San Francisco By Bike!

So much fun!

I've been wanting to ride my bike around San Francisco for quite a while.  Seeing the city from a bike seemed like a great little adventure.

Although I've ridden parts of the city before (across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Crissy Field, Pier 39, and the Embarcadero), I've never taken my bike on BART or toured the other great San Francisco neighborhoods.

I started out with about a 45 minute Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train ride into San Francisco, getting off at the Embaradero station.  This put me about a block away from the Ferry Building at the waterfront -- near the base of the Bay Bridge that spans over to Treasure Island and back toward Oakland.

It's about 4 miles of mellow cruising along the waterfront filled with tourists, restaurants, shops, etc. until you reach Pier 39.  Thankfully, there's a decent bike lane that makes biking easy and enjoyable.  Pier 39 is a zoo though -- I try to get through here quickly. 

Another mile or two brings you to the Crissy Field area, where the Presidio meets the water of the bay.  I love it down here.  Paths roll along between sand dunes and beaches on one side, and grassy play areas on the other.  People are out flying kites, playing fetch with the dog, bbqing.  Lots of young local beautiful people out for a jog or a stroll with the kids.

Up to the southern base of the Golden Gate Bridge -- another heavy tourist zone.  Didn't spend much time here.  Passing under the bridge brings you to one of the most spectacular neighborhoods I've ever seen - Sea Cliff.  The most beautifully maintained vintage homes overlooking the Pacific Ocean, just to the west of the Golden Gate Bridge.  To live there must be a magical life.

I've been riding in an arc that followed along the shore of the bay.  From the Bay Bridge, I rode north, looping to the west.  From the Golden Gate Bridge, the route along the edge turns south.  I passed by bunkers that date back to the early days of California and helped protect the bay from attack.

Here's my weapon of choice for today's urban assault.  It's an old Klein Pinnacle set up with dirt drop bars and bar end shifters.  Fun bike!

I ended up near the Legion of Honor -- a spectacular building atop a bluff with great views east back toward the city

I continuing south along the western edge with views of Baker Beach.

A short distance further, I rolled passed the old remnants of the Sutro Baths

And the Cliff House (where it looks like a great place to enjoy a meal from a window seat)

From here, you have views to the south along the long stretch of Ocean Beach

From the Ocean Beach area, I ducked into the far west end of Golden Gate Park on JFK drive and started heading back inland, away from the coast, into the heart of San Francisco.


 Festivities were everywhere

Exiting GG Park at the east end of the "pan handle", I dropped into "The Haight"

Had to find the corner of "Haight - Ashbury" -- there's a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream store here.  Great area filled with interesting shops, the smell of pot, and lots of people.  I grabbed a latte in a local neighborhood coffee shop -- Coffee to the People.

From here I continued a bit east and down through the Castro district.  It did not disappoint.  The area was filled with lots of colorful people from all walks of life.

Next, a little more east, I hit the Mission District of San Francisco.  I made a brief stop at Delores Park.  Lots of locals just hanging out on the grass -- smoking grass.

One of my main goals was to eat Mexican food in the Mission District.  I chose a little place called La Taqueria on Mission Street.  It did not disappoint.   I watched them make these "el dorado" style tacos and had to order two.  (A crispy tortilla with cheese inside a soft tortilla, loaded with meat, salsa and all kinds of goodness).  Get some!

It was about 3:30pm when I finished with my tacos so I needed to start heading back.

Here's the whole route loaded up from my GPS



I didn't really know what I was doing when I started out.  I did a little research in the morning on various GPS sites where others had done similar routes.  I also downloaded an iPhone app ("bikeroute") that did a pretty good job of showing me the best bike routes through town.  I did notice though that my AT&T iPhone was struggling over here.  Yelp was hanging up, other apps were running way too slow or not functioning at all.  Not sure if it was just a bad day or if that is typical.  It did hamper me getting around a bit because I was sort of figuring it out on the fly and the iPhone was my primary resource.

Anyway... the bikeroute app let me know that Folsom Street was a good route northwest back to the Embarcadero where I jumped back on the BART train for the trip back home.

Great day!