PUBLIC Supports Papergirl SF

August 12th, 2010

PUBLIC loves art. We especially love art that creates community, fun, and connects to our mission about getting more people on bicycles. That’s why we’re happy to support our friends at Papergirl SF. What’s Papergirl? “Papergirl is, in essence, a mail-art and delivery systems art project that is participatory, analogue, non-commercial, and impulsive. Submitted artwork… Read more »

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PUBLIC loves art. We especially love art that creates community, fun, and connects to our mission about getting more people on bicycles.

That’s why we’re happy to support our friends at Papergirl SF. What’s Papergirl?

“Papergirl is, in essence, a mail-art and delivery systems art project that is participatory, analogue, non-commercial, and impulsive. Submitted artwork is distributed like a newspaper but not edited or printed like it, the artwork is rolled up into bundles of 5 pieces or more and thrown to passers-by from bicycles.”

PUBLIC’s office at 123 South Park is serving as a drop-off location for art submissions. Submission deadline is Sept. 18.

We’re definitely going to help with art distribution on our PUBLIC bikes. Our baskets and panniers will come in handy to carry rolled up art.

And we’ve got several members of our PUBLIC team who studied or dabble in art so we also plan to submit our own art. Our founder Rob was a ceramics artist with a MFA to boot. Sally got her BFA in painting and drawing. Hannah is a filmmaker and photographer. And all of us are proficient at doodling during staff meetings. Some are better than others.

How can you not get excited about this project? Especially since almost anyone can participate. Submit some art. Help roll them up. And see you on the streets to help make a random person’s day that much cooler and happier.

“Anything can be submitted: prints, photos, drawings, paintings, zines, writings, textiles, etc. The only requirement is that the art be flexible enough to be rolled up, we won’t be throwing any stretched canvases around. The art pieces aren’t selected for Papergirl, we use everything that is submitted, so the artists decide what to show and have given away in distribution. The art rolls cannot be sold and are not delivered to subscribers, anyone who catches a roll is lucky, and money can’t buy luck! Throwing the work from a moving bike means there is no time for any stereotypes when choosing recipients of the art rolls, as distributors often have to react fast and spontaneously.”

Black Large PUBLIC C3 for $700

August 12th, 2010

This Large PUBLIC C3 in Black is one of a handful of sample Black bikes PUBLIC produced recently. In mid-November, we’ll introduce a limited production of Small and Medium Black PUBLIC D8s, which can be ordered and reserved now. We have one Large Black PUBLIC C3 for sale for $700 before sales tax. If you… Read more »

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This Large PUBLIC C3 in Black is one of a handful of sample Black bikes PUBLIC produced recently. In mid-November, we’ll introduce a limited production of Small and Medium Black PUBLIC D8s, which can be ordered and reserved now.

We have one Large Black PUBLIC C3 for sale for $700 before sales tax.

If you can’t pick up the bike in San Francisco, we’ll need to charge you an additional $125 to ship the bike “Ready to Ride.”

To purchase the bike, please send inquiry to customerservice@publicbikes.com.

Black Standard PUBLIC V7 for $600

August 12th, 2010

This Standard PUBLIC V7 in Black is one of a handful of sample Black bikes PUBLIC produced recently. In mid-November, we’ll introduce a limited production of Small and Medium Black PUBLIC D8s, which can be ordered and reserved now. We have two Standard Black PUBLIC V7s for sale for $600 before sales tax. If you… Read more »

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This Standard PUBLIC V7 in Black is one of a handful of sample Black bikes PUBLIC produced recently. In mid-November, we’ll introduce a limited production of Small and Medium Black PUBLIC D8s, which can be ordered and reserved now.

We have two Standard Black PUBLIC V7s for sale for $600 before sales tax.

If you can’t pick up the bike in San Francisco, we’ll need to charge you an additional $125 to ship the bike “Ready to Ride.”

To purchase the bike, please send inquiry to customerservice@publicbikes.com.

