Police captain hits bumpy patch over the Wiggle

Corner of Haight and Pierce Streets, for a Bike About Town feature on the bike paththat winds it's way through the Lower Haight known to bikers as the, "wiggle", in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday April 2, 2009. less Corner of Haight and Pierce Streets, for a Bike About Town feature on the bike paththat winds it's way through the Lower Haight known to bikers as the, "wiggle", in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday April 2, ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Police captain hits bumpy patch over the Wiggle 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Police Capt. John Feeney wants to make it clear.

"This is not about waging war on the Wiggle," he says.

When he took over at Park Station this month, he thought he was starting with a perfectly safe issue. In fact, the issue was safety - bicycle safety. What he overlooked was that next to off-leash dog proponents, bike riders may be the city's most vociferous faction. The only group I could imagine that might be touchier is if there were an off-leash bike coalition.

So, when Feeney announced that he would enforce safety rules and operate sting operations on the Wiggle, the zigzagging bike route that avoids steep hills on the way from Market Street to Golden Gate Park, cyclists went ballistic.

"It's sort of taken on a life of its own," Feeney said. "But bike safety is a key point."

Feeney thinks things have cooled a bit now. He's making a point to meet and talk with bike groups, hoping to show them that he's not anti-bike. He's looking into ideas like better signage at high traffic areas and says he's not out to write tickets. But he also wants to get some Wiggle riders to slow down and watch for pedestrians.

"When I got here I thought 'What the heck is the Wiggle?' " he said. "I went down there to see. It's almost like a concert, or an orchestra, the way everyone interacts. But then, all of a sudden here comes Speed Racer. We've had some community members almost get hit."

Bike riders have been in accidents too. Feeney is concentrating on the infamous Fell and Divisadero intersection, where two bikers have been in accidents in the last month. A program to ticket drivers who aren't watching will be under way soon.

But cyclists have to watch it too. Feeney had barely begun at the station when he went on a fact-finding drive in a bike corridor and spotted a guy riding with one hand and texting on his cell phone with the other.

"I'm like, c'mon," Feeney said. "He just gave me a shrug."

Rip Malloy, a Port of San Francisco property manager, writes to say, "So this young guy walks into the Port the other day (I know, sounds like the start of a bad joke) and asks to see me."

Turns out he's a violinist and wants to play down at Fisherman's Wharf. The guy says he doesn't use an amplifier and won't be selling CDs, so Malloy says go ahead.

What the guy didn't say was that he plays wearing a very realistic wolf head mask. Weird.

"I think he's part of a known symphony and doesn't want to be recognized," Malloy said. "I get that a lot, musicians who perform at the wharf for a while and don't want to be recognized."

Lots of comments about last week's column on out-of-control service dogs. Some readers said they were no worse than children, but a commenter disagreed:

"Don't compare children to dogs or any other beasts. I raised four children in this town and not one of them ever defecated on the sidewalk, jumped up on someone's leg with dirty feet or urinated on the front porch of a stranger. At least not until they went to college."