Photography by JP Collins and Deb Greco

Illustration by JP Collins

Two DIY bike lanes recently appeared on my commute route. The bike lanes were stenciled onto sketchy bits of the Wiggle, where bicyclists join fast-moving traffic corridors on Fell and Oak Streets for a few blocks in order to avoid the hills on either side.

Perhaps the DIYers thought these two blocks could use more noticeable infrastructure to draw attention to the fact that it’s a shared space. Or perhaps the DIYers were committing an act of cheeky civil disobedience to comment on the three years during which the city itself has been stayed from striping any new bike lanes. They seem to say: “Look how simple it is to stripe a bike lane. You can do it yourself. I just did.”

They definitely drew my attention to the fact that in San Francisco, bicyclists are here, with or without bike lanes. And I kind of like that. I like living in a city where bike advocates are winning more bike infrastructure and I also like living in a city where bike riders are taking the roads into their own hands and filling them with bike art. Whatever their reasons, I just wanted to say thanks to the DIYers who’ve been making my commutes even more fun to ride and giving me plenty to think about. Ride on!