For weeks this ad, plastered on the side of Bernal Yoga and adjacent to the Good Life parking lot, has been causing Bernalwood residents to scratch their heads. Clearly it was intended for an actual highway billboard that a police car could theoretically hide behind.

But yesterday’s post about the Good Life parking lot cleared it all up. In the comments, reader Charlene shared this incident:

A little local not-so-neighborly behavior in the Good Life parking lot yesterday afternoon: a guy standing in front of a woman’s car, barring her from parking in the Good Life parking space closest to Cortland. He had abandoned his car in the middle of Andover, and claimed she had cut him off from the space he had been waiting for. She was not moving.

Clearly it is gettin’ real in the Good Life parking lot. The “cop” mentioned in the ad must refer to whoever is teaching class at Bernal Yoga on the other side of the wall. Let’s hope that these “dharma police” are up to the task of getting would-be shoppers to take a chill pill. As our friend Joe used to say, “Take it slow.”

Among a certain tribe of San Franciscans, ex-meter maid motorcarts provide an ideal form of urban transportation. Sold as surplus by Bay Area cities and municipalities, the motorcarts are cheap, easy to park, and affordable to drive. But the vehicles do come with one big downside: They tend to attract a lot of graffiti from anti-establishment vandals who (not unreasonably) view the motorcarts as instruments of The Man.

The owner of this former meter-maid motorcart in North Bernal hopes to avoid that fate with an artist-to-artist appeal for mercy. Good luck with that.

Get ready, race fans, because a team of Bernalwood’s finest are headed to the speedway to represent our neighborhood and bring back motorsports glory. Or something kind of like that…

The action will take place this weekend at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma. The race itself is called the 24 Hours of LeMons — that’s pronounced “lemons” for all you wannabe francophiles — and it is basically a cross between Burning Man, Bernal’s own Soapbox Derby, and the real 24 Hours of Le Mans. The basic concept is simple: Purchase and race-prep a car for $500 or less, find a team of drivers, strap on helmets, then keep the car in the competition for as long as you can.

Bernal Dads Racing will be at Sears Point this weekend to represent Bernal Heights, mom, kids, and apple pie. Yet as eco-conscious Bernal residents, Bernal Dads Racing will hit the track in a hybrid. By that I mean the car itself is quite literally a hybrid, combining the drivetrain of a 1995 Mazda Miata with the salvaged bodywork of a Volvo 240DL station wagon. Peek inside, and you can still see the Miata core lurking underneath:

This mutant race car has been dubbed “The Molvo,” and if the Molvo sounds like an awkward combination, rest assured that it most certainly is. The Molvo is the Frankenstein of race cars, and how it will fare on the race track is anyone’s guess.

But after spending a “wrenching night” with the team as they prepped the car for this weekend’s race in a garage near Holly Park, I’m happy to report that the Molvo is as ready as it’ll ever be, and the team is in good spirits.

The weather forecast for the weekend looks wet, but Bernal Dads Racing will be on the track regardless. Keep your fingers crossed for them, race fans.

UPDATE 28 March, 2011

The Molvo not only completed the LeMons race; it also won a Judge’s Award for innovation. Complete details and photos.

Photos: Telstar Logistics

This car was parked near my house on a recent morning. Normally, there’s room for two cars to park in this space. But on this day, there was only one. And somewhere, I heard a neighbor gnashing her teeth in exasperation.

If cars that park too close to a driveway cutout are a bane to some Bernalwood garagistas, the equivalent for street-parkers must be cars that greedily occupy two street parking spaces as if they were just one.  As reader Marco put it recently:

Is there a DPT sign to put on windshields of cars that leave six feet between the edge of the driveway and the front bumper and take up two parking spaces?

Miss Manners would like to remind all Bernalwood motorists that we do not live in the suburbs, so please refrain from taking up two parking spaces when one would suffice. But let’s also remain mindful of those driveway curb cutouts. Not too far and not too close. Happy parking makes for a happier neighborhood. Thank you and carry on.

Photo: Telstar Logistics