Cycling in San Francisco

So I went for a bike ride while in the City, it seemed like the trendy thing to do.  I've seen so many adds and pix of people riding in the City and thought I needed to experience some urban jungle riding myself, not to mention I was trying to train for an upcoming dh race.

All I can say is OMG...the people who ride bicylces in SF are clearly a more highly evolved species that I am.  I started off at the Wharf and was freaked out by the amphibious boat that hauls around tourists.  I was riding along the side of the road, between the rail road tracks (another story) and suddenly found myself in the shadow of a boat hull about to suck me under.  I got away from the four wheeled boat in time to then make my way onto the Embarcadero.


A really rude lady with an east coast accent (hmm, they seem to go together) yelled at me for being on the sidewalk, so I got back on the street. 

After hanging a right turn into the financial district I was then confronted with my next nemesis, the electric bus.  The electic buses travel on the right side of the roads, where the bike lane would be, and make stops every block.  I tried passing the bus on the right but was almost crushed by it, so I bravely passed it on the left.  Then I was tortured by the fact that a bus was following me at a pace a bit faster than mine.  But since it's powered by electricity it doesn't make any noise, so if the driver happens to not see you and honk his horn you simply will be crushed from behind by the bus you never heard coming.

I was clearly on the wrong kind of bike, sort of a hybrid mountain, jumper, bmx affair that wasn't really designed to go very fast on the street...but hey, shut up and pedal I always say.

Then came the taxi cabs, cable cars, tourist buses, other cyclists and the ever present pedestrians who don't seem to be threatened by your presence in the crosswalks.  Not to mention the absolute visual clutter you have to deal with:  solid buildings, advertisements, shade/sun, one-way street signs, tiny little traffic signals that blend into the mix.  This is anything but an enjoyable fitness ride.

As I sprinted for our hotel room a realization washed over me that I just didn't fit in this jungle.  If I were a pedestrian with two feet I could walk safely on the sidewalk.  If I were a car or a bus I could drive safely in the travel lane.  My two wheeled-pedal-powered machine made me acutely aware that in this jungle I am a freak of nature...too slow and small to keep up with the cars and too big and fast to be welcomed on the sidewalk. 

I am hated by all...barely tolerated...oppressed...I don't belong here.

Like an ostrich with flightless wings or a lizard that can't swim I was an evolutionary tweener with no home to call my own....I long for singletrack.