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Tom Holub

@bike-lab.org
410 followers 507 following 1.3K posts

@oaklandbikelab elsewhere. Bicyclist, unicyclist, mobility justice advocate. Generally unpopular opinions about urbanism, often including data. Skepticism is my beat. bike-lab.org bayareabikerides.net totallydoable.com

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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 02/10/2026
"There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People." (Umberto Eco, 1995)
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bootsriley.bsky.social @bootsriley.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I did this interview with Sight and Sound ahead of the I Love Boosters London Film Festival Gala Premiere on 9th of October and our international theatrical release which starts on 30th of October.
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Adriana Valencia for AC Transit Ward 3 2026 @valencia4actransit.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Folks of Bluesky: election day is in 35 days and I'm trying to reach as many people as possible across Oakland, Alameda, and Piedmont. I'm running for @rideact.bsky.social board of directors on a platform of reliability, affordability, and agency transparency. I have two requests! 1/x
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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Circus Performers, by Walt Kuhn, 1978, 📸 via @marisakabas.bsky.social
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 29/09/2026
Well isn't that exactly what's happening in SF vs. Berkeley? You can still build social housing in a downturn, private development will stop until it's profitable.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 25/09/2026
Who would stand up for the working class, the DSA member or the tool of hedge fund managers and tech bros from outside Oakland?
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 23/09/2026
Thanks to @oaklandreviewofbooks.org I learned about an amazing book signing at Pegasus in Berkeley: a graphic novel from Oaklander Frederick Noland, about Major Taylor, "the world's fastest man" around the turn of the 20th century. Check it out. drawnandquarterly.com/author/fred-...
drawnandquarterly.com
Frederick Noland – Drawn & Quarterly
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 22/09/2026
Nostalgia for Ronald Reagan.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 21/09/2026
That's some bullshit.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 21/09/2026
>someone donates $5k to local homeless shelter >inefficient >could have funded 0.0000000000003% of an AI governance researcher >think of all the simulated people you just killed
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"She *lived* for her job. "For 40 years. "And now it’s gone." -- Dave Barry, writing about how his wife, longtime Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman, just got laid off by "two corporate guys she did not know, who did not know her." davebarry.substack.com/p/michelle
davebarry.substack.com
Michelle
A tribute.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 19/09/2026
@ebbp.bsky.social, The Fire Ride. RIP Dolly. Love for Disco Inferno, Gwen McCrae, Pointer Sisters (Best in set!), the Temptations. Good timing on the 924 Gilman set, love for Rancid from the crowd. Skatalites, Ohio Players, Jungle Fire, BOC; great theme for music! open.spotify.com/playlist/7FL...
open.spotify.com
2026-09 (The Fire Ride)
Beautiful night in Berkeley and Oakland. RIP Dolly. Great sound in the first set; love for Disco Inferno, Gwen McCrae, Pointer Sisters (Best in set!), the Temptations. Good timing on the 924 Gilman se...
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 14/09/2026
Over this period, the city added 50K people, and 75K housing units.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 12/09/2026
"It’s objectively embarrassing to be the target audience for a nostalgia tour"
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Talked to @wired.com about a bunch of things, including: r/bald, Bluesky, Elon ruining twitter, why I live the inbox zero life, LLMs, and more. Here it is: www.wired.com/story/user-b...
wired.com
Want to Get Off Your Phone? Mina Kimes Suggests Having a Baby
“I think that's been the most helpful thing,” says the ESPN journalist. “So there you go, Zoomers. There's a reason to have children.”
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bootsriley.bsky.social @bootsriley.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This location was written into the script & a photo of it sent around. This was the spot back in the day that we always went to after going to Eastmont Mall, or later when I worked at Eastmont Mall. Unfortunately, right before we shot there, some asshole went & covered up all the beautiful graffiti.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 10/09/2026
I think a fundamental problem is that chatbots speak authoritatively, and are often treated authoritatively, but cannot truly be authoritative, and can't cite their sources!
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 04/09/2026
"No one doesn’t call it Frisco as much as someone who’s moved here in the last ten years and passionately longs to upzone the Outer Sunset."
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Oakland Review of Books @oaklandreviewofbooks.org · 30/08/2026
This is the story of a petplay kink event with trial coverage wrapped around it.
oaklandreviewofbooks.org
The billionaires’ duel at the courthouse
Musk v. Altman v. Oakland.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 10/08/2026
I think that bridge closed for construction prior to 9/11. But I do miss it.
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tschuy 🏳️‍🌈 @tsch.uy · 04/08/2026
I've built a map displaying where on the Amtrak network you can take your bike, line-by-line and station-by-station. This data isn't available anywhere else, check out where you can go! amtrak-bike-map.transittools.dev
amtrak-bike-map.transittools.dev
Amtrak Bicycle Access
Explore carry-on, checked, and station-level bicycle access across the Amtrak rail network.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 01/08/2026
With Ross Douthat leaving the Times, the SF Chronicle sees its opening to be named the worst editorial board in the US. www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/arti...
sfchronicle.com
Endorsement: Ben Allen for California insurance commissioner
OPINION: In a race with no Republican, some California voters may see an opportunity to take a chance on a radical candidate for state insurance commissioner. That would be a terrible mistake.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 01/08/2026
It’s also funny! Kind of an unexpected book given stereotypes about Russian lit.
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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
finally, the Democratic party has a plan.
An email from Democrats.org that just says, "we're getting hammered"
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 30/07/2026
My rep remains undefeated as the best in Congress.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 30/07/2026
