Momentum USA Nov/Dec 2011
Gary Fisher WRITER CAITLIN DONOHUE ROLLING FORWARD WITH Can mountain and commuter bikes live together peacefully in the same garage They do at Gary Fishers house One of Marin Countys original gangster progenitors of mountain bikes he and business partner Charlie Kelly coined the term as the name of their bike company MountainBikes in 1979 Fisher was racing competitively from the age of 12 in cyclocross and on and off road events He now works in design and marketing for his eponymous label at Trek But a funny thing happened in 2007 Fisher dove into the urban cycling scene He now travels the world to hang at premier mountain bike events but has also embroiled himself in sustainable transportation issues in his adopted home of San Francisco There Fisher has gotten involved in the citys goal to raise its percentage of bike riding residents from six to 20 percent He even helped to host the Dutch consulate cycling embassy now touring major cities in the US and talked about raising American bike infrastructure to accommodate mass riding à la Amsterdam We sat down with the legendary biking ambassador to talk culture clash Magazine Do you see the mountain and commuter biking communities as discrete entities GARY FISHER Theres crossover But also a mountain bike is a way to sell an SUV A lot of people will drive their bikes out to where theyre going to ride Our former president George W Bush loved us at Trek Talk about ironies Youve been doing policy related work here in San Francisco whats it like talking about bikes at that level Its really diffi cult moving this stuff along the political medium Its not about the concrete not about the asphalt its about the gray matter between our ears This country used to do mega projects This country made the Golden Gate Bridge What do we do to capture peoples imagination now We could build bike infrastructure and rail and that would generate all the jobs you need You wrote the book on designing mountain bikes What features should people look out for when theyre buying a city bike Its changing In Europe the classic bike is fully equipped That kind of bike is not going to sell here But its changing Urban bikes are like the mountain bikes of the 1970s Theyre really catching on Youre a stylin guy Give me the latest tip for looking fl y on two wheels The important thing is redoing your bike to accommodate all the different clothing you want to wear Full coverage fenders a chain guard its nice to have an easy to use bike thats not going to stain you White tires are good too Its a good thing 21st Amendment Brewery 563 2nd St is in South Park because otherwise you might miss South Park an underhyped patch of fl at San Francisco with lots of sun and easy access to Giants games and the Embarcadero Good spot for a brunch before a game 21st amendment com Velo Rouge Café 798 Arguello Blvd is an oasis of warm delish coffee and food in the oft foggy Inner Richmond hood A great stop before or after your Golden Gate Park sojourn velorougecafe com Benders 806 South Van Ness Ave For when you want 2 Pabst Blue Ribbon and sushi on a Monday night served up in a dark loud bar with a couple rounds of pool for dessert Its the biker bar thats not for tourists said Fisher bendersbar com The Pizza Place 3901 Noriega St Should you fi nd yourself yearning for the beach ride out to Ocean Beach For some sustenance pedal south to Noriega and then inland till you hit The Pizza Place Good real pizza pizzaplacesf com sleeps Good Hotel 112 7th St will accommodate you and your bike in eco friendly style Bike rentals also available on site thegoodhotel com Metro Hotel SF 319 Divisadero St has a Euro feel and is located smack dab between the Haight and the Castro metrohotelsf com Hostelling International has three SF locations two in the central part of town and one by the water in Fort Mason all of which said its website are for more than just hippies and drunks Good news sfhostels com streets rentals Bay City Bike Rental three SF locations see website offers guided tours or just bikes hybrids mountain bikes road bikes or electric bikes Child seats tagalongs and trailers available baycitybike com baybike index php Blazing Saddles 2715 Hyde St offers a wide selection including tandems and triple tandems Located near Fishermans Wharf PHOTO BY MYLEEN HOLLERO which is SFs tourism ground zero for good or for bad blazingsaddles com Bike Roll 899 Columbus Ave rents bikes out of fi ve different shops including one downtown Also offers guided tours bikeandroll com Golden Gate Park Bike Skate 3038 Fulton St rents mountain bikes and tandems and roller skates and is a stones throw from Golden Gate Park goldengateparkbikeandskate com streets shops The Bike Nook 3004 Taraval is the Outer Sunsets bike shop Whats the Outer Sunset Its the epicenter of surf culture in SF oh and cycling out there rewards you with a great big beach Closed Sun and Mon bikenook com Pedal Revolution 3085 21st St is a bike shop on a mission to help at risk youth by teaching them bike maintenance sales and management skills pedalrevolution org PUBLIC Bikes 123 South Park St sells bikes and gear that are pretty practical and commuterfriendly Did we mention pretty Theyre pretty publicbikes com My Dutch Bike 575 Market St is a place to go to drool over Dutch bicycles and amazing accessories mydutchbike com the key piece of intel is The Wiggle a fl at route that connects Golden Gate Park with the Mission District Would courier bags and other essential riding accoutrement exist without SF Maybe but theyd be lame Mission Bicycles Company 766 Valencia St makes beautiful bespoke bikes The shop is so hip it hurts But youve gotta go there missionbicycle com Warm Planet 311 Townsend St is a full service bicycle shop specializing in folding and cargo bikes located next to the Caltrain Station warmplanetbikes com Chrome 580 4th St chromebagsstore com Mission Workshop 40 Rondel Place missionworkshop com Rickshaw Bagworks 904 22nd St rickshawbags com Timbuk2 506 Hayes St timbuk2 com seeks Check out Googles bike maps to chart your way San Francisco is one of the applications fi rst test areas so its been rigorously tested San francisco Bicycle Coalition @ SFBC SFBIKE ORG SF STREETSBLOG ORG SFCRITICALMASS ORG Mary Catherine OConnor is an independent journalist who lives and rides in San Francisco @ mcoc mcoconnor com Meli models a Riyoko Jacket Cyclelogical T shirt B Spoke Tailor Knickers exIT Shoes Socks provided by Sock Shop on Haight St Bag provided by Pushbike Nutcase Helmet Felt Café Bike at the Pedal Savvy fashion show PHOTO BY ERNESTO SANTOS MOMENTUMPLANET COM 37 NOV DEC 11
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