If you’re headed out for a BBQ, picnic or parade on July the 4th, a sundress or shorts will do just fine. But if you’re heading out to watch fireworks in the Bay Area, you’ll need protection from the chill, not the sun. Slap a cardigan over your T-shirt and swap your shorts for jeans and you’ll be oohing and aahing in comfort and style.
Destination: the San Francisco Symphony concert and fireworks at Shoreline Amphitheater on the bay. Unless you like sitting in traffic for hours, biking the Stevens Creek Trail or walking is the way to go. Bring lights!
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- There’s plenty of room in my pannier for our pre-concert picnic dinner.
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- Wide-brimmed sunhat for daytime, fedora for the evening.
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- Even when you’re going minimal with the decorations, a pinwheel is a must.
About Fashion Friday: Inspired by a 2011 Bike to Work Day challenge sponsored by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, this series highlights the broad range of “dress for the destination” bicycling fashions.
Laura
July 4, 2014 at 2:22 pm
Great outfit Janet!
Robin
July 5, 2014 at 1:35 pm
I biked to the concert and fireworks, and while I did get home before my friends, I’m not sure I would do it again. There isn’t adequate bike parking, the first mile of my journey home was taking my life in my hands (and, as my husband said, I was “lit up like a christmas tree” (front and back lights, glow lights on the frame, so it wasn’t that they couldn’t see me), the bike traffic jam going under 101, and the large number of lightless bikers who caused me to come to a complete stop at times, all made this a less than enjoyable trip.
Giving the cyclists a route that didn’t involve weaving among the cars (they blocked off the route through the golf course, which would have been the easiest way for me to get home), would have made a big difference.
ladyfleur
July 5, 2014 at 4:11 pm
We had more trouble this year than last getting out. Last year we walked up the ramp with the pedestrians and then cut over to Crittenden Lane which wasn’t so bad. This year they encouraged us to walk up the ramp next to the cars but got stuck on Shoreline and weren’t able to cross until later. They definitely need a better plan as well as better bike parking. We found wall space by the door to the security office and locked ours together.
As for the trail, it’s always hectic, but we just slow way down to about 1/2 speed. As long as people stick to walkers on the right, riders on the right and the riders chill out instead of trying to ride road speed it’s OK. Biggest problem was on the Moffett overpass when a guy on my right suddenly lost control and veered left right in front of me. Too big a gear I think. I was going slow enough that I was able to stop.
I think next year, I’ll go left out of the amphitheater and try to catch either the trail along the big gravel lot by the kite-flying area or the one by the dog park. But some forethought from the organizers on recommended ways to get in and out of the area would be very helpful.
Robin
July 6, 2014 at 3:56 pm
I go the opposite direction as you do, and they wouldn’t let us on the path that goes behind the amphitheatre, so we were with cars for over a mile. The Lefkowitz underpass was at a total standstill, in part because of a lot of kids who were not getting useful advice from parents on how to navigate it (and don’t get me started about all the kids with no bike lights dressed totally in dark colors. What are their parents thinking?)
Any idea who to contact to get Shoreline/Livenation to improve their bike access? The only way I had any clue that there would be bike racks is that Livenation touts them on their sustainability page. Sort of clueless it seems.
BTW, nice outfit.
ladyfleur
July 6, 2014 at 5:53 pm
I got this ride report from a Facebook friend who took the maintenance road behind the amphitheater to the Permanente Creek trail. Looks like she was allowed on the maintenance road at first then cut onto a dirt trail (see below). We went to a party in Palo Alto before the concert, so we took the Oregon Ave bridge and cut through Shoreline Park on the bike paths along the bay (not the maintenance road). I wonder if you could have done that on the way home?
I’m not sure who to contact exactly, but they definitely need to organize bike routes that lead to all three ways out: Stevens Creek, Permanente and Adobe Creek underpass.
“We took the Permanente Creek Trail, through “Google Land” a little bit, and on the dirt trails that go behind Shoreline Park and Amphitheater. There is a service road directly behind MIcheals restaurant and the side of Shoreline Amp. We rode on that to the event, even though the folks in the yellow jackets told us not to. Really, if we weren’t allowed, they should have put up a barricade. On the way back, the traffic people were letting cars drive down that road from Shoreline Park. The traffic people were kind enough to stop traffic for a good bit so we could ride without cars. We rode fast enough to avoid any car traffic, until we could safely get to the dirt path. The dirt path had bike/ped traffic, but it was manageable. You need to watch out for bicyclists who don’t have lights, though! Crazy.
It wasn’t very crowded until we got to the bike/ped bridge that goes over 101. It was heavily crowded with walkers. So, the walkers stayed to the right, and the bicyclists stayed to the left. It worked, but was a bit slower. I saw the ramp [going toward Stevens Creek Trail] and there was no way we were going to attempt it.”