How Easy is It to Rice Bike in San Fransico
S.F. once hosted a bike tour on freeways and the Bay Bridge. Let's bring it back
June 7, 1987: Thousands of bicyclists took a tour through San Francisco including Broadway Tunnel, Interstate 280 and the Embarcadero Freeway during the second Great San Francisco Bike Adventure.
Tom Levy / The ChronicleIt has been my dream, ever since I became a bicycle commuter.
San Francisco's freeways, tunnels and bridges are opened up for bikes. If only for a day, the city's main arteries become a two-wheeled utopia.
That describes the Great San Francisco Bike Adventure, an annual event from 1986 to 1995 where tens of thousands of bicyclists traveled the city on roadways usually reserved for fast-moving automobiles. Sections of Interstate 280 were opened up, along with spectacular rides across the top deck of the later-demolished Embarcadero Freeway. At one point, CalTrans allowed pedal-powered traffic on the western span of the Bay Bridge.
"Officials stopped the race on I-280 to allow the cops to clear the road ahead," The Chronicle's Steve Rubenstein wrote on June 9, 1986, a day after the first race. "This turned the freeway into a giant block party, awash with 10,000 orange safety vests. Cyclists sidled up to one another, like dogs meeting for the first time, and checked out each other's derailleurs."
The event was supposed to be a West Coast version of New York's Five Boro Bike Tour, which started in 1977 and still sends riders over multiple bridges and expressways in New York City. A cyclist in 1986 biked from New York to San Francisco City Hall, presenting Mayor Dianne Feinstein with a citation "welcoming San Francisco to the world of major cycling events."
The first event sponsored by Macy's drew 8,000 riders, with more than 15,000 coming out the following year in 1987, when The Chronicle's Tom Levy shot the incredible photo essay featured today. (Just one photo appeared in the next day's newspaper.) The Bike Adventure was like a cycling Bay to Breakers, with bands and radio DJs set up in Crissy Field and at Fort Mason.
June 7, 1987: Thousands of bicyclists took a tour through San Francisco including Broadway Tunnel, Interstate 280 and the Embarcadero Freeway during the second Great San Francisco Bike Adventure.
Tom Levy / The ChronicleRubenstein, who rode the course, described a celebratory mood during the first ride.
"Riding a bicycle down the middle of the freeway is a heady thing, especially when passing the sewage plant," he wrote in The Chronicle. "We whooped and hollered. If the cops can kick the almighty motorcar off a freeway to let a cyclist have his day, any old thing is possible."
Today, the Bike Adventure is a mostly forgotten San Francisco event, even among many bicycle activists. The discussion came up last week when biking enthusiast and "Roll Over Easy" radio host Luke Spray displayed a found 1991 T-shirt on Twitter. "I bought this shirt mostly to figure out what the hell the Great San Francisco Bike Adventure of 1991 was," he tweeted.
The tour seemed to get more daring each year, adding new pathways including the Broadway Tunnel. Proceeds went to the charity American Youth Hostels, and the tour promoted bicycle safety, with a post-ride fair that encouraged first-time bikers to get comfortable on city streets.
The most ambitious move came in 1991, when organizers convinced CalTrans and the SFMTA to close two lanes on the western span of the Bay Bridge in each direction, adding a loop on Treasure Island. That was labeled as the "advanced course," limited to 5,000 more experienced riders who could travel 15 miles per hour or faster.
June 16, 1991: Hundreds of bicyclists crossed the Bay Bridge into Treasure Island during the Great San Francisco Bike Adventure.
Brant Ward / The ChronicleAt that point, only the Golden Gate and Dumbarton bridges had bike access. For just $17, participants would become the first San Franciscans in 55 years to ride a bike on the Bay Bridge without getting arrested.
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June 7, 1987: Thousands of bicyclists took a tour through San Francisco including Broadway Tunnel, Interstate 280 and the Embarcadero Freeway during the second Great San Francisco Bike Adventure.
Tom Levy / The ChronicleIt was mostly a disaster, according to witnesses who recently chimed in on Twitter. Bike rider Neal Parish reported in a detailed thread that bicyclists, trying to avoid drainage grates that weren't covered, began to stray into a second lane that was supposed to be a buffer between traffic.
"We made it up the ramp to the bridge, but were turned around and sent back down to the streets instead of continuing to (Yerba Buena Island)," Parish wrote. "I was *so* pissed and disappointed!"
Twitter user @shaketini said she remembers making it to Treasure Island on her bike, but was hustled back across the bridge.
The Great San Francisco Bike Adventure continued for four more years, ending without any announcement after the 1995 race. More than 25 years later, I can't think of a better time for a return.
June 7, 1987: Thousands of bicyclists took a tour through San Francisco including Broadway Tunnel, Interstate 280 and the Embarcadero Freeway during the second Great San Francisco Bike Adventure.
Tom Levy / The ChronicleChronicle photos by Levy and Brant Ward tell most of the story. A swarm of bicyclists on freeways five and six lanes wide is a surreal sight, begging the viewer to think differently about the city and its possibilities. That was the number one lesson from the Total Muni 2018 and 49 Mile Scenic Route adventures I finished with Chronicle columnist Heather Knight: When forced to explore the city in random and unexpected ways, you fall in love with it a little more.
Bicycle use has exploded during the pandemic, and the tour could be used to celebrate and introduce riders to the growing bike infrastructure in the city. A centerpiece bicycling event — with sponsors and media support — could promote cycling safety and commuting opportunities. And with the spread of electronic bikes, a new tour could be opened up to an even larger group of cyclists than the events of the 1980s and 1990s.
June 7, 1987: Thousands of bicyclists took a tour through San Francisco including Broadway Tunnel, Interstate 280 and the Embarcadero Freeway during the second Great San Francisco Bike Adventure.
Tom Levy / The ChronicleSince 1995, bike lanes have emerged on the Richmond Bridge and the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. And there's mainstream support for a quick-build Bay Bridge western span bike path, with state representatives including Scott Wiener, David Chui, Buffy Wicks and Rob Bonta calling for an immediate study.
Mostly though, the Great San Francisco Bike Adventure sounded like a lot of fun. And after a year of forced separation, the entire Bay Area could use bonding wherever we can find it. A less progressive, less bike-centric city supported the Bike Adventure for a decade.
Why not bring it back better than ever?
Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle's culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub
Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/oursf/article/S-F-once-hosted-a-bike-tour-on-freeways-and-the-16213921.php
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