High Speed Pursuits

Talking with Mike on his birthday, I made a half-hearted effort to convince him that we should be riding our bikes today at Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa.  But it's his birthday, and I was more than willing to do what he wanted, which was ride bikes in San Francisco and watch the Blue Angels from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Skyline Wilderness Park will have to wait.

That's not to say we didn't have a great time today, because, well, we did.

Mike came over at 11am, and I was almost ready to go.  Airing up the tires to high pressure for the street riding, getting my camera ready, getting sunscreen on... and Mike was nice enough to bring some TriFlow over so I could treat my chain.  (It was complaining loudly.)

We got on a crowded BART train and went the one stop to MacArthur station, where an even more crowded train awaited us.  We ran our bikes from the 5th car down to the 10th car, because that was the first that would remotely fit us.  There were 12 bikes on that car, and 6 strollers!  Everyone was going to the City for Fleet Week.

Getting off the train was an ordeal, as well, but finally we emerged on a relatively deserted Market Street, and headed past Justin "Pee Wee" Herman Plaza to the Embarcadero.

Cars were backed up already and there were tons of bikes, and people crowded the sidewalk, spilling over into the bikelane.  Double-parked cars abounded.

We blazed up the street, the urge to ride fast past the stopped traffic winning out over any need to be safe.  When the bike lane was jammed, we lanesplit with other bikes and motorcycles, flying between outstretched window mirrors.  We were faster than any cars on the road.  What a rush!

Near Bay Street, we found the source of the jam: two parking enforcement Interceptors were blocking the road, and redirecting all traffic.

Except for bikes!  We blasted past and suddenly owned the empty road!  It's a weird feeling to be on that stretch of Embarcadero which you've only ever seen jam-packed with traffic, and now it's empty.

We weaved back and forth, the bliss lasting all of three blocks before we met an impenetrable line of people, and a full-blown parade marching on just past them.  Hmmm.

Tuning toward the water, we thought we'd move past the crowd through the Fisherman's Wharf parking area, then the secret back way through the piers, and out where The Bush Man does his work.  Unfortunately a cop told us it was off limits, and that was the end of that plan.

We went south to cross the parade, if possible.  I got a cop to let me past, but he stopped Mike to let the parade continue.  So, on separate sides of the street, we called each other on the phone, made plans to meet elsewhere, got lost, got lost again, and eventually met again at the place we'd just been gabbing on the phone.  Easy to get split up in this huge crowd!

It was necessary to cross the parade again, but after all the getting-separated snafus, I was an old pro at that.

We rode past Hyde Street, past the Maritime Museum, and weaved through the crowd into Fort Mason.

Finally we were getting to the area where performances were happening, and there was a crazy giant Red Bull festival going on all over the Marina field area.  Huge inflatible playthings of every time imaginable were there, as well as big-screen televisions broadcasting the aerobatic displays, and food vendors plying their trade.

Surprisingly, it was not much more crowded on the bike path than on any other Sunday.

While we were taking in the scene, the Red Bull Air Force jumped out of a plane 14,000 feet above us, and began plunging to earth.  Two of the skydivers dragged winsock "pylons", while the other skydivers raced air-race-style around the two pylons.  It was a clever display, and fun to watch.

Also out were a couple aerobatic planes, and a Mig 17.  Good clean fun, and although the announcers' voices were wearing thin, at least I didn't ever hear the Top Gun theme!

We briefly entertained the idea of going out to the Wave Organ at the end of the breakwater, but quickly decided against it once we saw the swarms of people with the same idea in mind.

Pushing on, we went past Crissy Field, and, under cool blue skies, turned uphill to get to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Part way up, there is a good view looking east toward the City and The Palace of the Fine Arts, but we were almost to the bridge, so we had to keep going.

An easy climb, and then we rode under the bridge and came out on the bike path side.  (On the Golden Gate, pedestrians walk on the east sidewalk, and cyclists ride on the west sidewalk.)

It's a lot of fun to ride over the bridge.  It doesn't take very long, and it's a great view toward The Marin Headlands, The Point Bonita Lighthouse and beyond.  The road curves in a gentle uphill until you meet the drooping cable in the middle, and the it's easy downhill to the other side.

Once there, you enjoy views from a vista point overlooking Fort Baker, and a distant San Francisco across the Bay to the south.  The towering Golden Gate Bridge dominates the southwest sky.

We still had time to kill, so we bided it eating powerbars, reapplying sunscreen, refilling waterbottles, and generally taking in the scene.  An A-10 circled lazily in the sky above the Marina across the bay, while virtually every sailboat in the area swarmed around Alcatraz Island, held away from the Marina by various Coast Guard vessels.

That business concluded, 3:00 was upon us, and the Blue Angels were due to start.  We pedalled back over the bridge to near the San Francisco side, and parked in one of the many little pullouts that are built into the bridge railing.

The ebb tide roared out of the bay (sometimes 5 knots or more) some 75 meters below us, swirling mud and silt into the Pacific Ocean.  Boats fought it tooth-and-nail to return to port.  Harbor seals played lazily in the eddies of the massive Golden Gate Towers.

Here they come!  For an hour, the Blue Angels performed their routine, which I have seen many times.  But never from the bridge like this!  They fly low over the toll plaza and then dive down along the waterfront for the benefit of all the spectators down that way.

Many very loud passes were made, which I, being a guy, think is just top-notch.  But I wasn't the only one; the bridge was crowded with people on the pedestrian side, and there were quite a few cyclists out to watch as well.

Geekily, I'd brought my handheld ham radio ("HT" in hamspeak) programmed with all the Blue Angels frequencies I'd found on the Internet.  I set it up to scan, and it did find some chatter, but it was faint and noisy.  Maybe it's the crappy rubberduck antenna I have on there, who knows.

Finally with the show wrapped up, Mike suggested Zeitgeist, a bicycle-friendly bar, which I quickly agreed to.  They have fantastic cheeseburgers.

It was only a semi-madhouse getting away from the Golden Gate Bridge.  I'm sure for the cars it took hours, but we did our usually zipping by, and ran easy through the twisting eucalyptus-lined backstreets of The Presidio until we hit the Richmond District.  From there it's an easy sprint south to Golden Gate Park, and from there, we felt our way to The Mission and Zeitgeist (on Valencia at Duboce.)

Wheeled our bikes right in and enjoyed beer and burgers before heading home.