San Francisco!
San Francisco is a magical place and I spent more time there than intended. My “rest days” were nothing of the sort! So…let’s log the miles:
- Day 13: Arrival from Sausalito (logged in last entry)
- Days 14-16: San Francisco “rest days”
- Day 14: 25 miles (technically on day 15…but very early)
- Day 15: 8 miles
- Day 16: True rest day! With yoga 🙂
- Day 17: Departure on CalTrain
Total miles since last entry: ~33 miles
Trip total: ~463 miles, average 29 miles/day (counting rest days)
My time in San Francisco was amazing. I had an incredible host – Miguel, who offered the perfect balance of hanging out and doing our own things. Here are the highlights:
Day 13: A few miles that I didn’t track
Golden Gate Park: I could have easily spent my entire weekend here. Miguel recommended it as a place to hang out on the day I arrived, and I see why! I had a lovely time watching ducks in one of the many ponds, taking photos of my bike, attending a free concert, hunting for windmills, and catching the sunset at Ocean Beach. GGP feels like a mix of Central Park and Prospect Park. According to Wikipedia, GGP is the third-most visited city park in the US, behind Central Park and the Lincoln Memorial. It was designed by engineer William Hammond Hall. Interestingly, as stated on Wikipedia, “In 1865, Frederick Law Olmsted proposed a plan for a park using native species suited for San Francisco’s dry climate; however, the proposal was rejected in favor of a Central Park-style park needing extensive irrigation.” Olmsted designed Central Park, so it’s fascinating that his proposal for GGP was rejected.
Day 14:
I started this day by exploring on my own, then met up with Miguel for a delicious home-cooked meal of paella and charcuterie:
Ferry Building: This was a great indoor-outdoor farmer’s market. I was excited to find momo, a dumpling-like snack from Nepal that the Bhutanese kids at RISSE (a refugee center I used to work at) loved to eat. Yum!
The Exploratorium: This was such a cool, interactive science museum! I wish I hadn’t visited on a weekend – I love kids, but there were way, way too many on this day. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my visit. Highlights were the lifesize model of the Mars Perseverance Rover and the infrared scanner that confirmed once and for all that yes indeed, my fingers are very, very cold. The area focused on inventions was also pretty cool.
Lillie Hitchcock Coit: SF has lots of signs around the city to read to learn about its history. I enjoyed learning about Ms. Coit, a “renegade Southern belle” who became a certified member of SF’s fire department at age 20 in the mid-1800s. According to the sign, “she smoked cigars, drank bourbon, and drove teams of fire horses.” Badass. I’ll think of her when I see Coit Tower at the top of Telegraph Hill.
Fisherman’s Wharf: I visited this place twice. The first time, it was Saturday afternoon and felt way too touristy and icky. The second was Tuesday morning and it was gorgeous and peaceful. Only visit on weekdays if you can!
Day 15:
Midnight Mystery Ride: This was an unexpected delight recommended by Alexei, another Warmshowers host. Once a month, cyclists in SF gather in a location disclosed at noon the day of the ride. The ride organizer leads everyone on an adventure to areas of SF you might not otherwise think to visit. There are stops in public park areas for drinks and snacks. Miguel joined for this adventure too, and what an adventure it was! We met so many cool cyclists and visited SO MUCH of San Francisco. It was magical.
Post-Mystery Ride: After the ride, some us hung out for more adventures. There was a stop at Crispy Crunchy Chicken – a SF favorite inside gas stations -, Dolores Park – where you can see the golden fire hydrant that survived the famous SF fire -, an amazing alley in the Mission district filled with murals, and then finally…an ambitious adventure cycling up to Twin Peaks!
Twin Peaks: The roads leading up to Twin Peaks are made of concrete rather than asphalt because of how steep the gradient is. At one point I felt like my front bike wheel was about to come off the ground! After a lot of hard work, we all made it to the top and were rewarded with an incredible 5 AM view of the entire city. This was so amazing, and very much worth the climb on my “rest day.”
Grandview: One of the riders on the mystery ride, Phil, had a pannier repair kit and could fix my bag. Hooray! After visiting a farmer’s market, Miguel and I rode to Phil’s place and learned quite a bit about bike maintenance while Phil checked my bike to see if anything needed tweaking and then…fixed my pannier! Then he lead us on a ride to Grandview, his favorite place to watch the sunset. Yet another steep climb – including flights of stairs carrying our bikes – and we were at the top. We enjoyed an amazing sunset while a saxophonist serenaded the city. So cool, and once again worth the work on my rest day.
Day 17 & Other Highlights
Food: I haven’t focused much on “foodie” life on this bike tour but that changed in San Francisco, thanks in part to Miguel. I had Vietnamese, Burmese, Thai, Nepalese, and Chinese food, as well as Miguel’s delicious cooking and a few sweet treats. Yum!
Crissy Field: On the day I left, I joined Miguel for his 9-mile commute to work, which happened to also be the same direction as the CalTrain I’d be catching to Redwood City. A lot of the ride was on the bike path along Crissy Field. The path was beautiful, the sunrise was great, and you get a cool view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Awesome way to end my visit to SF.
CalTrain: I have to include this as a highlight because this train was SO CHEAP ($6!) and has three cars devoted just to bicycle storage. San Francisco clearly has their bicycle game figured out. Well done CalTrain!
Miguel! I feel lucky to have had Miguel as my host; he had amazing advice about the Pacific Coast Highway and the perfect attitude for my weekend. We even did yoga together in the park! I can genuinely say I made a new friend on my SF stop, met lots of amazing people, and hope to return. I think SF would have been cool regardless, but it was definitely extra great with such an awesome host.
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