san francisco | Jeff Wong

First Flat Tire in San Francisco

February 20, 2018 / Me

Closeup of my first flat tire in San Francisco.

On my ride to work today, I heard a hissing sound and thought there was something rubbing against my tire. I pulled over and examined my wheel and noticed a giant piece of glass embedded into the rubber. As soon as I removed the glass, all the air came out of my tire.

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Philz Coffee on 24rd and Folsom St.

Fortunately, I was only a block away from my favorite coffee shop. So I locked up my bike and called up a pick-up service. Last year, I paid for a ($250) premium service from my bike shop (New Wheel), which is paying off now.

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The tow truck guy tying my bike down.

It sucks to pay for maintenance, but the reality is that I’m kind of lucky that I’ve gone so long without a flat. I’ve lasted a year and a half with 2300 miles on my e-bike. The only thing I’ve had to replace were my brakes in terms of wear and tear. And truth be told, I probably needed to replace my rear tire soon.

I was running Schwalbe Marathon tiresâ€”and now I’ve upgraded to Marathon Plus. It’s advertised to have a little extra puncture resistance over the Marathon, in exchange for higher rolling resistance and costs a couple $$. Either way, I’m hoping that I won’t get another flat for a while.

One of my buddies said that I have had “really bad luck with this bike”…

But a flat tire isn’t that bad.

I remember getting flat tires every few months in Richmond, VA… and I didn’t ride as far back then.

On the other hand, San Francisco roads are full of pot holes, debris, broken glass, drug needles, etc. The fact that I’ve gone this far without getting a flat kind of boggles my mind.

Anyway, all is back to normal. I’m kind of glad I got the comprehensive membership. I highly recommend it to anyone if you’re in the market.

Photos from My Bike Ride

April 9, 2017 / Cali, Me, Photo

Photo of a blocked off road beside Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

After the storm cleared up this morning, I decided to go for a bike ride. I ended up doing a 25 mile loop around the city. Here are some photos from my ride.

Crossing the road.

Shadows and pruned trees in the city.

Stairs near the Painted Ladies.

A small beach between Lands End and Presidio.

Museum at the top of Lands End, featuring a collection of work by Monet.

Photo riding down Ocean Drive.

Close up photo of flowers in Golden Gate Park.

Ocean beach.

The court yard between the California Academy of Sciences and de Young Museum.

Electric Bike Tour around SF and Sausalito with Annie and Julia

January 6, 2017 / Cali, Me

Riding across the Golden Gate Bridge, covered in fog.

Wow, so I am so behind on blogging. Like, I have photos from months ago that I haven’t shared. Anyway, I’ve gotta get better about posting more content more frequently.

Anyway, I wanted to share some photos of when Annie and Julia came to visit me in SF. I had tried out some electric bikes before, but this was the first time I actually went for a real ride–we ended up riding around Embarcadero, Presidio, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and all the way to Sausalito.

Julia getting some Blue Bottle coffee before the bike ride.

Photo of Annie perfecting her coffee, since it wasn’t quite right.

Side note, I’m not a huge fan of Blue Bottle. I love their logo, but their coffee is just too bitter for me. If you ask me, I’m more of a Philz Coffee kind of guy.

Photo of Annie and Julia watching the safety video at Blazing Saddles.

When we got to Blazing Saddles, they made us watch a video about the tour, and then they let us try different bikes. At the time, I really wanted to try out a Stromer, but the only models they had were really old ones. They had one really new model on display, and I wanted to rent that one, but they gave me some old beat up model. Fortunately, I spoke to the owner and they straightened everything out. We ended up renting their own home made electric bikes, and they were actually really impressive.

Video of the tour.

Photo of Annie in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

A thick fog rolled in in a matter of minutes, and we could hardly see anything when we were on the bridge. It was a little unnerving, not to mention really cold. I think we were all underdressed on this bike tour.

The fog rolling over the mountains. As you can see, there was hardly any visibility.

Annie looking at a whole ‘lotta fog.

Every once and a while, you could see the top of the bridge.

Looking up at the bridge scaffolding. Notice the fog wrapping around the top, carried by a brisk wind.

Fog completely engulfing the bridge. We were lucky just to see the top of the scaffolding from time to time.

I wasn’t joking about the fog. It was literally rolling across the entire bay in a matter of minutes. The fog was carried by a strong brisk wind, with strong gusts.

Photo of the bikes we road, built by Blazing Saddles.

I have to say that the bikes built by Blazing Saddle were exceptional. They were comfortable, easy to ride, and most importantly provided enough assist on even the toughest hills. The the best part was that they had plenty of power–we literally road for hours and had plenty of juice left by the end of the ride.

Photo of Julia and Annie preparing to ride towards Sausalito.

The fog was quite a marvel as it rolled across the bay and bridge.

Fog rolling over the top of Sausalito.

One of the most breath taking scenes was observing how the fog would blanket the side of the hills around Sausalito. The fog would cascade over tree tops like a waterfall over rocks.

Photo of Sausalito.

The sun started setting when we got to Sausalito, so we enjoyed the view and prepared to head back on a ferry.

The main street that runs along Sausalito.

