By Aaron Perez

With her lean frame topped by a Bell helmet and frizzy black hair, 24- year-old Natalia VonSyodow considers herself a bona fide city cyclist. She’s new to the scene but you’d never know unless she told you.

“There is no margin for error riding the streets of San Francisco, it’s crazy but fun,” she said. “It gets me around quicker than public transportation, cars or taxis.”

With events like bike-to- school or work day and the recent bike expo held at the Cow Palace, the bicycle community has a strong presence here in San Francisco. Critical Mass, the rambunctious traffic stopping group bicycle ride through San Francisco streets, which is held the last Friday evening of every month. As a growing number of people take to bicycles in San Francisco to be healthy, green, or simply get around town quicker, there is defiantly more cyclist taking to the streets in the city.

Critical Mass November 30, 2009 fourth bike-to-school day, which was part of the Sustainable SF State Week. While most consider cyclist to have an overriding opinion on being green, some have other motives than being considerate to the environment.

Steven Rossi, SF state student, said that his reasons for biking tend to be a lot different than those of his fellow cyclist.

“I’ve always been involved in biking because it’s good socially,” Rossi said. “ I think being able to see people, interact with people, and anything that takes you out of the car… and that’s pretty much the reason I do it.”

While her reasons are practical, VonSyodow made sure to state her enjoyment of riding her bike in the City.

“I also ride for my enjoyment, it’s the highlight of my day,” she said. “When I’m on my bike I feel I could let everything go, be one with the elements, have a clear state of mind … it’s also my daily dose of stress relief.”

Aaron Perez is a journalism student at SF State. He wrote this story for Jour 221 Newswriting in the fall of 2009.