Volunteer!

Interested in Volunteering with Youth Bicycle Education Programs?

Here are some upcoming event where we need volunteer help!

E mail volunteer@ybike.org to sign up today!


Community Hubs - Family Bike Fest!
Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Safe Routes to School staff and the YBIKE program for family bicycle and pedestrian safety training as part of the "Community Hubs" program. It's the perfect place for young and old to learn to ride, learn helmet fitting, safety skills, safe street crossing, and how to ride safely on the road. Bring a bike to donate to the Bike Swap or pick one up for your family. As part of the event 50 bicycle helmets will be given away. For more info or to volunteer go to www.ybike.org or email volunteer@ybike.org.

Sat., March 5th 10am-3pm, Cesar Chavez Elementary School

Sat., March 19th, 10am-3pm, Francis Scott Key Elementary School


SF Bike to School Day - Bag Stuffing
Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for our yearly SF Bike to School Day bag stuffing at the YBIKE program. Over lunch and 2 nights we'll stuff 3000 bags for student riders in this year's SF Bike to School Day on 4/7/11 at over 40 schools across San Francisco, Food is included. For more info or to volunteer email rose@sfbike.org or call (415) 431-2453, ext 314.

Wednesday March 16th, 11:30-1:30pm,
YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1152 Gorgas Ave

Wednesday, March 16th, 5:30-8:30pm,
YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1152 Gorgas Ave

Thursday, March 17th, 5:30-8:30pm,
YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1152 Gorgas Ave


Bike to School Day!
Help youth ride to school on April 7th. All over San Francisco, 3,000 youth will ride their bikes to their schools. You can ride with them! Visit www.sfbiketoschoolday.org to sign up your school or e mail rose@sfbike.org to sign up to volunteer today!

Thursday, April 7th, 7:30am-3:30pm,
All over San Francisco!

Save The Date!

UEL March 20th, 2011 Panhandle 6 PM

The Urban Eating League is a night of community dinning. We form teams, dress up in costumes, and walk from house to house to enjoy food created by our community from local, organic and sustainable food! Sign up March 13th at the Grove St (at Divisadero), line forms at 10am. We have room for 8 teams of 3 and 6 individual spots.


Mid Week Bike Tour March 29th- 31st, 2011

During spring break, my co-workers and I will be going on a bike tour. Come with us!!


Weekend Bike Tour April 29th- May 1st, 2011


I am organizing a bike camping trip that will be accessible to anyone who can ride a bike. There will be two options depending on distance and availability. Those that are able to take Friday off and want to ride 30 miles will bike north to China Camp. Those unable to take off work on Friday or more interested in only biking 10 miles will depart on Saturday morning and meet the Friday crew (who will bike 20 miles south) in the Marin Headlands.


Gay Camp! May 20th-22nd, 2011

For one glorious weekend all adult children will meet again. We meet in the woods, in our short shorts and high socks, with the fresh smell of freedom on the iron-on nametags on our underwear.

Sign up to be a counselor, a camper, or a support staff (kitchen, life guard, camp director, etc). We will form cabin groups, share collective meals, and have activities (skill shares, nature hikes, or sneak off and make out, we don’t care!) throughout the days, just like summer camp! We are still looking for the perfect space, preferably some place within an hour of the bay area with a swimming hole. Any ideas? Interested in being apart of the planning party? E mail me, we will have a planning meeting very soon!

Apothocurious is...

Apothocurious is...


Apothocurious is a dream that has manifested into a name via a thesis. Instead of going in directly to grad school after college, I decided to create my own thesis and see what I could discover in the world.

The thesis: I will research communities, transportation and food distribution. The infrastructures that support them, the systems that break them down, and the human experience that enriches it all.

All three are tied together, an individual’s access to one, often defining their access to another.

Apothocurious has fed many bellies, hosted many events, sponsored communities in need, and stuck stickers far and wide. It fills a need for me to create, to share, and to interact with others.

After hosting the Urban Eating League last night, I am reinvigorated to let Apothocurious out of the closet, no longer afraid of the power this name holds.

keeping it simple on tuesday

Wanna be a Volunteer?

We are looking for Volunteers on Saturdays and Spanish speaking bike volunteers on Tuesday Afternoons.

Every other Saturday we are hosting events throughout the city in a different school yard across the city. From 10-3 we will be teaching families how to ride, how to ride safely, and how to ride as a family. We will need volunteers to help with registration, bike mechanics, and teaching bicycle skills.

The first 4 Community Hub events are coming up!
2/12/11 Longfellow Elementary School
2/26/11 Monroe Elementary School
3/5/11 Cesar Chavez Elementary School
3/19/11 Francis Scott Key Elementary School


Volunteer on Tuesdays! We are also looking for a Spanish speaking volunteer who is available on Tuesday afternoons. Everette Middle School's Bike Club has an 80% crew of only Spanish speakers, but our instructors are only conversational Spanish speakers. If we find another adult rider who is fluent in Spanish and English, we could take them on the streets!

Email Volunteer@ybike.org to sign up today!

Don't forget! San Francisco Bike to School Day is April 7th, 2011! Last April 1,000 youth rode to school, this Bike 2 School day, we aim to have 3,000 participants!

Do you work at a school or know someone who does? Feel free to pass this San Francisco Bike to School Day information along to them!

Sign up your school today! We will be distributing posters to publicize around your school and bags to celebrate those that were able to participate, order your supplies today! You can also see if there is a school near by and team up!

