January 2024 Riding Highlights

Feb 2, 2024

Great month of riding. Lots of rain, lots of shorter rides — turning errands into longer rides, that kind of thing.

Across the Bridge

Kat and I went across the bridge and down to Fort Baker just for the lols. Man, Fort Baker is a depressing place. omg. The vibes elsewhere were great though. I think I only made it across once this month.

Kat on Washington Blvd at dusk wearing a beanie and black crew neck

A tree on top of a bunker with a sunset over the Marin Headlands in the background

We got some good sunsets this month.

A sunset view of Marin Headlands and the Golden Gate Bridge

My Kona Dew-E e-bike in the golden hour light in front of the ocean and the Marin Headlands

A landscape-y view of the headlands with a swooping cloud overhead

Looking behind Kat on the Golden Gate Bridge west sidewalk

I always take the Coastal Trail instead of Lincoln after Washington Blvd now. No car interactions and it’s beautiful.

Kat biking down a dirt trail with Lincoln on her right and a fence on her left

Night Shots

I’ve been riding in the evening a lot more this month. Busy during the day and the sunset is still pretty soon after work. But I’ve been going to the Great Walkway more often.

Kat looking at a moody sky in dim light with her Trek and my Kona resting against a barrier

Looking straight down the Great Walkway with some faintly illuminated beach grass

And I finally biked to Corona Heights. It really needs bike parking — I’m going to email the Randall Museum and see what they think. There’s a trail closed at the top, too!

The Randall Museum in front of the peak of Corona Heights

The San Francisco skyline with nighttime blue hues

I’ve been biking through the Presidio more as well, kind of by chance. Park Blvd is a whole vibe at night.

A treeline and house in the dim sapphire hues

Bus Only

I stopped behind #1071 on Market St a couple times.

Looking down Market St at a bright yellow and forest green street car

Looking down Market St at a bright yellow and forest green street car with 'bus only' painted on the lane and a man standing in steam with the Ferry Building behind him

Russian Hill

We had a summer-like day in January and I had an errand by Chinatown. I biked up Grant and then across Pacific and up Polk. It was just me and my e-bike so I biked up some big hills I normally wouldn’t, around Francisco Park. I ended up (finally!) going down the curvy Lombard block. Its aesthetic is kinda ruined by cars, unfortunately, but it was very fun.

A sign reading 'Bakery Chinese & American Food' with an awning reading 'Eastern Bakery'

Biking down Hyde is wild — you hear and feel the rumble of the cable car system. The bend of Larkin St around Francisco Park gets you a great view of the Powell-Hyde cable car.

The Powell-Hyde cable car on a steep hill in front of a white building

Looking down at a road from a railing above

The cars were not kind around here. Rich assholes.

Looking across Francisco Park at Hyde St

I’m never around this part of town — I love how biking can turn errands into exploration.

A view of Coit Tower, Transamerica, and Salesforce Tower behind some buildings

Hansel

Great Walkway Hangs

The new bench at Great Walkway & Noriega.

Sarah, Goldberg, Kat, Jerry, and Atlas on a wooden bench

Goldberg would much rather be at home than at the in-between biking bar hang.

Atlas in his trailer on the Great Walkway

A seagull on the edge of a cliff over the beach

Sarah biking in a 'Pedal Revolution' hoodie beside Ben

Atlas 😭

Goldberg in the bike basket looking at Sarah with a Modelo beside him

Ben and Sarah biking down towards the Pacific Ocean

A backlit sand dune in front of a moody sunset

Looking at the side of Kat on her purple Trek

Look at that floof 👀.

Looking up the Great Walkway at Kat biking with a white floofy dog in the sand to her left

Where Jerry

Kat and I bike to the Outer Sunset a lot and naturally, run into Jerry.

Kat and Jerry looking at a moody Pacific Ocean

Jerry looking at a sunset composed between him and the Burley trailer with Atlas

It looks like Kat is signalling a turn but she’s just fist pumping to Atlas’ barks. Atlas recently got brought up by a stranger on reddit (eugh) because his barking from the trailer makes their day.

Looking behind Kat on a dirt path with Jerry coming towards us

Riding with Jay!!

Kat and I did a park trail spin with Jay. Enjoying some of our favorite chill single track.

Jay and Kat biking down some forested singletrack with dappled light

And we saw a coyote, of course!

Golden Gate Park Dirt

I got out on the Hardtack more this month and really enjoyed it! I need to dial in the position for climbing efficiency though. The trails in the park are muddy right now! I couldn’t get over this last bit uphill here and had to bail.

A foggy day looking at trees and a muddy incline from the top of it

The upper half of a muddy pink bike resting against a bench

Kat in a black crewneck on her purple Trek biking down a wide dirt curved road

Kat biking into the sun with swooping trees above her and large muddy puddles behind her

Kat biking on some single track between two trees

The BB-1 looks good everywhere.

A blue and gold Bridgestone BB-1 resting against a tree

Kat biking down some forested single track with a lot of green grass

This dahlia(?) was a very short bloom. We rode by the same spot at Metson Lake this month to see it bloom and leave.

A flower with seven violet petals and a yellow center

In speaking of, the dahlias are all gone on JFK Promenade, too.

The dahlia dell with mostly grass and no dahlias

Rain

So much rain this month! We went out riding in it a fair bit. Here’s barely visible Kat riding through heavy rain in the dark.

Anti-Car Action

A tree fell in Golden Gate Park and smooshed several cars. It caused hella traffic on JFK since Overlook was closed.

A dark view of the winding JFK road with cars lined up into the vanishing point

Andytown

I feel like I went to the Lawton Andytown so many times this month.

Kat taking a photo towards the ocean with Jerry rolling up on his bike

Goldberg in a little hoodie sitting in the bike basket looking at the camera

Slow Ride Testing

Kat and I were out testing the latest slow ride route. 22nd St & Minnesota Slow Street is such a vibe.

A yellow building on the corner of an intersection with a bench on the other side

I biked up the last block of Somerset after Woolsey, which is extremely steep, to see if the e-bike could do it. Flawlessly! Coming back down was kinda scary.

A vista of a church, hills, and a distant San Francisco skyline from the top of a hill

Looking down a curving road with a bike sharrow marker on it

There’s not an ideal way to to bike to Balboa Park BART Station. Coming up Geneva to San Jose has a bus lane you can use (with some guilt) but oof, the hill with the traffic around there is no ideal.

Looking up a red bus lane beside a 'San Jose' street sign

Arlington is always so pretty!

Kat biking towards the crest of a hill in dappled shadows

New Valencia Bike Lane

I do not like this bike lane. I rode it in full for the first time since its completion. It starts with a diagonal merge across 15th St that relies on a bike-only signal.