Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Supermarket Street Sweep - SMSW 2010!!

The Supermarket Street Sweep 2010, SMSW 2010 took place this past Saturday at noon here in San Francisco. Two awesome bike ladies Kacey and Jenny Oh, are the wheelwoman power rangers behind this operation alongside photographer Koshi and many volunteers.
"The Supermarket Street Sweep is an annual bike race that benefits the San Francisco Food Bank! For the past four years, hundreds of participants have zipped around the city to local supermarkets and brought back thousands of pounds of food to donate to this wonderful charity." -supermarketstreetsweep: about 
This year I decided I was mentally ready to participate in this. As a lone wolf I often times am, I stopped by a few of years ago, but got a little intimidated (bike wise) by the cargo bikes, thinking I couldn't carry much or deliver a big load of stuff. But then I saw some pictures later and learned furthermore about it, +I could totally do a food-bank fundraising alley-cat style ride, and so I was stoked to join this year!!
 posters for delivery
The 2 posters I gave as my contribution for the prices this year, were safe+dry and ready for delivery. Mandatory coffee stop before showing up at noon was a must. I even had a breakfast burrito. Extra bike fuel was necessary this morning.

Here is the complete map. Approx 14.8 miles
and the day went like this:
pamela
pamela! her set is here: link
reesie
reesie stopped by to take some snaps =)
chicas
chicas.
Katie got first place in the race on road bike. woo!
check-in
Nio and everyone, ready to check-in
jenny y kacey
Jenny y Kacey
jd y sasha
Jeremiah y Sasha
best socks!
mark had the best sox
where to go
and ready
cupids
set
take off
go!
1st stop: Safeway. The first stop was 4th and King and didn't take many photos, I was still figuring and things around, bought some beans and canned food.
spoke card
spoke card
 
 
2nd stop: CALA foods. Heading from the SOMA to Hyde and California was the most fun because I knew I'd rn into the sea of red. Santacon was crawling around civic center and I knew my beloved Polk street would be plenty of entertainment. Never fails.
Route: 4th> Townsend> 7th> Market> Grove> Polk> California
 santasland
santasland
 more rice
Buying more rice and reading chisme magazine.
cala pit stop
CALA pit stop. 
 
 
 
3rd stop: Safeway. Heading to Webster and O'Farrell from California street, was all downhill. I liked that. Off to the Safeway between Japantown and the Fillmore. That safeway was packed. 
Hyde (big wheeeee!!> Geary> Polk> Macallister> Webster
webster y o'farrell
Safeway in the fillmore
frenchie parking
Frenchie parking. I took some time to stretch and drink lots of water.
new amigos
new amigos
These guys and their epic balloon swords, mostly from the Eat Bay, were super nice y encouraging =)


3rd stop: Rainboooow. Going from the Fillmore to the Mission was super easy, flat and the traffic was quiet serene. Once I got to Rainbow I thought I'd get myself a really fresh drink as I was super uber thirsty. Given that a place like Rainbow has all kinds of hippie cool drinks, I knew I'd find something fun. I was imagining maybe cilantro water? ha aa, well better yet, I got me some coconut drink with lime juice. Wattttt. Fantastico.
>Webster> Page> Gough> Mission> 14th> Folsom
I'm too happy for this place
oh rainbow. it's so heavy up in here.
I was so happy my sudafed had almost entirely kicked in (I had been fighting with nasty ear flood feeling allergies) I decided to take a photo. When I set-up the timer of my silly happy moment, some guy working there gave me the dirtiest look. You know what, I don't care what kind of philosophical dark day you are having mr. Nietzsche guanabee of the Mission. Now move over boy, while I go continue to overfill my mixte basket.
dingding and off I go!!
panda on 16th
This is somewhere on 16th. It started to sprinkle just a little bit, then it stopped.


4th stop: Smart and Final. Getting from Rainbow, to the Bay Shore blvd. I decided to go around the dogpatch to hit less traffic lights and mini hills and opted to take 3rd.
This one I wasn't sure I could do out of memory, as I had already done the whole ride without a map, but if my memory served me right, I remember passing by this Smart and Final many times on multiple random rides. I thanks my good memory.
This was perhpas my favorite spot of the route, as I got to talk to a middle schooler that asked the group about what we were doing. I continued to talk him and his mom for a little bit and it was just a very nice moment. I told him I could totally see him on a bike and he got really shy, it was cute.
This was the stop I learned from my neighbor loaders, that if you have a goal of making a top cargo load, this is the time to do it. Makes sense since it is closest to the final point. Everyone had such crazy big loads and I even saw a trio of guys gobblyish walking down Oakdale because their bikes were just so overloaded. Dammmn awesome!
>14th> Rhode Island> 16th> 3rd> Evans> Toland> Oakdale
at the smart and final
dirty rice
mi buddy dirty dave
john's 315lbs!
John's 315lbs! guaooo - this champ got 2nd place for cargo.
jiffy basket
jiffy basket
heavier items went in the basket, the pasta and such went in the backpack.
tonka trucks IRL
IRL Tonka trucks, riding on César Chávez heading back to the dogpatch
 
