Late Night Rides

Moving to a new city can be difficult at time. This weekend, I strangely had off from work (I work at a bike rental place, something I will share soon enough). This meant that Saturday morning I could sleep in, so I wanted to do something. Since I work in the city I was trying to find someone to hang out and get dinner or a drink with me after work. Unfortunately, my few friends were busy with their own lives. I still didn't want to waste my Friday night so after work, instead of heading downtown for BART I headed towards the Presidio for a nighttime bike ride.

The summer I first got into riding I also didn't have many friends. Most of my friends were home from college for the summer, while I stayed behind for classes. To fill the time I just rode and explored new things. Friday night's ride felt a lot like this. I started out along the bike path tourists ride from Fisherman's Wharf to the Golden Gate Bridge. I followed around the pitch black Fort Mason to the equally dark Chrissy Field bike path. The path was crushed limestone with some sand encroaching onto the path. I was terrified I'd slip out in the dark. Thankfully, I didn't.

From this path I could see the Golden Gate bridge dimly lit, it gave off an ominous relaxed vibe in the night. I followed along the path until I came to the beginning of the Presidio where I climbed up to try and reach Golden Gate Park. The Presidio is beautiful, and at night, it's even prettier. The old fort buildings were gallantly lit up while the officer's homes, now private residences, were lit in a more casual manner. The park was quiet and I climbed up the Arguello hill out of the Presidio toward Golden Gate Park.

My destination was The Velo Rouge, a great bicycle themed cafe that serves beer. After dropping out of the Presidio I came upon The Velo Rouge, but it was crowded with some band playing (the crowd of the Velo Rouge is usually an older clientel, not really who I wanted to hang out with), so I skipped there and rode on through the park. Golden Gate Park at night is always a pleasant ride. I've done it several times at this point. I saw a group pass-by on a Friday night joyride, before I passed the hippies at the top of Haight Ashbury and dropped down to grab a vegan sausage before heading back to BART.

I was planning on grabbing a drink, but the bars were too crowded for me to really enjoy and after a ten hour work day, I was ready to go home, but I got some miles in and grabbed a new perspective on the Presidio and the bike path through the National Park. Getting dinner with a friend probably would have been nicer, but I seized the night anyway and made the most of it.

[Sorry no photos, my little point and shoot takes awful night photos]