Bicentennial edition. Loved the overlay transparencies for body systems.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 30/07/2026
Thinking about what Star Wars character matches Tr*mp and it has to be Jabba the Hut.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 29/07/2026
*68th Avenue (first graph)
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 29/07/2026
Another great piece.
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Oakland Review of Books @oaklandreviewofbooks.org · 29/07/2026
The first McDonalds in Oakland and the building Boots Riley used as Jackie's Chicken in *I Love Boosters*: "Between the Eastmont Town Center and Evergreen Cemetery, a broken down fast food joint is a relic of the moment things went bad in the Deep East": www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/dead-at-mcdo...
oaklandreviewofbooks.org
Dead at McDonald's
Between the Eastmont Town Center and Evergreen Cemetery, a broken down fast food joint is a relic of the moment things went bad in the Deep East.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 29/07/2026
SF Chronicle gets a leg up in the Worst Editorial Commentary competition.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 28/07/2026
This looks terrible.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 27/07/2026
Like the Segway, a stupid product hyped by out-of-touch billionaires will find a niche market in mall cops.
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George Spies @georgespies.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
the AC Transit Board Item #4 tonight at 5pm to accept a report so flatly undemocratic and likely illegal it boggles the mind. Follow the agenda link so you can dial into the Zoom and raise your hand to make a two-minute public comment, maybe 1 minute! actransit.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=... 1/x
actransit.legistar.com
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
All in all a great weekend with the alternative bike community; thanks so much to July, Oakland Secret, Bay Area Maker Farm and everyone else who helped make it a reality. /end
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
After that, it was time for Shenanigans, where homemade foam weaponry and Cybertruck piñatas were deployed for the amusement of all. We also played a game of footdown: I was on unicycle so of course I won. There are only specific ways you can knock off a good unicycle basketball player.
In an urban alley, two laughing people on bicycles ride towards each other with lances made of pool noodles. A crowd watches in the background.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
The last formal session I went to was the Consensus wrap-up, where leaders got together to discuss what worked and didn't and begin the process of planning the next event.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
Sunday began with a ride leader panel, facilitated by our local star Megan, and including another local hero Maria (Downhill Diva), along with Alyssa from All-Inclusive Riders Cycling Club and Michael from Trans Galactic.
At an urban park, a woman sits cross-legged on the bottom step of an amphitheater, facing three people who are turning to face the crowd.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
I went from that to a discussion I was co-facilitating with the San Jose Bike Clinic, on organizational structure and non-profit management. A lot of groups in the room are managing similar issues.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
I briefly got to see Critical Mass co-founder Chris Carlsson speak about his history of community bike organizing, and picked up a copy of his latest book, "Shift Happens."
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
(I commented with my view, which is that bikes exist within our structures of racism, classism, misogynism, and ableism, and anything we do has to grapple with those structures or we will reinforce them.)
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
Saturday began with a Great Ride of Return protest ride around Lake Merritt, led by Cycles of Change. That ended at the amphitheater, where we had a discussion of bikes and city planning with an eclectic panel of advocates, city staff and UC Berkeley faculty.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
It was the second Friday, so of course the group went to @ebbp.bsky.social. I was there DJing with Booty on a beautiful night.
At night on the East Bay shoreline, the lights of San Francisco and the Oakland Bay Bridge can be seen in the background. In the foreground are a number of bicycles, including one pulling a lighted trailer with a sound system; it is labeled as "Booty."
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
From there, the group rolled to Rock the Bike in north Oakland, where Paul was hosting dinner and a party with a pedal-powered stage and bike blenders.
Five people ride stationary bikes with "Rock the Bike" logos. The middle bike has a blender attached to the front wheel. Two of the riders are holding plastic cups with smoothies.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
On Friday, I led a ride along the MLK Regional Shoreline out to The Bike Fix at the 81st Avenue @oaklibrary.bsky.social. There were maybe 20 community members getting bikes worked on by a solid crew of volunteers and Library employees.
Under a pop-up tent, a mechanic works on a bicycle up on a stand. Three people, possibly Latino teenagers, watch as he spins the rear wheel. In the background, more people can be seen working on bikes.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
200+ participants came from as far away as Cleveland, with contingents from Chicago, Colorado, Texas, Arizona, and from all over California. Some folks were Bike!Bike! veterans who have been part of the event for years; others, like me, were joining for the first time. 2/
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
My notes from Bike!Bike! West, a regional version of an international conference for community bicycle projects, organized here in Oakland this year by my colleague July. It was fun, and very relevant to my work with community-based bike orgs. bike-lab.org/2026/07/20/b... 1/
bike-lab.org
Bike!Bike! West 2026 - Bike Lab
I had the pleasure of participating in Bike!Bike! West 2026, a conference of community-based and co-op bike organizations that I’d been unaware of until my friend and colleague July decided to take on...
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
Apparently the job of bike infrastructure is to damage cars and injure drivers.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 20/07/2026
I think it's because pretty much everyone else on the plane feels the same way as the baby. We just can't scream about it.
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Tom Holub @bike-lab.org · 16/07/2026
I understand the paid shills like Max. I don’t quite get this whole army of unpaid sycophants who seem to exist to participate in pile-ons, typically against people who are more involved and more informed than they are.
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