Final stop: Food bank. Pennsylvania and 22nd is where the Foodbank is. In the above little map is the red + black square. Getting there and delivering the tiny load of mine felt great, at this point I wish I could carry more, but 10lbs on my back is max, and the rest go in the basket. My intentions and will were gazillions of pounds however. It was super fun to see so many people and their loads. I chatted with most throughout the ride as I decided to do join up alone, I didn't have a group or any of my girls with me.
Often I like doing stuff alone. And no matter what, you are always surrounded by good people.
jeremiah's load of buckets
load of buckets
dad and son duo
dad and son duo. Cooper was the youngest rider and such a fantastic trooper =)
miz jenny oh
yes finish!! checkin back in with Jenny
oh hai
oh HAI!
weight line
weight delivery line
deliveries into the food bank
my load
finito
check sheet
I may have not hauled a tremendous big load but at least I can proudly say I did the whole thing sans map.
damn RIGHT I ride the hell out of this city.
-
sasha
Sasha hauled an impressive 80+lbs in her everyday bike. That's rad!
Mind you I think having a bike covered with heart-shaped stickers helps... =)

Afterparty: Rickshaw bagworks. Prizes, pastries, party on. Yes. Food from TaKorea and beer from 21st amendment. Nice and nice.
Rickshaw bagworks is located on 22nd street near Minnesota.
everyone luvs steven
Everyone loves Steven
He won the 1st place in the men's road alleycat race, before the finish line was even open. Classic.
Rickshaw bag afterparty parking
rickshawlands
mike giant posters
hallo
matthew's new moonie hat
matthew won a beanie
foto chisme
foto chisme
ties and lycra
the boys
haaaay
the ladies
I was very happy and inspired to see the ratio of women quite high throughout the day. 
My ladies are super badass!!

smsw
raffles
mi poster has an owner!
mi poster has an owner! swoon ♥
- - -
Here is a foto I really liked, fueling myself with the AM power bfast burrito +not a surprise with coffee in hand...
Taken by Adam:
20101204122916 Cupid Coffee
Cupid Coffee (C)TyrellVoightKampff
SMSW 2010 Riders
SMSW 2010 Riders (C)jkoshi
Me and frenchie!!  
This photo was taken by Koshi, and you can view the complete set of all riders awesome rideres here: SMSW 2010 Rider Portraits
 
---- 
OK, that is all -- thanks to the awesome volunteers, participants and organizers for making this happen. And come all next year, it is fun and the best feeling + great way to spend a Saturday on your bike around the city hauling food, for a good cause.
xxo.meli

11 comments:

  1. What a fun post. Thanks for putting it together and sharing your adventure.

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  2. What a great event - loved the pics !

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  3. Great event and post! Love your poster, too!

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  4. I didn't even know about this... would love to do it, and vow to make it next year... or do they do it twice a year?... and how do I get a copy of that poster? It's a beaut!
    --cc

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  5. What a really ,REALLY good idea.Hope you raised a lot of food. (and great karma to everyone who participated).

    cheers,

    Ian,Melbourne

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  6. awww, that was such a positive experience. i <3 this stuff. great post and pics, arigatou Meli!

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  7. Nice poster! What's the next event where I might have a chance to get one?

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  8. Lookee!
    http://www.governing.com/columns/eco-engines/bicycles-popularity-grows-cities.html

    I need to get one of those caps!
    Such an awesome turnout,
    we did Cranksgiving here,
    and I sat in the cold hoping others would come out to help...

    can't beat the SF scene!

    be well!!!

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  9. What a great post. We had a similar event here just before Thanksgiving.

    Hey, you need to put your posters up for sale on Etsy!

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  10. Of course, I want to know about the very cute dress you are wearing.

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  11. ♥many thanks everyone, was a great event to be part of =)))

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with coffee in hand, sincere thanks for your readership ×