Stories
March 12, 2025
![A trail in John McLaren Park.]()
I thought I’d try to write some bloggish posts, maybe mostly about my little bike rides and the places I go but maybe about other stuff. I’m not really sure what this will turn into or if it will even turn into anything but as I figure it’s needless to say, but i’m saying it anyway: I’m sick of instagram being the ~only~ place to share things.
I’ve been really enjoying living in the bay for the last year and a half and I’ve been spending a lot of my time riding bikes around getting to know so many lovely places. I also often end up a bit absorbed reading and learning the details about the cultural and historical geography of a place, so I’m thinking of this as a way of trying to retain some of that information. Trying to hold on to the little connective memories I’ve been making.
This past Sunday I rode my bike mostly around the city of San Francisco in a clockwise route. I started out riding down the east side of the city, by the sports stadiums, through Mission Bay, mostly along the port, and passing through some of the new parks that have recently opened on portions of what used to be shipbuilding sites adjacent to the largest dry dock on the west coast. 1
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I was generally following the established bike routes and paths through the area. I planned this route with a few points of interest in mind beginning with Irish Hill, 2, 3, 4 which I had read about before but only briefly after seeing it as a historical landmark marker on the map. I wanted to really see the small chunk of rock left behind in person and take a picture of it. I’ll probably come back here and check in as this area appears to be undergoing a lot of change at the moment. I continued riding south and I saw an old fire station (SFFD Station No. 25) next to the outlet of Islais Creek.5
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Then I made my way down to another spot I had wanted to revisit: Heron’s Head Park at India Basin.6, 7 I really love that park. It juts out into the bay so delicately and is fun to roll out and back and see the birds and boats. It’s a little bit out of the way and the area can get a little hectic with car and large truck traffic during the week but it’s really nice to visit via bike on a weekend. When I was leaving Heron’s Head, I saw some goats eating next to the SF Bay Railroad Yard so I stopped to watch and talk to them. They weren’t very interested in me.8
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After the attempts at interspecies communication, I made my way through the Bayview and Portola districts and up to McLaren park where I hoped to get some time away from cars.
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Some San Francisco things.
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Despite my boundless (!) caution and courtesy I ended up scaring a very sweet off leash dog who was learning how to navigate the world and big scary people on bikes. Cruising down the dirt trails in McLaren park is fun and like most challenging, bikey things it always tends to make the cruel climb getting up there a little bit worth it. From McLaren park, I zipped down Persia Ave., past Balboa Park BART Station and City College, and headed towards the ocean. I wiggled my way to get a coffee and then went down along Ocean Beach Park (formerly the great highway9) which has been closed to cars on weekend and will be closed to cars for good this coming friday. The rest of the ride was through some of the more well travelled routes in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, Chrissy Field, Fort Mason and back along the Embarcadero to the ferry terminal.
I always see and feel so many things when I go on these longer-ish rides and I hope this will help me keep track and remember some of them. ✿
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Looking west down Santiago Street towards the Pacific Ocean.
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The bottom of Spire by Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio. 10
A trail in John McLaren Park.
I’ve been really enjoying living in the bay for the last year and a half and I’ve been spending a lot of my time riding bikes around getting to know so many lovely places. I also often end up a bit absorbed reading and learning the details about the cultural and historical geography of a place, so I’m thinking of this as a way of trying to retain some of that information. Trying to hold on to the little connective memories I’ve been making.
This past Sunday I rode my bike mostly around the city of San Francisco in a clockwise route. I started out riding down the east side of the city, by the sports stadiums, through Mission Bay, mostly along the port, and passing through some of the new parks that have recently opened on portions of what used to be shipbuilding sites adjacent to the largest dry dock on the west coast. 1
The dry dock in the distance and salvaged shipbuilding machinery at Crane Cove Park.
I was generally following the established bike routes and paths through the area. I planned this route with a few points of interest in mind beginning with Irish Hill, 2, 3, 4 which I had read about before but only briefly after seeing it as a historical landmark marker on the map. I wanted to really see the small chunk of rock left behind in person and take a picture of it. I’ll probably come back here and check in as this area appears to be undergoing a lot of change at the moment. I continued riding south and I saw an old fire station (SFFD Station No. 25) next to the outlet of Islais Creek.5
Irish Hill and Station 25.
Then I made my way down to another spot I had wanted to revisit: Heron’s Head Park at India Basin.6, 7 I really love that park. It juts out into the bay so delicately and is fun to roll out and back and see the birds and boats. It’s a little bit out of the way and the area can get a little hectic with car and large truck traffic during the week but it’s really nice to visit via bike on a weekend. When I was leaving Heron’s Head, I saw some goats eating next to the SF Bay Railroad Yard so I stopped to watch and talk to them. They weren’t very interested in me.8
After the attempts at interspecies communication, I made my way through the Bayview and Portola districts and up to McLaren park where I hoped to get some time away from cars.
Despite my boundless (!) caution and courtesy I ended up scaring a very sweet off leash dog who was learning how to navigate the world and big scary people on bikes. Cruising down the dirt trails in McLaren park is fun and like most challenging, bikey things it always tends to make the cruel climb getting up there a little bit worth it. From McLaren park, I zipped down Persia Ave., past Balboa Park BART Station and City College, and headed towards the ocean. I wiggled my way to get a coffee and then went down along Ocean Beach Park (formerly the great highway9) which has been closed to cars on weekend and will be closed to cars for good this coming friday. The rest of the ride was through some of the more well travelled routes in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, Chrissy Field, Fort Mason and back along the Embarcadero to the ferry terminal.
I always see and feel so many things when I go on these longer-ish rides and I hope this will help me keep track and remember some of them. ✿
Looking west down Santiago Street towards the Pacific Ocean.
The bottom of Spire by Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio. 10Notes/Links:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crane_Cove_Park
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Hill_(San_Francisco)
3. https://www.foundsf.org/Irish_Hill
4. https://www.foundsf.org/Irish_Hill_then_and_now
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islais_Creek
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heron%27s_Head_Park
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Basin,_San_Francisco
8. https://www.zamgoatgroup.com/post/understanding-goat-behavior-what-your-goat-is-trying-to-tell-you
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Highway
10. https://www.nps.gov/places/000/spire-by-andy-goldsworthy.htm