Midnight bike rides are the easiest way to finish an evening in San Francisco
In the immortal words of Queen, “Bike, bike, bike… I want to ride a bike!”
Those were my thoughts as I pedaled out of Golden Gate Park from Outside Lands last night, past crowds of attendees saluting hundred-dollar Ubers and the enticing smell of bacon-wrapped hot dogs sizzling on grills. No disrespect to Lizzo’s “Squid Game” costume, but remembering the slow roads on the 30-minute drive home to the Lower Haight was perhaps the happiest thing I felt all weekend.
Unfortunately, not every ride in San Francisco is as breezy as the descent back to the Lower Haight. Of all the places I’ve ridden – including New York City – San Francisco is the most challenging. Sure, it deserves awards for Most Bike-Friendly City, the iconic Wiggle route looks like a spandex fashion show at the weekend, and the city boasts stats like 1.8 million bikeshare rides in 2019. We also probably have the highest per capita ratio of electric unicycles is a whole other topic. But even the most data-driven study can’t account for the fact that some bike lanes are blocked by a vehicle every minute or how many of my elbows have been broken from wheels skidding on cobweb-covered Muni tracks (one).
So even for a lifelong urban biker, driving in San Francisco can be stressful. Before the pandemic, commuting on the SOMA bike lanes was a gauntlet of pedestrians and potholes (although it accounted for 4.2% of San Francisco commuters in 2018). On leisurely drives to North Beach to eat pizza in the midst of the pandemic, I’ve been berated by Stockton Street drivers who wouldn’t give me the seat of a pool noodle. But now that it’s safe (for me) to dive back into the city’s nightlife, I’ve been able to resume the most relaxing type of bike ride there is: the midnight ride home.
Shortly before the official launch of the “Wiggle,” the city-wide mural is behind the Safeway at Church and Market.
Blair Heagerty / SFGate
San Francisco transforms into a different city after dark. In bars and dance clubs, inhibitions melt away as people explore the possibilities that indulgence can bring. But outside the city looks really naked. Stripped of traffic and pedestrians, the sepia-toned streetlight mutes the Painted Ladies, turning even the brightest of San Francisco streets into a dark noir set. And when you ride a bike, everything is yours.
Sure, I’m a curmudgeon who doesn’t want to pay for Ubers, and I’m happy to put in an extra half hour of cardio, but this sense of ownership is the real reason I love biking home at night. Walking down quiet neighborhood streets makes you feel like you’re the only person left awake in San Francisco. Instead of riding centimeters from a curb through littered bike paths, I swing out in wide arcs like a downhill skier. It’s not a time to be carefree, but it’s the most carefree you’ll feel on two wheels (as long as you remember your light, which you should definitely remove when parking).
For those who associate cycling with exercise and see exercise as something they definitely don’t want to do after a long night out, this all might seem a little counterintuitive. I’m not a particularly fit cyclist and my bike doesn’t cost as much as a used Prius (more like a 1995 Volvo with a dead engine). You won’t see me driving up the hills in Marin on Saturday morning. But once you get used to urban cycling, a 20-minute ride home is like a refreshing after-dinner drink. The slow drip of endorphins reactivates your body and warms your soul (a nice pair of gloves is recommended).
The main purpose of a night drive is to reflect on the city and your place in it. For all of San Francisco’s image problems, it’s objectively one of the most beautiful places in the world. That often gets lost when you consider how competitive it is to thrive here and how easily the city’s pace can make someone feel insignificant, like their personal history is the least interesting thing in the room. But at the end of a night of drinking while pedaling through empty city blocks, your story is the only one in sight.
