Afoot in San Fransisco

A week in December in San Francisco for work. What else to do outside of the 8-5 meetings??? A whole lot of running of course. Mornings down by the Bay, evenings around downtown, and an early morning trip to Mt Tam, the birthplace of mountain biking.

Sunrise over San Francisco Bay near Ghirardelli Square.

The Rock: Alcatraz Island.

Built in Scotland in 1886, the Balclutha is now part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. I figured the water in the Bay in December would be freezing, so I was shocked to see many people swimming out to Alcatraz and back without a wetsuit! 

Yerba Buena Gardens.

Hill repeats on the famous Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in the world".

Grant Avenue in San Francisco's Chinatown.

Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill: headquarters for the Episcopal Diocese of California.

Bus ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. I decided, come rain or shine (it rained ), I would wake up really early on my last day and climb Mount Tam (Tamalpais). Why Mount Tam? First, it is the tallest mountain (2,571') that is relatively close to downtown. Second , it would be somewhat of a pilgrimage to the birthplace of mountain biking.

Bus stop in Mill Valley, elevation: 60 feet. It is four miles and 2,510 vertical feet from here to the top of Mount Tam. The red gravity car is a relic of the Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway that wound 8 miles from Mill Valley to the summit and was in operation from 1896 to 1930. The gravity cars would be towed up by locomotive and then coast down the rail line with dozens or tourists and a single brakeman aboard.

Long steps at the top of Bernard Street in Mill Valley is where the real climbing begins.

Temelpa Trailhead above Mill Valley.

The heavy rain turned much of the trail into a small stream. Despite the rain, running conditions were excellent. I encountered no mud on the rocky trail, and as long as I kept moving, I never felt cold. 

It was the fire roads and singletrack blanketing Mount Tam that first enticed the likes of Charlie Kelly, Gary Fisher, and Joe Breeze in the mid 1970s to modify old Schwinn cruisers into what would eventually be known as the mountain bike. Ironically, today, nearly all of the singletrack on Mount Tam is off limits to mountain bikes.

A short paved section near the summit. The higher I got, the harder the rain came down, and the harder the wind blew. I loved it. It's not that often you get to run in the rain in southern Utah, and even when rain comes, lightning and flash flooding are a constant threat.

The final "Plank Walk" to the summit, here, reduced to a series of cascades in the heavy rain.

Short video clip showing conditions on top of soggy Mount Tam.