I first visited SF in August 2000 as a summer intern.
For four months, I rented a bed in a 2nd floor living
room at a corner on west Noriega St. Every morning,
I would ride a bus to the east end of the city and
hop onto CalTrain to work in Millbrae. Coming back
the same route would take another 1.5 hours. During
weekends, I'd either go to work or read at the
Border's bookstore (long gone) at Stonestown. At the
time, language was still a big barrier and I was
interested in only one thing that I knew was going
to imrpove my life--studying. My memory of SF
consisted of mainly hilly streets, chilly fog, and
Cantonese food.
16 years have passed and we have lived in the valley for
a while. We have started to know the city better,
through events, e.g., Bay2Breakers, and work. Labor
Day weekend, Tim and I discovered the Ghirardelli
Square on our walk from Fort Mason center to the
Embarcadero and decided that, on the next day, we
would ride on the Golden Gate Bridge.
It was a sunny fall morning and the temperature was
just perfect. We drove to Fort Mason, switched to
bikes and headed toward the bridge. It was not very
early and tourists started to show up on the trails
and sidewalks which I must admit were very
well-planned and maintained. It was a smooth ride
until we started the ascend to the south end of the
bridge. Tim had to walk the bike but the climb was
short. Soon we were on the deck.
Pedestrians took the Bay-side sidewalk and
cyclists the Pacific-side. Bike traffic was heavy.
Most people headed to the north but some obviously
didn't come to slow down and enjoy the scenary. They
had to pass. Tim rode in the front and I found
myself constantly worrying. It was a big relief when
we finally reached the north end where we each
enjoyed a piece of chocolate and decided not to go
on to Sausalito but to get back the same route. As
we found out, the 5 miles back were actually easier
thanks to much lighter traffic.
Along the way, people were walking, running, biking,
kiting, picnic-ing, etc. We watched young people
doing body-weight exercises at the monkey bars close
to Marina blvd. I joined in and did some weighted
pullups and felt great.
The day didn't come to the best end when we gorged
on a pizza which we ordered at a RoundTable on
Geary. The next day, both Tim and I gained weight;-)
P.S. Tim and I came back the next weekend and made
it to Sausalito and took the ferry back to SF. My wish
made two years ago was granted ;-)
