“My two favorite things in life are libraries and bicycles. They both move people forward without wasting anything.”
—Peter Golkin
As everyone knows, It is not currently safe to travel the world, so one has to pick and choose venues closer to home, and bicycles have become a favored mode of transportation. Bill Rothenberg and I are fortunate enough to live about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Given the absence of robust tourist trade and rush hour traffic due to the pandemic, it is easier and quicker to drive our bikes to the city.
We parked in a lot across from Chase Center, an indoor arena in Mission Bay, that is home to the Golden State Warriors. One of the signature pieces at the front of the Center’s Plaza are the five large, silver alien-looking spheres containing massive mirrors angled in is such a way to magnify its surroundings including the curious passersby like Bill and me. We took photos reflecting our images.
We moved on to the front of Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants in the South Beach neighborhood which offers a wonderful view of the Bay. We then rode to the Welcome Tower, a 30-foot tall temporary public art installation that celebrates the city’s community of dreamers, inventors, and artists. The rainbow-colored motif reconceptualizes the Coit Tower, one of the most iconic symbols in the city. I took a photo of Bill at the base of the structure to render a sense of scale and the fanciful play of colors. We then approached the historic Ferry Building on the Embarcadero with its 245-foot clock tower. We continued on toward Pier 39 and the Aquarium of the Bay, which is a part of the much larger Fisherman’s Wharf, then on to the Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, and the Marina Yacht Harbor.
The final leg of our biking excursion was the 1.7-mile Golden Gate Bridge. Its orange-red towers and cables are known internationally, and it is one of the most photographed bridges in the world. As we approached the path toward the bridge it got cooler and cooler. I took a few quick photos in Fort Mason, the Palace of Fine Arts, and Crissy Field.
Unlike the first time we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge toward the onset of the pandemic, we got to experience its natural, fog-shrouded state. We heard the haunting and booming foghorns mounted below the roadway level utilized to guide hundreds of thousands of vessels through the Golden Gate Strait, warning ship operators of limited visibility. In contrast to the relatively mild weather throughout the city, it was cold, so cold it reminded me of the Polar Bear Club, who swim in wintery cold waters. It was quite a rush.
Since there is no official designated bike lanes on the bridge, cyclists must share space with pedestrians.
The “Golden Gate” refers to the stretch of water that separates San Francisco from the Pacific Ocean.
Following a brief rest stop, we reversed course back over Golden Gate Bridge and retraced our way to Budin’s restaurant for classical white clam chowder in a bowl of sourdough bread, and a half of grilled cheese before winding our way back through the city along the bay for our return home. According to my Strava app, which maps out riding routes, we had completed another 25 miles of travel. Bill and I concluded that this ride was one of our top five bike rides since the pandemic hit.