While this neighborhood looks upscaled and nice, I will warn all cyclists that the drivers around here are a little reckless. Watch out for the crazies, because they sure don’t give a damn about cyclists on the road.

Another photo of Sausalito.

I can’t help but to think how much my dad would love this part of town. There’s something about it that feels small, but upscale. It reminds me a lot of Reedville, VA (but a rich version in California).

Catching our ferry back to San Francisco.

Photo of Annie and Julia, with Sausalito in the background.

The sun setting, with an incredible reflection in the bay.

Bikes stacked tightly on the ferry.

Returning our bikes to Blazing Saddles.

They had a nice warm welcome when we returned. I have to say that Blazing Saddle offered a really good experience and I would definitely go there again to rent a bike (if I needed one).

Annie and Julia will be back soon, and I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll be doing this again. Only this time, I have my own personal electric bike that I can use.

New Bike and First Ride to Sausalito California

November 14, 2016 / Cali, Me

Photo of my new bike, Evo HB1 Disc, using a Bionx D500.

I took my e-bike out for a 40 mile ride yesterday around San Francisco and Sausalito. I’m happy to say that the bike had just enough juice to get me there and back.

I think if my ride had no stops, I could have easily gotten 50 miles out of the battery. On the other hand, if I maxed out the electic assist, I probably would have only gotten 25 miles.

Screenshot of the path I took from Bernal Heights to Sausalito.

Truth be told, I actually made my way up to Mill Valley (a couple miles north of Sausalito). I always wanted to check out some of the scenic paths in Richardson Bay.

The tidal action of Richardson Bay is very important to the plants and animals that live in and around the bay shore. The profile of the shoreline can be divided into zones that are affected by different tidal heights. Plants and animals that can surviv for longer periods of time exposed to air, wind and sunlight are located at higher elevations. Others must live at lower elevations where they will be covered by water for longer periods of time. The birds that rely on the bay shore for their food and shelter are also influenced by the effects of the tides. Each bird has adapted its foraging technique to the particular kinds of food that it eats. Some ducks dive for fish, others dabble for algae and invertebrate. Many shore birds have long legs and long beaks to probe the mud in shallow water, while others have short legs and short beaks and look for food along the tide line.

Photo of the sun setting over San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Photo of my e-bike’s computer, showing 40.1 miles travelled, with little battery remaining.

Good thing I had just enough juice to get home. Whew.

Photo of my e-bike in Sol’s lobby.

On a side note, I’ve been commuting with an e-bike for the last week, and it’s been a great experience. No more sitting with homeless people in public transportation or incompetent uber pool drivers. Okay, that’s a generalization, but I’ve come to a conclusion that it’s way more enjoyable to commute via bike.

Tartine Bakery & Cafe

October 12, 2016 / Cali, Food, Me, Photo

Fresh pastries at Tartine.

After Coit Tower, we grabbed some lunch at Tartine Bakery & Cafe.

Pastry chef ELISABETH PRUEITT and her husband, renowned baker CHAD ROBERTSON, are the co-owners of Tartine Bakery and Bar Tartine in San Francisco. They both trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Elisabeth and Chad traveled, trained, and cooked in France and upon their return, opened Bay Village Bakery in Point Reyes Station, California. Using a wood fired brick oven, they baked bread and created rustic, elegant pastries using many of the techniques they had learned abroad. Chadâ€™s bread garnered the attention of Alain Ducasse, who wrote about the couple in his book, Harvesting Excellence.

I’d say that their pastries are pretty good. Their sandwiches are hella expensive. Be prepared to pay $17 for a sandwich. Annie said their breakfast bun was off the hook, so put your $$ towards their pastries.

More deliciousness.

Expensive cookies. $10.50 per bag.

I would say that the food was good, but probably overpriced for my liking. Other than that, their pastries are fantastic.

More pastries.

Julia walking into Tartine.

Coit Tower

October 11, 2016 / Cali, Me, Photo

Photo of Coit Tower from the parking lot.

After driving around Golden Gate Bridge, we headed to Coit Tower.

The tower, in the city’s Pioneer Park, was built in 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit’s bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco; at her death in 1929 Coit left one-third of her estate to the city for civic beautification. –Wikipedia

After living a year and a half in San Francisco, this was the first time I saw this landmark. While the parking lot of Coit Tower isn’t that scenic, the history is pretty interesting. I’m sure if you can go to top of the tower, the view is probably spectacular… perhaps that’s something I’ll have to do another day.

Statue of Christopher Columbus, in front of Coit Tower.

Coit Tower was paid for with money left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy socialite who loved to chase fires in the early days of the city’s history. Before December 1866, there was no city fire department, and fires in the city, which broke out regularly in the wooden buildings, were extinguished by several volunteer fire companies.

I didn’t have a chance to go up the tower, but it was nice to quickly scope out the base and learn a little about the significance the tower.

View from the base of Coit Tower, facing the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lillie Coit was one of the more eccentric characters in the history of North Beach and Telegraph Hill, smoking cigars and wearing trousers long before it was socially acceptable for women to do so. She was an avid gambler and often dressed like a man in order to gamble in the males-only establishments that dotted North Beach.

The round about at Cost Tower, with little to no parking.

I’ll probably have to come back here at nightâ€”I’m sure the lighting is probably way more interesting.

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