We are currently running our Annual SF Bike to School Day Poster Contest. The theme is "My Family Bike Ride." It is open to both public and private K-12 SF schools. The contest runs until February 11th, 2011, so there is still time to submit! Poster Contest

Dove Speed

I have found that I am most happy on Saturday mornings when I have an adventure buddy. Yesterday I was so stoked to be adventuring with my co-worker Matt Dove. We had the responsibility of scouting the yard space for the up and coming Community Hubs events. Next Saturday YBike, Safe Routes to School, and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition will be hosting an awesome family bicycle event at Longfellow Elementary. Can’t make it on the 12th? Don’t worry, we will be hosting one at Monroe Elementary on Feb 26th and at 9 other schools through June. Are you interested in volunteering? E mail volunteer@ybike.org.

Matt travels at my favorite speed: “not rushing,” and everything seems to turn into a community supported adventure. So when we met up at 9 am, our first mission was of course, to grab a snack. We were astonished to discover that when it is sunny and warm, people actually get out of the house at 9 am. There were lines EVERYWHERE! We found ourselves at the new Arizmendi and enjoyed some tasty baked good as we watched the crowds roll by.

From there were took San Jose to Alemany. I was very excited to see new lines on the road with designated new space for Bikes: a left turn box, a bike lane that went all the way to Alemany and one that went back to the high way. On the way back we discovered a counter flow bike lane that saved us a couple of blocks of riding! That little area still needs a little bit of signage and maybe a few kinks worked out, but I am super excited about the new change!

Unfortunately bike lanes don’t prevent flat tires and Matt’s little wheel took a screw to the rim. We had to use a screwdriver to get it out of the tire! We sat down and enjoyed the sun as I watched the pro fix flat tires. It was pretty ironic because while we were enjoying our baked goods back on Valencia, Matt divulged a secret about flat tires. Most of his Bike Party adventures the night before had consistent of Flat Tire support. Matt gets a huge kick out of helping people have a good time while they fixes their flat, so I made sure to provide the moral support this time.

From there were made our final approaches towards Longfellow, but wait! What’s that?! It’s a cell phone on the ground. Let’s find the owner. In the midst of this we make it to the Longfellow and discovered the gates were locked. The Community Hubs grant was created because the SFUSD declared one yard in each of the 11 school districts to be open to the public every Saturday. It was very important for us to see that just because it was a declaration doesn’t mean it was happening. We will have to arrange for it to be open next week.

After scouting the yard from the fence we made our way to Monroe stopping along the way to meet the neighbors, check the yard sales, and enjoy the warm sun. Monroe was unlocked and we were about to map out a course, eat some fruit and meet a family coming to play basketball. We had gotten a tip that the owner of the cell phone would be playing bingo at the first Samoan church on 26th between Dolores and Guerrero, we decided to head over there. Matt got on the bingo caller’s mic and announced who were looking for in order to return the phone. The woman was stoked, the church confused, and the kids excited about these strangers with bikes showing up at their Saturday morning hang out. A few more blocks home with belly dreams of lunch concluded our Saturday morning adventure. It is always a good time with Matt Dove.

follow through and bike parties

What comes before Bike Part B? BIKE PART A! BIKE PARTY!

I had such a stellar time at the San Francisco Bike Party last night. One defining characteristic of the ride is that participants are encouraged to follow city bicycle laws. It is very easy to feel the power that comes with a large group of cyclists, and take advantage of the ease at which we could fully take over the streets. This ride prides itself on stopping at stop signs and red lights. I witnessed many fellow participants reminding other participants to ride on the right hand side of the road, to get off the sidewalk, or to allow cars to have a turn through an intersection.

Accompanied by bumping sound systems, the group of 200+ riders cruised along a preplanned route. Stopping at red lights led to packs of 20-50 cyclists traveling together on each block. It was easy to reconnect with friends at each of the 3-5 different designated dance party locations.

One of the main reasons I rarely participate in critical mass is due to the anger and disobedience I witness between bikes and cars. That vibe seems to influence riding style, and I feel less safe riding in such a large group of anger bikers. SF Bike Party did an impressive job of maintaining their dedication to leading a ride that followed the rules in order to improve the relationship between cars, bikes, and streets. And I had a lot of fun!

Today I am off to do a site visit at Longfellow Elementary School and Monroe Elementary school for YBike’s Community Hubs. Project. Community hubs is an event that happens at 11 schools throughout SF on select Saturdays and will involve many cool youth and family bicycle activities. We will have a bike skills area, a safetyville, a learn to ride area, a bike swap, bikes for sale, family bike rides, and so much more. Come out on Feb 12th to play bikes! We will be at Longfellow Elementary School, in the excelsior, from 10am-3pm. Email volunteer@ybike.org if you are interested in being a volunteer!

The Plan

When is the last time you walked to the top of Corona Heights Park (in SF)? It is one of my new top 10 SF Urban Hikes. I had the privilege to walk up there with my older brother who is in town for the weekend. As far as older brothers go, he upheld his responsibilities and helped me get a little mental structure in order to set some goals that will help me follow my dreams and fully seek/experience happiness.

Annie Londonderry (the first woman to bike around the world circa 1884) said that every good adventure starts with a wager. My brother and I shook on a deal that challenged me to grow my love of biking and food into a way for me to not only support myself, but also send my nephew to college. I am not sure I can win or lose our bet, if i succeed i am to finance Avery's college, if i loose i just have to buy him a bicycle. Regardless, my nephew is adorable and awesome and i couldn't be more excited to have him as my motivation to dust off the old blog and get back into writing.

I start with the first goal of spending one hour, hopefully in the morning, every otherday, blogging, researching other blogs, and setting some structure into this fare fetched plan.

Tonight I will take part in San Francisco's 2nd ever Bike Party! I hope to see you there!