7x7.com: Solo Swim Between San Francisco and The Farallon Islands Starts Tomorrow

7x7.com: Solo Swim Between San Francisco and The Farallon Islands Starts Tomorrow

If you’ve been following the epic adventures of the Night Train Swimmers, you know they’ve had their eyes set on one prize: swimming between San Francisco and The Farallon Islands. After multiple six-person relay attempts in the frigid, shark-infested waters, the group finally completed two successful crossings of the notorious “Red Triangle” this spring. Now, with the smell of victory still fresh in the air, the group is setting out to do something even more challenging—swim it solo.

Tomorrow morning, Night Train swimmer Joe Locke will enter the dark waters alone. At 1:30 am, while most of us are asleep, Lock will slip into the open ocean armed with nothing but a swimsuit, an insulated swim cap and the unflinching obsession with making it to the other side.

If Locke completes the 30-mile solo Farallon swim, he’ll only be the second person in history to do so. In 1967, Ted Ericson finished the solo swim in 14 hours and 38 minutes; Locke is hoping to do it in 13 hours. Unlike Ericson, Locke will be swimming toward the Farallons (either direction is allowable according to open water regulations). If all goes according to plan, he will arrive at The Islands between 2:30 and 5:30 pm. And just as with all Night Train swims, Locke’s journey is serving as a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project, a group that supports wounded Veterans.

Locke has an extensive open-water resume. The Mill Valley resident has completed many long-distance swims, including a successful English Channel crossing. Locke has traveled the world swimming open water events, and now he says he’s ready to tackle an epic one closer to home. “It’s ironic, in a sense, that one of the most challenging and beautiful swims in the world is right here at our doorstep,” says the 41-year-old swimmer.

Conditions look decent for the start of tomorrow’s journey. The weather forecast is sunny and water temperatures around San Francisco are 56 degrees, far warmer than usual. But once he nears The Farallons, Locke will have to battle the hypothermic 51-degree water temperature, as well as the risk of sharks and unpredictable tides.

Despite the obstacles, Locke is confident about tomorrow’s momentous journey. “I’m very excited to be taking on this epic challenge. With the support of the Night Train crew, and with the right conditions, we are optimistic that we can get this done.” Locke’s journey can be followed live on The Night Train Swimmers website.

7x7.com: Amgen Tour of California Kicks Off in Lake Tahoe This Weekend

Published on 7x7, May 11, 2011

You won’t get a chance to see theAmgen Tour of California come through San Francisco this year, but you don’t have to travel far to see the pro peloton, which begins this Sunday and races its way though the state over the next eight days.

Though in its infancy compared to established Euro races, the Tour of California has positioned itself as a world-class race, and it’s the largest cycling event in the nation. Nineteen of the elite teams, like Radioshack and Rabobank, will compete in our state, and even without Lance Armstrong, it will still be a cycling superhero showcase. Among the crowd favorites will be Andy Schleck, who came in second at the Tour de France last year, and Santa Rosa local, Levi Leipheimer, who has won the Tour of California three times and held multiple top ten finishes in the Tour de France.

Stage One begins in South Lake Tahoe on Sunday at 10:30 am. At 6,300 feet, it’s the highest elevation start in the six-year history, and one of the most beautiful and grueling routes of the Tour. The route skirts the entire lake on Stage 1 and heads out to Sacramento for Stage 2. In poor timing, Highway 50 will be down to one lane for repairs, so plan your road trip accordingly.

If you want to catch the Tour even closer to home, Stages 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday are your best options. Stage 3 traverses from Auburn to Modesto, and at 120 miles, it’s one of the longest—and most exciting in the Tour. Amgen organizers describe this stage as “a sprinters dream.” If you get there early, you can position yourself at the finish line in downtown Modesto and see heavyweight sprinters jockeying for position before the finish. Fans of the King of the Mountain stages will love Stage 4, which runs from Livermore to San Jose. With three major climbs, this route will be a polka dot jersey dream of a stage.

So, grab your giant foam finger or favorite pro jersey and catch the peloton as it takes to our neighboring towns. Or, if you have the vacation time, you can follow the tour all the way to its Southern California end in Thousand Oaks on May 22.

7x7: Ocean Beach to Host Pro Surfing Competition in November

Any local surer knows that Ocean Beach can be a gnarly, currenty, beachbreak of a mess. The water is frigid, the waves unpredictable. But on calm days, usually in the fall, Ocean Beach can produce some gloriously glassy waves. And that’s just what the Association of Surfing Professionals is banking on.

