Tag: SF

I plan to do the Supermarket Street Sweep, Saturday at noon. A race around town to pick up a collection of food (to be donated to the SF Food Bank). You get the checklist of stores to visit and things to buy at each one when the race starts, so you have to decide right then what set of routes to take to optimize your path… The SF Bike Coalition throws a party (beer, auctions, DIY activities, raffle, food, art) every year. Winterfest is this Sunday evening. You can get in free if you volunteer– I’ll be pouring beer in one of the tents.

This Sunday: a casual late-morning ride, 20-25 miles, leaving from Four Barrel (Valencia/15th) at 10:30am* To the ocean via Corbett, around Lake Merced, to Trouble Coffee for one of the best espressos in the city and/or inch-thick cinnamon toast, and maybe a drink at Zeitgeist afterwards. Here’s a similar ride we did a few months ago: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/117820 * weather permitting– there’s always a chance of a delay or change– you can text me day-of to check in or let me know you’re interested and I’ll keep you posted. ...

I put together a last-minute city ride Saturday afternoon following the Butter Lap route (about 20 miles, through parks and along the ocean). Unfortunately, I had bike issues (two flats and a damaged tire– all due to the edge of my brake pad rubbing against my tire and finally wearing through the side wall) which delayed us an hour and led to the group splitting up. It was also cold and foggy all day, which made the beach less exciting. A few of us finished the loop and then headed to Speakeasy Brewery for their 13th Anniversary party.

My 2nd butter lap. Cary joined for her first butter lap (and first bike ride in a while). Friendly unhurried group, as usual– everyone waited at the top of any major hill, even when someone had a flat tire and needed a while to change it. It got a little chilly and dark at the end, but I still made it to Bender’s for a fish taco and IPA-in-a-can. Photographic evidence below. Fun trivia: if you click through the map to the GPS trace and zoom in on the Palace of the Legion of Honor, you can see the GPS tracks from when I was biking around the fountain in circles to try to keep warm while waiting for someone. ...

All are welcome. My last pre-Iowa ride. edit: Route summary and a few other notes about the butterlap: http://www.sf2g.com/butterlap.html (edit #2 10+ years later: updated site at https://butterlap.bike/)

This map is nothing special: I just took out the GPS (running in a higher-resolution mode than the previous maps) on a quick crosstown break for coffee and exercise, to record “the wiggle” and one way of getting from the Mission to the beach and back.

I rode Butter Lap on Wednesday w/ Margo (most of the way)– it was fun. There were probably 20-30 people on the ride, almost all strangers. People meet at 7pm at the Ferry Building every Wednesday and ride a set route, ending in the Mission for a beer (usually at Bender’s). This has been going on every week for many years– I’m not sure if there’s even an organizer/owner any more. ...

Riding in the evenings while the weather / light / job situation permit: Leaving work a little early Monday (today) to meet up at 5pm at the Presidio Sports Basement with a few people for a jaunt into Marin. Butter Lap on Wednesday (7pm at the Ferry Building, low-key loop around the city and then a beer, see more notes in previous posts). A few of us biked Paradise Loop yesterday afternoon, and it was a great day for it– sunny, warm, and fairly low-traffic so we could just zoom. We took the ferry back from Tiburon (and were considering stopping at Angel Island for a bike around it before catching the next ferry home, but that didn’t work out– next time?).

I just recently heard about “Butter Lap”, a laid-back 17-mile ride every Wednesday evening, ending with a beer at Bender’s, Zeitgeist, or so on. I have other plans this Wednesday, but I plan to check it out in the next few weeks. It sounds like it kicks off from the Ferry Building at 7pm. Map: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/san+francisco/836271138504 Bike blog mentioning it: http://bikesandthecity.blogspot.com/2009/06/butter-june-it.html

Four of us went on a roughly 25-30 mile ride (depending where you started). Here’s an approximate map. It was a neat route I’d never taken from the Mission to Ocean Beach via Corbett (a low-traffic, modest-slope street between Market and 17th) and Taraval. We stopped at Trouble Coffee for the requisite excellent espresso (elbow grease blend) and cinnamon toast, then headed south to take a loop around Lake Merced (dragon boat racers were practicing in the fog), and returned via golden gate park and Page, with a stop for a bloody mary and a few beers at Zeitgeist. Another good day.