Black Standard PUBLIC C7 for $600

August 12th, 2010

This Standard PUBLIC C7 in Black is one of a handful of sample Black bikes PUBLIC produced recently. In mid-November, we’ll introduce a limited production of Small and Medium Black PUBLIC D8s, which can be ordered and reserved now. We have one Standard Black PUBLIC C7s for sale for $600 before sales tax. If you… Read more »

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This Standard PUBLIC C7 in Black is one of a handful of sample Black bikes PUBLIC produced recently. In mid-November, we’ll introduce a limited production of Small and Medium Black PUBLIC D8s, which can be ordered and reserved now.

We have one Standard Black PUBLIC C7s for sale for $600 before sales tax.

If you can’t pick up the bike in San Francisco, we’ll need to charge you an additional $125 to ship the bike “Ready to Ride.”

To purchase the bike, please send inquiry to customerservice@publicbikes.com.

Copenhagen: Where the Mayor does not wear a bike helmet

August 10th, 2010

Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen (right) Danish “World Cup” helmets Denmark has a long tradition of helmets and head protection used for battling wartime opponents and confronting freezing winters. So they must know their stuff about protecting noggins. When we visited Copenhagen last month we took note that only a minority of the cyclists wore bike… Read more »

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Mayors and HelmetsCopenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen (right)

Mayors and HelmetsDanish “World Cup” helmets

Mayors and HelmetsMayors and HelmetsMayors and helmets

Denmark has a long tradition of helmets and head protection used for battling wartime opponents and confronting freezing winters. So they must know their stuff about protecting noggins. When we visited Copenhagen last month we took note that only a minority of the cyclists wore bike helmets in the city. We saw Nutcase helmets on kids, racing helmets on bike messengers, and some chic hats on women’s heads. But scarves were more common than helmets. The Mayor himself, the figurehead for the biking conference we attended, chose not to wear a helmet in the 2000 person bike parade we all took through the city.

Was he making a statement? Of course, he is a politician after all and very conscious of his public image and opinions. I did not interview him, but I can wager his rationale. He has reviewed the data over the last ten years in Copenhagen enough to know that bike safety is first and foremost a function of the number of people riding bikes and protected streets. He was campaigning to reduce the fear element associated with cycling. Many people think that cycling is unsafe and helmets often confirm this assumption. He was communicating what recent urban bike studies have shown — there is safety in numbers.

Serious injuries have declined by 20% in Denmark in the last decade as cycling has increased 20%. The same trends are seen in other cities. Take New York for a local example. Cycling is up 66% from 2007 -2009 and injuries are down 50%.

The key to safe riding is related to a range of factors: the number of riders overall, driver awareness, separate lanes, safe streets, and intelligent riding. At PUBLIC we are advocates for the concept of urban cycling as fast walking. The most entertaining dissertation I have read on helmet usage may be in David Byrne’s book and come from his personal efforts to cope with this issue.

Back to Mayors. Would Mayor Gavin Newsom ride a bike without a helmet? Probably not. Why? In the U.S., the infrastructure and culture for bicycling is far behind places like Copenhagen, so helmet use is generally encouraged.  Also driver awareness and respect here in the U.S. are much lower.  But Mayor Newsom was front and center today right in our SOMA neighborhood for a bike lane painting ceremony to mark the end of the painful injunction that has kept us in the dark ages.  Check him out painting the new bike lane. Now San Francisco can roll with the rest of the U.S. 
We love to see our Mayors taking action around the country on behalf of alternative transit. Mayor Bloomberg of New York, with Janette Sadik- Kahn, has been the poster child in recent years. But Mayor Daley of Chicago recently implemented the B-Cycle bike share program, throwing down the gauntlet: 



“My goal is to make Chicago the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States.”
 


We welcome the competitive spirit almost as much as new bike lanes.

– Rob Forbes

 

PUBLIC Helmet

We sell helmets at PUBLIC, and we love them. And we encourage people to wear protection if they are riding fast, in dangerous areas, or where cars propose a threat. That Danish Mayor probably straps on a helmet when he is late for a meeting across town and biking over icy pavement. But we will also continue to lobby for safe streets, slow riding, driver education, and more Mayors on bikes.