07 May Biking in San Francisco

Since San Francisco is a city of short distances, I upon arrival thought of buying a bike. However, the recommendations I got was that it is too dangerous, hilly, and not as short distances as I might think; recommendations that I followed for the first semester, and instead I got around with public transportation.

Between the first and second semester I reconsidered that standpoint though, and with a new roommate who owned a bike which he used a lot, I decided to buy one myself as well.

I have now been biking for four months and my only regret is that I didn´t buy a bike earlier. In my opinion San Francisco is as dangerous as any given city, and I have yet to encounter any problems or accidents while biking (knock on wood…). San Francisco is hilly (no shit?!), but on that point and the previous one about safety, Google maps is of great help, because when entering your destination, Google maps will suggest routes that has the most bikes lanes (good for safety) and the least difference in altitude (less hilly), which actually makes the traffic and hills fairly manageable when going to school and other places without ending up all sweaty or bruised.

Moreover, a great thing to do when having visitors is to bike around in San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately this is very expensive (renting a bike for a day is like 60$). This is money you can instead spend on buying a bike, which you can sell when you go back. Also, since I bike to school, I don´t have buy a monthly Muni-pass for 68$.

Comparing the cost for the bike with the expenses for monthly Muni-passes and bike-rentals, I have actually spent (a lot) less money than what would have otherwise been the case. (Money well needed living as an exchange student in San Francisco.) On top of that I have gotten a daily workout by biking 16 miles per day and I avoid the terrible wait for the inherently late Munis and busses.

It has to be acknowledged that the public transportation in many ways is a great way to get around in San Francisco, but some advice is to not believe people who say it´s necessarily superior to biking :)

Have a good one!