San Francisco - Alison Bing [168]
AVENUE CYCLERY
Map
415-387-3155; www.avenuecyclery.com; 756 Stanyan St; bikes per hr/day $8/30; 10am-7pm Mon-Sat, to 6pm Sun; 21, 33;
In one of the more bike-friendly parts of the city, Avenue has an extensive selection of bikes for rent and for sale. It also does repairs, fittings and cycle clinics. Rental includes a helmet.
BLAZING SADDLES Map
415-202-8888; www.blazingsaddles.com; 1096 Columbus Ave; bikes per hr $7-11, per day $28-68; 8am-sunset; 30; Powell-Mason;
Blazing Saddles is tailored to visitors, with a main shop on Columbus Ave and rental stands along Fisherman’s Wharf. It has the most convenient locations for biking the Embarcadero or along the bay to the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin County. You can reserve a bike online for a 10% discount, and it includes all the extras (bungee cords, packs etc). But beware the after-hours return: it’s a hassle to find the locker Downtown in the dark, and return instructions are complicated.
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GOLF
If you like smooth, clipped greens, mild weather and gorgeous views, you’ll love playing in SF. If you’re economizing, most of the following have twilight fees.
GOLDEN GATE MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE
Map
415-751-8987; www.goldengateparkgolfcourse.com; 47th Ave & Fulton St; Mon-Thu $14, Fri-Sun $19; 6am-8pm; 5
Golden Gate Park has a challenging nine-hole, par-27 course with a variety of holes, from 100yd drop-offs to 180yd elevated greens. Peaceful and with some nice views of the Pacific, it’s busiest before 9am weekdays and after school. On weekend afternoons, prepare for an hour-long wait. No reservations.
HARDING PARK MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE
Map
415-664-4690; www.harding-park.com; 99 Harding Rd at Skyline Blvd; 9-hole course Mon-Thu $25, Fri-Sun $30, 18-hole course Mon-Thu $135, Fri-Sun $155; 6:30am-7pm; 18
San Francisco’s premier public course is a verdant 18-hole course partially shaded by cypress trees beside the ocean; call to reserve a tee-time. Also on the site is the Jack Fleming nine-hole course, where walk-ins are welcome. Cart included.
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SKATE CITY
In skate circles, SF is known not for its sourdough bread, but as the home of roller disco and the skate magazine Thrasher (www.thrashermagazine.com). Get with the locals at these prime spots:
Boards
Haight St – urban skating at its obstacle-course best, especially the downhill slide from Baker to Pierce. Get geared up at Shoe Biz and Upper Playground.
Potrero del Sol/La Raza Skatepark – pop ollies with local dudes at the city’s newest and most rad skate park. Drawback: distance from Downtown; sketchy neighborhood after sunset.
Inline
Midnight Rollers Friday Night Skate (http://web.cora.org/friday.phtml) – every Friday at 8:30pm at the Ferry Building, the Rollers bust out boom boxes, and at 9pm they’re off to Pier 39, the Palace of Fine Arts, and back through Chinatown and Union Square to the Ferry Building.
Golden Gate Park roller-skaters – roller skaters have converged at Golden Gate Park since 1891, and in the 1970s heyday of roller disco, up to 20,000 Sunday skaters cruised the park, and each other. You can still boogie down on Sundays at the blacktop known as ‘Roller Village,’ off John F Kennedy Dr, near 6th Ave.
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LINCOLN PARK GOLF COURSE
Map
415-221-9911; www.lincolnparkgc.com; 34th Ave & Clement St; Mon-Thu $34, Fri-Sun $38; sunrise-sunset; 1, 18, 38
For game-sabotaging views, the hilly, 18-hole Lincoln Park course wraps around the Palace of the Legion of Honor and graces the coast west of the Golden Gate Bridge. This one has the most iconic SF vistas; it’s the number-two public course after Harding.
PRESIDIO GOLF COURSE Map
415-561-4661; www.presidiogolf.com; Arguello Blvd & Finley Rd; Mon-Thu resident/non-resident $69/125, Fri $85/145, Sat & Sun $99/145; sunrise-sunset; 28
Whack balls with military-style precision on the course