Mothersday in San Francisco

At the Weekends a visit to San Francisco is absolutely compulsory. I just love to stroll around the city with the bicycle, it is by far the best way of sightseeing. You can adapt your speed down to walking pace or speed up and get around many, many different corners of the city and you get this "IKEA" feeling of having it done by yourself. Especially San Francisco is great, you have all these hills and climbs, with sometimes absolutely insane grades and on the weekends traffic is not very intense and in the backstreets actually very, very calm. However these backstreet are full of pot-holes, my pore rims!

Actually I wanted to visit San Francisco already yesterday; however the weather forecast announced very persistent fog in the city. So I decided to postpone the city ride to today, where the weather forecast predicted, that the fog would clear very soon.

Well arriving at the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Baker round 10 o’clock, things looked not too good.

There was a very strong western wind from the ocean pushing the fog out on the sea into the bay. I strated the ride with a climb to the Hawk Hill, to make some height meters, to pass some time for the fog to clear and to have an overview on the situation.

There was a very strong western wind from the ocean pushing the fog out on the sea into the bay. However, it looked as if the Downtown area was already clear. I followed my usual route, which means I started with following the shore line to the western most side of the Golden Gate Park.

First stop was again the Legion of Honor Bulidingm this time in the fog. I was really happy to have my londsleved jacked with me as it is super windy and cold. This time I took more time and criss-crossed the Golden Gate Park more extensively. 

As you can see the more I get to the east, the more the fog clears away. Next up is the "Temple of Music". 

Here some good old "friends" can be found...

According to Schopenhauer only they would make life bearable of living, well I do not think so misanthropic... ... but they definitively make it more enjoyable.   

Beyond the church of St. Ignatio the fog finally cleared away. Today I had nothing to eat with me, not even the inevitable bananas I got really hungry. However on the bike I never really have the appetite for some big lunch, so it came in handy that a commune of hippies (in their twenties, with guitar, flowers painted on the cheeks and everything) made a bakery sale in the Buena Vista Park, may be to earn their rent for the week. Their cookies and brownies really looked very good and I bought some for my dinner at Union Square.

Arriving at the Union Square via Market Street and now being really hungry, I got a bit suspicious about my Brownies and I ask myself if they had not some “magic ingredient”. So I decided to eat first one and look on the effect. 

I continued on my way through China Town, Financial District, Columbus Street, Lombard Street, Coit Tower, and Embarcadero to finally arrive at the wharf. Indeed the cookies where straight and time to eat the rest of them. 

The benches at the end point of the Aquatic Park Mole are really very well designed. With a very high backrest made solidly out of concrete and put very close to the wall of the mole, they protect nearly completely against the really chilly and gusty winds.  

Just great to rest my bones and having again Otis Redding in the ear...

Now these signs are not there as a joke... There were a few guys swimming in Neopren Suits and one only in shorts!

The water is about 12 degrees cold and the wind was brutal, if you get a cramp or something you are really in a world of trouble there.

Back at the Golden Gate Bridge around 1430 the fog still prevailed. 

As I said the ride was about the same as on my last sightseeing tour, with some more twists and turns, however leaving out the headland loop so that the total distance may be 50-55 km.