On Sunday morning, the ASP announced that Ocean Beach will host the 10th event of their World Tour. The competition will bring 35 pros from around the globe to battle it out on the unpredictable waves at Kelly’s Cove. Because there’s no guarantee that our local waves will cooperate, the ASP has given a two-week window (November 1-11) for the competition.

Read the rest of the article here

7x7.com: Ahead of the Pack: SF’s Chuey Brand Is Outfitting Cyclists Across The Globe

When Kachusha Munkanta was 9-years-old, the cycling pro tour came through his hometown of Philadelphia. Inspired by the energy of the tour and the bright team colors, Munkanta and his brother peddled to the nearest bike shop to buy their favorite fluorescent team hat.

Today, more than 20 years later, Munkanta—-who is affectionately known as Chuey-—sits in front of his Mission District workshop wearing a wool cycling hat of his own creation. As the owner of Chuey Brand, a locally made and internationally known small-scale cycling clothing company, this grown up Philly kid is moving San Francisco bike fashion to the front of the pack. “I happened to start at the right time,” says Munkanta, as he spins a small bike lock in his hand. “There’s this whole urban bike movement that’s happening.”

Read the rest of the piece here: 7x7.com: Ahead of the Pack: SF’s Chuey Brand Is Outfitting Cyclists Across The Globe

Rage Against the Machine

Published in 7x7 Magazine

Steep hills, rugged parks, and a freezing cold bay. If any city’s terrain can lure you out of the gym and onto the streets, ours can. Four experts put together the ultimate urban workout. One writer reports on (barely) surviving it.

Test your endurance with the workouts below, and then add your own workouts to the comments. Once we get enough of your maps, we'll publish them in a gallery.

THE WORKOUT: The Mile-Long Bay Swim

THE EXPERT: Morgan Filler (morganfiller.com) is a marathon swimmer who offers open-water swim camps and individual coaching.

Get the workout>

SF's Reorbit, an Experiment in 'Social Media Theater,' Launches Today

Published in The Bay Citizen

March 1, 2011

Last year, local designer Ericson deJesus sat in a café, flipping back and forth between his Twitter account and a New York Times article on Laurence of Arabia. Overly-caffeinated, the two ideas began to merge and he found himself wondering what it would be like to follow the well-crafted tweets of a historical character.

Today, with the launch of Reorbit, deJesus and the project’s co-founder, Dawn Danby, answer that question. The two describe Reorbit as “an experiment in social media theater,” a place where historical and literary figures are re-imagined in a new context.

“Reorbit challenges writers to inhabit a character, create an alternate history or future, and re-tell their story in a contemporary way," says Danby, who also curates the project.

DeJesus and Danby gave few guidelines to writers who proposed work through the open submission process. Allowed to cross boundaries of time and space, the writers are limited only by Twitter’s 140 characters.

“Finding good writers is easy,” says Danby. “Finding good writers who understand the format, have a clear concept, really know a character in a deep way, and who can compress ideas into a limited space: this is trickier.”

Among the first cast of characters chosen for the initial launch are a tween-age Samuel Beckett (@tweenBeckett) who is struggling to find his voice in a Justin Bieber universe. “Ugh, I hate writing. But if @justinbieber can do it, how hard can it be, right? Now I just have 2 wait 4 followers. Ugh, I hate waiting, too.”

San Francisco’s great eccentric, Emperor Norton, (@emp_norton) frantically tweets about government, and is thus far the most active Reorbit voice. “I stand with the Vigilance Committee. It is time that men of property come out against vagrancy and lawlessness.”

The most complicated play is a three-part dialogue between Franz Kafka, Charles Bukowski, and JD Salinger (@singlewhiteauthor). Imagined by local author Tiffany Bukowski, the three literary heavyweights are placed in a modern-day San Francisco, all vying for the a date with the same girl. A slurry Salinger tweets, “found outs a good pal is gettng murried. andz i am curenSDly wasteed on two of @DirtyOlBukowski's miller high lives”.

Reorbit is accepting proposals for the next launch, which may include Danby’s own character, the voodoo queen Marie Leveau. Until then, Danby and deJesus are busy culling through more submissions and expanding their platform for Reorbit. “There is so much more that can be done,” says deJesus. “And we will.”

San Francisco's Old Time Photo Booths

Published on The Bold Italic

There's something magical about a photo booth. And it's not just that there's a miniature dark room hidden behind the wall, or that someone has to care enough to measure and change the chemicals in the ancient machine. It's not even that in the digital age, it's remarkable that a real photo booth exists at all.

Read the full piece here