I have achieved car-free nirvana.

Today was Sunday Streets in San Francisco.  They shut down about a mile of streets in the Mission, a neighborhood that is usually so traffic-y and kind of chaotic feeling.  The sidewalks are narrow so they always feel crowded, cars are usually honking, every intersection feels a little stressful as a pedestrian with cars creeping up trying to make right turns, while there's not nearly enough space to be biking with traffic...  

But today it was an oasis.  No sounds of traffic, just kids laughing, music playing... it was magical to be able to ride block after block through peaceful streets, feeling like a kid and soaking up everything about the neighborhood.   

I couldn't believe how many people were out on foot and wheel.  Jason, a friend who just flew in from Thailand last night, was meeting all kinds of dogs.

I ran into Jenny, a friend who's also taking the Car-Free Challenge.  Our shirts were similar, with an important difference I'm not sure you can spot in the photo...

One of the best moments was this free dance class right at the 24th St. BART station.  Some of the most unlikely people were shaking their groove things.  This older Chinese man doing hip-hop was adorable.

And then a block later, we came upon THIS:

One the wonderful things about being in this part of town with no cars, is I just noticed more.  I noticed storefronts I'd never seen before and this little park with an incredible mosaic dragon that serves as a jungle gym and a fountain.  There was just so much to appreciate cruising along on a bike without a care.  It seems like such a simple thing to close the streets to cars, but it is truly profound!  I can't imagine a more pleasant Sunday afternoon than this.

I want every day to be Sunday Streets and Sunday Streets to happen in every city!  Apparently the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is calling for Sunday Streets to happen weekly... not just every once in a while.  Seeing tons of kids out biking and scooting, it seems like this would be something that should happen for public health reasons alone!

This sounds corny, but I actually got the chills twice during Sunday Streets today because it was just so amazing to experience what's possible.  The streets didn't feel like streets without cars in them.  They felt like parks, like a parade, like a festival, like a dream.  Car-free nirvana achieved.