San Francisco - Alison Bing [167]
San Francisco’s hills are lovely, but they’re a bitch to climb on foot or bicycle. Formerly you had to carry a specialized paper map, one showing street grades, such as the excellent San Francisco Biking/Walking Guide by Rufus Graphics. But what if you didn’t get it together in time to order it online or pick up a copy at Rainbow Grocery ? Take heart: you can use your smart phone to call up the perfect route using the San Francisco Bike Route Planner. (Google it on the fly, or pre-program your phone with the following address: http://amarpai.com/bikemap/bikemap.html.) You enter your starting address and destination, tick a box stating whether you want the most direct route or the most bike-friendly route, hit enter and – voilà! – a map appears showing you the optimal route, along with each street’s grade listed in an accompanying chart. While nothing replaces the convenience of a proper paper map, we’re glad to have a backup in pocket.
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OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Come the weekend, it seems every local is strolling, kite-flying, surfing or biking. SF’s fog keeps temps perfect for exercising, but layer on the sunscreen even when it’s cloudy: UV rays penetrate the deceptively thin cloud layer.
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BICYCLING
Road-biking on skinny tires is big in SF. On any given day, expect to see Lycra-clad cyclists huffing and puffing up the city’s most excruciating hills en route to the hilly coastal roads of the Presidio. In neighborhoods like the Mission, Downtown and South of Market, you’ll spot commuters on hybrids and mountain bikes – their only mode of transportation. Local bikers pride themselves on knowing every flat route across town, and feature their street cred with an elastic-banded pant leg. To get the inside track on the biking scene in SF, check out the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (www.sfbike.org), a clearinghouse of bicycling-related resources and information; contact it for the San Francisco Biking/Walking Guide, which shows how to avoid traffic and hills. The map is also available at local bike shops and Rainbow Grocery or online in PDF at the coalition’s site.
The best places to cycle are Golden Gate Park, the Embarcadero and the wooded Presidio. Check out our biking tour on Click here, which takes you from the waterfront to Golden Gate Bridge. The classic Sunday ride runs through Golden Gate Park, along John F Kennedy Dr (which is car-free on Sundays, east of Crossover Dr) to Ocean Beach (best when it’s not too windy).
Many streets have bicycle lanes (check the PDF map on the Bicycle Coalition’s website), and major parks have bike paths. To prove your right of way in this bicycling city, pedal with the renegade mob Critical Mass (Google it) on the last Friday of the month. Bicyclists are legally allowed to ‘take the lane,’ as in ride down the center of the street, if hazards make riding on the shoulder unsafe. Some motorists get angry about this, so use caution and stand down if someone flips you off from a passing car.
Hardcore mountain-bikers cross the Golden Gate for the trails of the Marin Headlands and Mt Tamalpais, the birthplace of mountain-biking. The first off-road races in the ’70s kicked up dirt on Mt Tam, which remains the Bay Area’s supreme mountain-biking challenge. The Headlands is a quick ride over the Golden Gate; Mt Tam is further and most Bay Area bikers strap their knobby tires to their cars to get there.
Good books for Bay Area cyclists include Bay Area Bike Rides, by Ray Hosler, and Cycling the San Francisco Bay Area: 30 Rides to Historic Sites and Scenic Places, by Carol O’Hare. Also check the resources page of the Bicycle Coalition’s site for tips. In addition to the following bike-rental shops, see the Running, Walking & Skating section, opposite, for other places that rent bicycles.
AMERICAN CYCLERY
Map
415-664-4545; www.americancyclery.com; 510 Frederick St; 11am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, 10am-5pm Sun; 71
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