Village Well Ride Day 29 & 30: San Francisco is a Bicyclist’s Town

Fairfax CA to Half Moon Bay CA 

Fairfax is located just to the north of San Francisco. From the first few minutes of our ride on day 29, it was obvious that we were near a big city and that people in the big city love the bicycles. There have been days on this trip in which we haven’t seen a single other person on a bike. But by the time we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge that morning, we had probably seen over 200. San Francisco is full of them. They’ve even cordoned off large sections of Golden Gate Park for bicycle and pedestrian use. In countless ways, San Francisco is a bicyclist’s town. 

However, one particular bicyclist sticks out for some of the wrong reasons. In Golden Gate Park, a guy with flowing silver hair came ripping past us on a classic road racing bike. Notably, he was not wearing a helmet and he was riding very aggressively, weaving between people like they were annoyances. We didn’t comment much except to say he looked like he was in a hurry. Then, about a minute later, we came upon the scene of an accident. We don’t know what happened, exactly, but the guy with the flowing white hair was now looking dazed and terrified as good Samaritans held a t-shirt to his bloody head and urged him to stay calm and sit down. Another bystander had dialed 911 and was calling for an ambulance. There wasn’t much for us to do, as several people were already involved, so we moved on through the park. Wear a helmet, folks! 

As bike-friendly as San Francisco is, that same friendliness does not extend to the California Department of Transportation, particularly whoever designed the stretch of road just south of San Francisco near the Devil’s Slide area. The shoulder was minimal, and when we got through it, the only thing we could say was “that sucked.” A local bike shop assured us it was the worst stretch of highway on the entire coast, and that things would be better further south. So far, they have proved right. We took a rest day in Half Moon Bay, where the beaches are lovely, the people are kind, and the shoulders are wide.