Biking in San Francisco’s Mission District

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SF Wiggle captures a ride down Valencia Street in the Mission

OK, so it is probably not a sign of consistent, engaged blogging when you try to login to your blog only to realize you can’t remember the password!

Where does the time go???  In mid July, I moved into San Francisco’s Mission District (LOVING IT!), and now my house is only three blocks from BART.  On the other end in the financial district, my office is only 4 blocks from BART.  So, I’ve spent the last several weeks soaking up the best commute I’ve ever had in my entire professional life and still managed to be all proud of myself for taking public transit and not driving my car.

However, a pound or two and some lethargy later, I decided to get back to biking to work last week, and now that I’ve recovered my password, I can resume blogging as well…

Despite the Mission’s proximity to BART foiling my bike commute for the last few weeks, the Mission is hands-down THE best neighborhood for biking in the city (some may argue, but that is my opinion, anyway).  First of all it is flat, which is this city gives it a significant advantage right out of the gate.  Secondly, lots and lots of people get around by bike so there is a good sense of biking community that it is fun to take part in.  If you doubt this, hang out on Valencia Street, which has a bike lane down both sides running the entire length of the street.  This, to me is the  heart of San Francisco biking culture.  Thirdly, it has great proximity to downtown and SOMA where many bikers (including me) commute for work.

My new commute takes me up Valencia Street to Market Street, which then takes me all the way downtown.  I have long resisted commuting on Market because I assumed it would be

Market Street Commute

heavily trafficked and dangerous.  That really isn’t true.  I suspect most cars avoid it due to all the stop lights, turning restrictions, and assumptions that it will be congested (I do when in my car).  Instead, there are many empty pockets, clusters of bikers in the right lane/bike lane, and mostly public transit vehicles.  So far (four trips) I’ve found it to be a great street for bike commuters, and I’m happy to be back at it!

Few links highlighting San Francisco’s Mission District, my new hood! These have little to do with biking (some of the blogs cover biking), but they are still fun:

Recent New York Times piece spotlighting the Mission

Mission Mission – a definitive SF Mission Blog

SF Mission – news, events, restaurants, etc.

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