a break from my busy schedule of drinking lemonade-flavored malt liquor and cussing to check out the inaugural SF Bike Party.  About 300 people turned out for the music-full, SFPD-free ride around the city that looped around the city, hitting up Fisherman's Wharf, Alta Plaza Park, the de Young Museum, and Civic Center.

Undoubtedly the ride demonstrates the positive powers of the SF Bike Community, meaning everyone can get together to dance, drink, and, namely, ride bikes without being inconsiderate towards traffic and the law.  But it was hard to completely get behind the party's strict adherence to the “stop at every red light” rule, as it seemed to be a detriment to the very community they were trying to create.  Rather than maintain a peaceful, party-focused bike parade around the city, they ended up creating a string small packs of 30-40 people separated by an entire block.  If you were unfortunate enough to be in the back of the ride, you didn't even make it to the party stops until the DJs were putting on their last song.

Hella breaks in the ride along the Embarcadero.

But, you know, maybe that's okay.  If splitting up the ride means we get to bump Michael Jackson and Kid Cudi along the route, I suppose that's a tradeoff we can all live with.  That said, it'd be a bummer if SF Bike Party turned into Critical Manners, a ride defined by their adherence to the law which is attended by no more than a dozen total commuter dorks who, when aggregated, appear to be nothing more than a typically-dense pack of old killjoys rolling down Market on the way home from their boring jobs.

But even if the ride has its shortfalls (perhaps it's just teething?), it's not everyday you get you see a few hundred blinking lights rolling along the waterfront.