I’ve been at a conference in Oakland, CA for the past several days which has meant no bicycle riding–too busy, too tired, no bike. But I see bikes everywhere. There are lanes in downtown Oakland, signs directing riders all over town. My dear friend S. reports there’s going to be a bike lane on the new Bay Bridge when it eventually opens. Tonight when I took the BART into San Francisco for dinner with D. and P., there were bikes boarding trains, a space in the car set aside for bikes, and a pamphlet on the floor from August when bikes could ride in any car on Fridays. I snapped this picture of bikes lined up on racks at the 16th Street BART station–so many riders! Bikes are clearly just normal here–they can be normal. The infrastructure is built with the assumption it will be used for biking, and it clearly is. How, though, do y’all get up some of these San Francisco hills? Next time I best find out.
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 
there is always a way around them hills.
that’s awesome that you are here :)) was a pleasant surprise to see my city popup while reading your sightings.
for next time (or not sure how long you are here for) this is a super handy and a free PDF download w/grades for both bikes +pedestrians alike that you might find handy/interesting: http://www.sfbike.org/download/map.pdf
safe travels! xxom
Sadly, I leave tomorrow morning, first thing. Next time, next time! I *love* that map–fantastic. I love what we make for each other. Come bike around Baltimore sometime! I’ll show you the way around *our* hills. 🙂
Oh, how I remember Oakland and the trips we made, especially the one to some casino in the middle of no where and you won 400.00 betting a few pennies. Memories are made of this.