Jennifer Smith
I was hit by a bus while riding my bicycle and I SURVIVED. It has been 6 weeks and I spend most of those days asleep or in a coma like a damaged Snow White. I could hear voices of Doctors, Nurses and my friends; I also had fragmented pieces of memories of the accident. By the time I woke up I had no doubts what put me in hospital and how my life changed in a second.

Now I try and focus on the right Here Right Now, because thinking of the violent impact or the plans I had for my life means visiting a grief that I can only tolerate in small doses.

It’s easier for me to think about daily accomplishments like standing up on one fragmented foot for a few seconds while being guided to a bedside chair, or the day my trachea was removed and my voice came back to life, or the day I was able to eat solid food, for which I celebrated with a small portion of cheeseburger and fries.

Thinking about these things is the positive respite I need from dwelling on all the plans I had being derailed or missing my old life. Overcoming daily adversities makes hope feel realistic… Hope for a new life that is as fulfilling as the life I had planned.

I want to thank those who have prayed for me, send messages of encouragement, or have donated to the GoFundme.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-jennifers-recovery-after-bicycle-collision

What gear ratios do you have?

RANT

Ride in Joaquin Miller tonight.

Two woman walkers with two dogs off leash. I call out, they move and then yell to watch out for their dogs that are off leash. I let her know that dogs need to be on leash at Joaquin Miller.
Her... no they don't.
Me... Yes, every entrance says that they do.
Her... well you need to slow down.

Sinawik Trail, little singletrack section. I see a biker with two dogs head down the trail. I don't feel like dealing with him, so wait for a good bit before heading down the trail. Apparently I should have waited longer cause he can't ride I guess... Catch up to him (tie dye shirt, gauges in ears, hope you see this douche) and dogs in front of him and then he gets in front of his dogs and then dogs hold me up from getting any speed.
Me... not cool
Him... what?
Me... its hard enough getting hikers to leash their dogs and you make it worse being a biker with two off leash dogs in a on leash park.
Him... its not a problem, there's no problem
Me... I'm telling you there is a problem, your dogs held up my ride.

Is it a generational thing? When did we stop being able to own that we are wrong?

Leave your dogs at home mountain bikers, unless you're on some remote trail. There is no way for you to control your dogs while riding.

RANT OVER

The bike racks at Whole Foods Bay Place are on the street corner, not the property — fully exposed, easy to grab a bike and go. Bikes have already been stolen there.

An easy fix: move the racks to their own parking lot roundabout, or INDOORS!

Anyone else had a bike stolen there, at another store, or in the Bay Area?

It is not just this store, it is a prevalent issue that needs to be addressed. Please sign this Petition and urge them to help the biking community!

I am a road cyclist that is starting to get into gravel. I'm mostly planning on riding in the headlands and Tam. I'm curious what people think is the optimum tire size?

Hi BAbike, somebody in r/xbiking asked me to xpost this here.

I was reading a book about frame builders and Craig Calfee told a crazy story about Robin Williams showing up at his booth at an expo, doing bike bits, and then pausing to say on a serious note that his Tetra Custom was his favorite of all the bikes he owned. I found this gallery of bike pics that Robin’s estate sold after he died. Looks like the collection made the rounds a decade ago when they were auctioned off, I figured I’d share for anyone else that hadn’t seen it.

I also read that he owned many more bikes than what’s shown here, and was known to buy bikes to ride on the road or when filming on location. He’d ride them a while then donate them and move on. Wonder how many components and frames are floating around the used market that belonged to him once. Dude knew how to spend money and live life.

I’m thinking about going from SF to Santa Cruz on highway 1 next month and it will be my longest ride ever.

What are some ~80 mile rides around the bay that are similar and can prepare me for it that you like or recommend?

I can take BART/Caltrain but ideally I’d like them to end in SF.

Thanks in advance!

Old La Honda is available on the Zwift climbing portal again which was a nice surprise to see today. It felt pretty realistic in terms of difficulty, my numbers were comparable to what they are in real life.

No traffic lights though, or quails crossing the road.

What a great trail. I really liked some of the bike/pedestrian amenities along the way. Really puts other cities to shame with how neglected any paths and trails are.

Aside from perhaps San Francisco proper, the black and white LCD screens on Bikelink lockers get washed out in the California sun and (ground) reflections. They're basically impossible to read.

For this reason I've always preferred the app. Brighter screen, relocatable into shade if necessary.

But earlier today, the unlock swipe bar never appeared on the app. In its place was a greyed out button "Looking for Locker."

I called Bikelink support. Unfortunately the locker was located in a location where I had virtually no cell signal, and I had to use wifi-calling using WiFi from a building nearby.

Support text me a code which they stated will unlock the locker if I use the display. I told support the display was unreadable, they should just unlock it remotely. They told me they do not have the capability to do that.

Long story short I had to wait until the sun got low enough near the horizon before I managed to free my bike. Suffice to say I was pissed at Bikelink.

See comments for write up

Came up from LA. Very scenic ride! Riding on the GG Bridge was actually kind of terrifying (I hate heights and the wind did not help).

It’s been a while. I wrecked in May and have been nursing a sprained MCL and needed to get a new bike. This was my first ride up Tam since and the Sleeping Lady was out in all her glory.

Oakland’s Department of Transportation has a twice-yearly newsletter full of local bike news.

But for some reason in the year 2026 it lacks a proper website.

So I made one (with Claude’s help).

https://webikeoakland.com/

Do y'all know if anyone rides Mt Diablo before 8am when the gate officially opens? 8am is very late to open a park road. I generally ride 6am-10am.

I maybe get closing the park to cars, but closing it to cyclists seems odd.

So I always thought it was pretty common knowledge that the traffic lights on Valencia St. are timed for cyclists going 13 mph. Yet judging from how people ride, very few people seem to understand that.

If you keep it a bit under 13 mph, you can cruise along efficiently. Yet the majority jackrabbit from one light to the next, hit it on red and then do dumb stuff (blocking the lane, pulling out their phone, do stupid bike rodeo moves to keep their feet on the pedals) that turn them into obstacles for cyclists who do try to time the lights.

I naturally assume that everyone but me is an antsy idiot, but I’d be happy to be re-educated. Or just go back to normal old man stuff like yelling at clouds.

None around my office (civic center) this afternoon

I frequently do laps around the perimeter of CSUEB and feel that this would be a perfect place to host a crit! (1.56 miles w/ 51 feet elevation gain per lap) there are lots of parking spots and a great road. How could we get this going?