Bring your bike on BART. However, many elevators in BART stations don’t work so I would hesitate to bring heavier bikes, e-bikes or loaded touring bikes I can’t carry.
Every other subway car has a bike area. This one is in one of the newer trains, which are much nicer.
FWIW I commute with a heavy e-bike on BART daily. I take the elevator. 95% of the time it’s totally fine. Yeah. It’s not like nice. But they work and are clean. At least at my regular stations (Glen Park & Oak 12th, the 24th Mission stop is a shitshow. I could get off there but I don’t because the elevator there is usually occupied by someone having an episode).
@skinnylatte I regularly BART with my ebike. In a pinch I'll carry it up the stairs but usually I've had no trouble taking it on the escalator. I just wait until after everyone else, for safety and since it takes up a lot of space.
@skinnylatte how do you have yours standing? On my line in LA, my kickstand doesn't work well enough for some of the rapid acceleration/braking newer trains are capable of.
Here, the ferry to Larkspur is a ferry I take regularly. It lets you get further into Marin without having to bike over the steep hills past the Golden Gate Bridge or Marin headlands. From Larkspur onwards things are a bit flatter. You can ferry then bike to China Camp or Samuel P Taylor campground, for example.
This particular ferry is also a lot less touristy and crowded than the one that goes to Sausalito.
@skinnylatte I saw in your profile that you like steel bikes. I just birthdayed myself a nice little surly to celebrate 50 years. Not getting smashed on my old bike that was abandoned in my yard. That one had a good 14-year run!!
@skinnylatte I had to wait a little longer for it than I'd like. I was trying to get it in the middle of the global bike shortage. Still was able to get it before my birthday, however!
It's the first brand new thing I've ever bought for myself for my birthday
From Larkspur ferry terminal, there is a very nice bike lane and bridge that takes you further and beyond. Or you can also ride to the SMART train, where you can put your bicycle in the train and head to Novato, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sonoma.
Almost every bus agency in the region has bike racks. Most of them will be at the front of the bus like this (circled). In San Francisco especially sometimes after a long day of city riding you don’t want to go back over a steep hill again. So it’s perfectly legit to put it on a bus and head back.
They all work the same way. Squeeze the rack handle, pull them towards you, put your bike in the right direction (wheel grip goes over rear wheel). Has space for 2-3 bikes. Some buses do a side rack.
One of the things I dislike most is how hard it is to get to the Presidio and Golden Gate Bridge by public transit. They’re my fave parts of San Francisco. It’s much easier to go there by bike. Take the bike lane to Polk St if you’re downtown, all the way until you see the water / Alcatraz then head left along Crissy Fields. You can also put your bike on the bike racks at the front of these shuttles. (Odd timings and locations so check, but very useful when they run)
@skinnylatte it’s a lot easier now that the 28 goes all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf! You can easily connect to it from the 49 - or just take a Golden Gate Transit bus from downtown.
@BruceHalperin Nice. When I was a tourist I didn’t know the difference between all the bus agencies and at the time GGT didn’t let you do local trips. Both Muni and GGT also had bus 30s at the time. Those things seem to be better now
@skinnylatte GGT technically never let you do trips within SF (until the pandemic), but because the bridge plaza is a transfer point, they would always let you get off there northbound, or get on there southbound.
@skinnylatte when I mix biking with bus/train, I take a folding bike. In a pinch, I can lift it over a turnstile, or get around a door at a stairwell landing.
But then I get to something like this: a hanging rack that assumes bikes are standard length.
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