First Annual Tour de San Francisco

On Sunday May 5th, . 60 cyclists met at San Francisco City Hall for a bike tour of San Francisco. The tour  that ensued was led by long time local cyclist and San Francisco Bicycle Ballet director Carla Laser.
A casual paced  ride, our stops  included the Mission Rock Pier 50 where local historian and one of the key players in introducing the Critival Mass rides to the world, Chris Carlsson, explained the fascinating part it played in the changing shoreline of San Francisco’s bay.

 

Another stop was at a five block tree filled   neighborhood greenbelt few outside of the city even know to exist. Rare open space  in the middle of the city, it sits in the middle  of the small, South Park neighborhood. It was here that Chris explained how this bucolic setting had come to be before and after the Great Quake of 1906.
At the quirky nonprofit Bike Hut on a bayside pier, not far from AT&T Park, another one of our stops, we were greeted by a large group including Andy Thornley, Dave Snyder and Jon Winston and a few other  of the  SFBC board members who oversee it

 

We stopped at City Lights Books where L’il Mike greeted us with his bullhorn. He gave us some historical background on the store and  pointed out  Jack Kerouac Alley, next to  it, where the famous beat authors of the 50’s used to hang out.

 

We perused Chinatown and numerous other sights where even more ambassadors helped us understand what we were seeing. These stops  included AT&T Park where the San Francisco Giants play, Japantown, the Golden Gate Park Panhandle, Ocean Beach, Missions Dolores Park, the Castro and merchants that have long become part of the San Francisco woodwork such as Pushbike, the Fillmore Domino Club, Mission Sk8boards, St Francis Fountain and Pops.

 

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