23.06.12 - Hills on a Bicycle

Today is the day for exploring on my bike. I set off through Golden Gate park but don’t get far before
stopping to take some pictures at the glasshouse. Unlike the ones in Kew they have painted out the windows so all you get is a diffused light coming through. Like Central Park people seem to congregate here to do cool stuff; you can go on a Segway tour, I saw people competing in a inline skating trick competition, a Pedal Power Stadium where fixed bicycles had to generate the power for a concert, there is a field of bison, and it is massive! I had thought that a cycle along the coast would equal a nice flat ride but as I hit the beach I saw the coming climb, but I had set myself the course and I wasn’t going to be put off by the hill.

The water looks ferocious, the wind is strong and pushes sand onto the promenade so that little dumper trucks have to pick it all up and return it to the beach, they also flatten out the beach because the wind makes the sand into huge ridges. I cycled up and down, along roads, past golf courses and memorials until I finally saw the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. I managed to end up on the wrong side of the bridge which was closed to bicycles on the weekend but I decided to break the rules and cycled over anyway, realising half way across that the left hand side is reserved for bikes only, I was on the right. However, there was definitely a beter view of the Frisco Bay from the illegal side so it was worth the tourist dodging.

It was way past my lunchtime when I reached the other side, expecting to find a cafe for weary bridge crossers but there was nothing apart from a water fountain so I cycled back across and eventually found a cafe on the beach which was much needed by this point. Then thinking I knew where I was I realised that I didn’t but found myself at the Palace of Fine Arts which is an amazing and slightly outrageous neo-classical structure. It felt like a living Roman ruin. The ride back included a lot of wrong turns and hills but I eventually made it back after 5 hours and collapsed at home. I did see a wild sweet pea which made the wrong turn and
extra hill almost worth it. In the evening I dragged myself off to the cinema to see Snow White and the Huntsman which is rubbish, don’t go to see it. The script is really bad and the acting nearly as bad.