San Francisco Film Festival

The San Francisco Bicycle Film Festival started yesterday. It continues through Saturday. Visit the Bicycle Film Festival site for schedule, locations, and other details. More Bay Area news below...



About 100 San Francisco Bicycle Coalition members held a rally on Monday at city hall, demanding activity on the court-mandated environmental review process. The SF City bike plan was stalled when Judge James Warren ruled that it must go through the same environmental impact reviews required of other transportation projects, but the perception of many cyclists is that the City has not put any priority on doing the work necessary to advance the project. More at KTVU and the Chronicle.

A car free Market Street?

Supervisor Chris Daly asked the city attorney to draft legislation to permanently ban cars on Market Street between Octavia Boulevard and the Embarcadero, an idea that has been floated by various city leaders, including former Mayor Willie Brown, for more than a decade.

Daly said discussion of a proposal by Mayor Gavin Newsom to close portions of city streets, including a large stretch of the Embarcadero, on two Sundays this year prompted his action.

"It's the city's grand boulevard," Daly said. "Why don't we go for the gold?"

Sunday Streets is a proposal to close 4½ miles of streets San Francisco to motor vehicle traffic and open them up to physical activity and play. Some city supervisors, however, have introduced legislation that would require an economic and traffic study before streets can be closed, in addition to approval from the Board of Supervisors.

San Jose says they'll extend Los Gatos Creek Trail to connect Campbell and Los Campbell with downtown San Jose. Currently, the Los Gatos Creek trail stops at Meridian Avenue in San Jose. There's also a small half mile stretch of trail along Los Gatos Creek underneath I-280 and at Azurais Street. There are no plans to connect these two discontiguous stretches of the Los Gatos Creek Trail.

The next San Jose Bike Party: August 15. The theme: Lord of the Flies. The last ride got a little bit of attention from the San Jose Police. More participation in the San Jose Bike Party means more attention and some growing pains. The organizers, for example, are talking about how to limit the involvement of belligerent drunks on the ride.

Other bicycle news

You've probably seen this story: Political columnist Robert Novak, known for his aggressive driving in DC, runs a red light and hits a pedestrian in a crosswalk. The pedestrian goes up and over the hood into Novak's windshield before sliding off, according to witnesses. Novak zooms off, making this a hit and run. Attorney David Bono was biking to work when he saw this hit and run and chased Novak down. Bono called 911 and blocked Novak's car. Bono's a hero.