Bike Rental/Rides in San Francisco

[Joel Roth]

I will be in San Francisco at the end of June.
1. Where can I rent a reasonable bicycle in the city? I'll be staying at the Renassaince Parc 55
Hotel, which is near Market St. and 5th St.
2. Any suggestions for a 4-5 hour loop ride beginning in the city, near my hotel?

Thanks.

Joel

 

[Dan Daniel]

On Wed, 21 May 2003 10:17:48 -0500, joel roth <[email protected]> wrote:

> I will be in San Francisco at the end of June.
>1. Where can I rent a reasonable bicycle in the city? I'll be staying at the Renassaince Parc 55
> Hotel, which is near Market St. and 5th St.
>2. Any suggestions for a 4-5 hour loop ride beginning in the city, near my hotel?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Joel

There are no bike rental places right where you are staying.The major bike rental 'strip' is on
Stanyan Street, right by Golden Gate Park. This is about two miles from where you will be staying.
There are many bus lines which will take you right there under 30 minutes. There are four or five
bike shops which do rentals.

If you want to support a good operation-

http://www.thebikehut.com/

Or there is this place-

http://www.blazingsaddles.com/

They are at Fisherman's Wharf, a cable car ride from where you will be staying. There are other
outfits similar to Blazing Saddles. They are all focused on providing just what you want- a rental
and routes.

Some discounts-

http://www.sftravelcoupons.com/couponsearch.cgi?category=9

Any bike rental place will be able to recommend a route based on what you want to see, how far,
fast, etc.

Within San Francisco itself, most biking is typical urban/suburban traffic, stop signs, etc. For the
pure 'San Francisco' experience, you'll probably want to go over the Golden Gate bridge into Marin.
Loop through the Headlands along the bay, out to Rodeo Lagoon and back through the tunnel and into
Sausalito or back over the Bridge. If you want, it's nice to take a ferry back into San Francisco
from Sausalito, or bike to Tiburon and take the ferry from there (or just ride back to the city-
about fifteen miles).

 

[DiabloScott]

I will be in San Francisco at the end of June.

For the real San Francisco experience - you must do Critical Mass on the last Friday of the month. A 2 or 3 hour ride covering probably 15 miles starting at 6pm from Justin Herman Plaza (ask anybody at your hotel, it's near the Ferry Building at the east end of Market Street). Bring warm clothes and some kind of noise maker (whistles and bells), and rent a beater. It's a controversial ride and there are always a few trouble makers but it is without a doubt the most FUN you'll have in the City. Watch for ***** man and the crazy corkers! Tourists will pour out of the restaurants and hotels to watch you go by. Police will escort you through town. Japanese businessmen will run up to have their photos taken in front of you. Cars will pull over in deference to the bicycle's superiority over internal combustion vehicles.

You'll remember it forever. You can thank me later.

 

[Lenny Taylor]

There is also a bike rental place right down at Fisherman's wharf. They specialize in renting to
tourists who want to ride across the golden gate bridge. They have free maps with a number of
routes highlighted. Sorry I can't remember their name. I just happened across them the last time I
was in the city.

Lenny

"joel roth" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I will be in San Francisco at the end of June.
> 1. Where can I rent a reasonable bicycle in the city? I'll be staying at the Renassaince Parc 55
> Hotel, which is near Market St. and 5th St.
> 2. Any suggestions for a 4-5 hour loop ride beginning in the city, near my hotel?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Joel

 

[Jym Dyer]

=v= When I've had friends visiting SF who needed bikes, I've had good luck with "Blazing
Saddles." <_Jym_