Tagged: bikes

On today's show, we played a lot of top five bike lists – everything from the top five reasons it's great to bike in San Francisco to the top five tips for being an urban female biker. Listen to them all, plus a few extra, here.

Chris Hoff, KALW sound engineer

Top five bike gripes

5. San Francisco hills. These mighty obstacles have forced the strongest of us to dismount on occasion and walk our trusty steeds up their towering heights. Or, just go around them.

4. Drivers talking on their cell phones. Sweet Fancy Moses.

3. Potholes. Many a broken spoke and busted wheel have fallen victim to these diminutive demons.

2. Oblivious pedestrians. A close second: oblivious pedestrians talking on their cell phones. 

On the last Friday evening of every month, the streets of hundreds of cities around the world are transformed. The cars, trucks, and busses that usually dominate the landscape slow down – because they are overwhelmed by bicycles. In San Francisco, cyclists from all over the city, the Bay Area, and sometimes the world come together at the foot of Market Street.

In Downtown San Franisco on Market Street, subtly hidden next to the glitzy Westfield Shopping center, 10 floors above the newly painted green bike lanes, are the offices are the San Francisco Bike Coalition. It’s big and lofty-feeling; there’s a wall filled with hooks for bikes. This is the brain trust of the city’s bike movement. The person in charge is SFBC’s executive director, Leah Shahum. And she has a vision.