San Francisco Bike Blog

The 49-Mile Scenic Ride is a bicycle take-off on the 49-Mile Scenic Drive:

The 49-Mile Scenic Drive (also known as 49-Mile Drive) in and around San Francisco highlights many of the city’s major attractions and historic structures.

Opened on September 14, 1938 as a promotion for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, it features views of the then-newly-built Golden Gate Bridge (opened May 1937) and the Bay Bridge (opened November 1936). Then it terminated at the fairgrounds on Treasure Island. Originally the drive measured 50 miles (80 km) but that was quickly changed to 49 (79 km), a more meaningful number for a city of 49 square miles (130 km²) that owes its early prominence to the gold rush of 1849.

The 49-Mile Scenic Ride seems to have existed on and off again, at least informally, with folks from the SFBMA or the SFBC hosting once-a-year events. The last event I was able to google was in 2003.

Details of the SFBC-sponsored event were captured in a 2003 Chronicle article:

Brandon Baunach, who works for a San Francisco architecture firm, recently did the whole thing on a bike, trailed by two dozen cyclists who signed up for a ride organized by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

“It’s more strenuous than doing it in a car, but less stressful, just because we never really had to wait for traffic,” he said. “We could maneuver easily around them.” Baunach, 31, printed maps for his flock, indicating the dozen places they would stop along the way for rest breaks, water and to let everyone catch up. All told, the ride took about six hours.

“Everybody had an easy, enjoyable time,” he said. “If they rode a bit slower, they could see where everybody was just ahead of them. They never had to think about the map. They just had to follow the leader.”

That sounds like it was a great time — like doing this type of tour on bike is ideal. Doing it in a car, though?

Somewhat dubious:

Sitting behind the counter at Get Lost Travel Books on Market Street, owner Lee Azus shook his head in a silent “No” when asked if tourists inquire about the 49 Mile Scenic Drive.

…

“I can’t remember anyone asking about the 49 Mile Scenic Drive,” said Azus, who has owned the bookstore for seven years.

The lack of popularity of the automobile-based tour is familiar to us by now — too smoggy, confusing, frustrating, and rushed:

It steers them onto Cesar Chavez Street, a distinctly non-scenic road filled with fast-moving cars furiously changing lanes to get to the on-ramps to Highway 101.

It also sends drivers into the middle of the bustling UCSF Medical Center complex, on a street clogged with cars, taxis and buses, as well as jaywalking doctors, nurses and medical students.

And it’s a looooong 49 miles.

It takes about four hours — that’s without a single sightseeing stop — to drive.

It winds through many crowded streets, and pity the driver who ends up behind a high-and-mighty S.U.V., which will block the scenery, or in front of an impatient San Francisco driver, who will lay on the horn to hurry an indecisive driver along.

Yes, the 49-Mile Scenic Drive is dead, but the 49-Mile Scenic Ride deserves new life.

Let’s build 4.9, 14.9, 24.9, and 49-mile routes, so riders of all abilities can participate. Let’s ask the City to help us make these routes uber-safe, and maybe even paint the bike lanes (and separated bike paths?!) with special route markers.

Maybe we can create and sell the bicycle equivalent of the book, San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive: The Guidebook.

If we can make fifty cents on each booklet we can send a quarter to the SFBC and a quarter to the Bike Kitchen. Maybe there’s an inexpensive iPhone/Gmaps map that can be created and subsequently purchased that will similarly benefit our most important bike institutions. Bike shops, points of interest, restaurants, BARS!, and audio and video clips can be embedded right in the map.

One of the authors of that book, Laurel Rosen, said something that I’m sure will resonate with many of us:

Rosen, who now lives in Sacramento, said writing the book gave her the chance to “play tourist” in San Francisco, where she was born and lived for more than 25 years.

“I’d probably eaten at 200 taquerias in the Mission, but I’d never been inside Mission Dolores,” she said. “I’d never been inside Coit Tower. There are amazing murals inside. And then there are the quirkier sights, like the pet cemetery in the Presidio. I had some vague awareness of it. It was really fun to see it.”

Renewed interest in this idea was sparked by Mission Mission.

[photo courtesy Egan Snow / Flickr]

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