Category Archives: San Francisco

San Francisco: Best City for Cyclists in the World?

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The map you see below is a heat map of all the rides I’ve done in the last 2-3 years in and around San Francisco.  99% of these rides started at my house on my bike — no driving or car necessary.  This map illustrates how truly amazing San Francisco is for cyclists.  Without driving we have SO much access to amazing rides on the coast, over mountains, around lakes, through cities and by coffee shops and bakeries.  I claim that San Francisco is the best city for cyclists.

Here’s a view of just Marin, the county just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge (which has a bike path).  In Marin alone you can ride 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, 125 miles starting at my front door and ending at my front door, how ever many hours later.

And here’s a view of all the rides you can do quickly in a morning or afternoon, if all you have is an hour of time:

Have I convinced you yet?  San Francisco is the best city for cyclists.  And San Francisco as far as pure city experiences go is pretty amazing, too :).  I love San Francisco!

Some Context

For the last 2-3 years I’ve used Strava and my GPS-enabled bike computer to track my rides.  Strava is great because it lets me compete against my friends and measure progress.  Recently Jonathan O’Keeffe built a tool that uses the Strava API to create a heat map with all of the rides one has done.  The maps you see above were generated from his tool.

San Francisco, My Home

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At some point one transitions their affinity from their upbringing to their current life.  That transition has happened for me.  I grew up in Los Angeles, leaving to attend the University of Washington in Seattle.  My love is in Los Angeles for family, childhood friends, and childhood memories.  My heart is in San Francisco, the city I now call home.

The San Francisco Giants just won the World Series.  This post was originally motivated by the scrutiny I received from friends still in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers–the mortal enemy of San Francisco–are based.  The scrutiny caused me to evaluate my life, trying to define what “home” really means.  The old saying goes, “Home is where the heart lies.”  But what does that really mean?  Does that mean home is where your loved ones live, where your significant other wants to live?  Or is home a location that matches one’s personality, interests, and passions?

I’ve decided one’s home is the location of comfort, the city, suburb, town, or village where we all want to return to after a tough breakup, a long vacation, or a World Series celebration.  One’s home is the embodiment of one’s self in a physical location.  I like to think my persona is comparable to San Francisco, each desiring to be spontaneous, change the world with technology, and smile and laugh with friends and strangers.

I’ve lived in San Francisco for just over two years.  I want to spend the rest of my life here, or at least in a neighboring suburb.  I’m in love with this city: its access to the outdoors, its energy, its residents, its eats and drinks, its beauty, its character.  I challenge you to seek after a home when you’re ready.  Finding a place you can relate to is a powerful realization, a realization that will make you happy to discover.

San Francisco Giants World Series Win and the Riot

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The San Francisco Giants won the World Series last night, defeating the Texas Rangers in five games. The city has been stunningly electric for the last several weeks, climaxing last night with an all-night party in the streets of San Francisco. All the major neighborhoods had their streets filled with celebration: Haight, Mission (several places), Knob Hill, the list goes on. And one of the celebrations turned violent, breaking into a riot. #sfriot trended on Twitter, tweets highlighting events occurring throughout the evening.

I was shocked to hear that some celebrations turned violent. I’ve always thought of San Francisco residents as friendly and warm. I was almost in denial that my beloved city would turn violent! My friends and I were celebrating in the Mission on 16th between Valencia and Guerrero; the video above has several of my friends in it. The crowd there was wildly enthusiastic, happy, and pacifistic. We were all having fun, smiling, hugging, and high-fiving. From the brief research I’ve done I believe the only true rioting occurred near 22nd on Mission street, a part of the city that isn’t known for being friendly and welcoming during the evening.

San Francisco hosts many parades and street parties throughout the year, and sometimes these get ugly. One such street party is the famous Castro Halloween bash, where downtown Castro is filled from sidewalk to sidewalk with people. This famous party has seen shootings every few years, suspects often coming from outside of town. San Francisco is a remarkable city in that people join together in celebration, crowding the streets, drinking in public, and being merry. And unfortunately these large gatherings are chaotic enough to hide fowl play, attracting sketchy people planning to cause trouble. Last night was just that. In the midst of a city-wide street celebration, some sketchier people decided to get violent because they could. Celebrations should be happy and non-violent, people!

Anyway, the intention of this post is to communicate that San Francisco isn’t generally a rowdy city. Last night’s celebrations were violence-free everywhere except 22nd and Mission, an area that isn’t all that safe at night to begin with. I personally had the night of my life, never before feeling so much energy around me. I probably gave 500 high-fives and 100 hugs, connecting with the electricity this city has had during the road to the World Series. Go Giants, be careful, peace, and love!

Panorama photo: 22nd and Mission fire truck dance party. Source
Header photo: 16th and Valencia after the 2010 World Series. Credit

San Francisco Prop 8 Protest: The Fight for Love

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I would estimate between 5,000 and 10,000 people were grouped around the steps of City Hall, listening to stories, hoping for change, and believing that Gays will have equal rights soon.  I was utterly touched by my experience today.  I laughed at a few signs like the following:

I was sapping towards signs like the following:

And I was moved by the turnout, speakers, and general essence of such a wonderful movement.  With the passing of Prop 8, a proposition that creates an amendment to the California constitution outlawing same-sex marriage, Gays are no longer recognizes as equals by our governing doctrine.  This is despicable.  Every man and woman enters this world as an equal, some loving the opposite sex, and some loving the same sex.  Certain religious organizations made large contributions to the Yes on 8 campaign, the most notable being the Mormon Church, who donated over $20,000,000 (that’s 7 zeros).

Reverend Amos Brown, one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s six students, gave the best, most motivational, moving speech I have ever witnessed.  His booming, powerful voice echoed off the concrete and steal buildings which house our governing body, preaching love and equality and peace and happiness.  His words touched our hearts, and his presence gave us that tingly feeling in our spine that makes us understand that this is something, that there is something here, something worth fighting for.  Here is the speech, though the video isn’t all that good:

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After the speeches had finished, the whole crowd proceeded to march to Market Street, the most famous street in San Francisco, towards the Castro, which is perhaps the largest Gay neighborhood in the world.  Thousands marched as millions watched.  They marched for their rights to love whom they have wanted to love since they were born.  They marched for their friends and family, loved ones and childrens, in hopes of one day having equal rights.

America has fought for equality before, and now it fights again.  It fights now, not for gender or race, but for love.  It fights for love, and what a wonderful thing to fight for.  Love.

VP Debate Viewing, San Francisco Style

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My roommate and I don’t have a TV in our apartment here in San Francisco, so I ran down to The Page to catch the VP debate last night.  It was awesome!  The bar was packed with mostly Obama-Biden supporters, and I felt right at home.  Everyone was friendly, funny, and having a good old time.

Laughter would errupt when Palin would talk about soccer moms or THE MAVERICK.  Yells filled the bar when each candidate said they do not support gay marriage.  I felt like I was watching the superbowl, where all of my coviewers were rooting for the same team as me.

Oh San Francisco how I love thee; it feels good to be back in a liberal city.