Taking my last long ride before RAGBRAI Left Mission Terrace with no clear route in mind, and found myself climbing out though Ocean Avenue past the Balboa Park BART station just because I’d never taken that before. That area is a unique and complex mashup that all the transit, highway, bicycle, pedestrian and neighborhood organizations desperately want to change. In just three huge blocks are six interstate on and off-ramps, a light rail maintenance and storage facility which is also the terminus for three light rail lines, BART, three MUNI bus lines and the busy commercial corridors of Ocean and Geneva Avenues. Add the adjacent presence of three schools and massive Balboa Park (tennis and basketball courts, four baseball fields, a dedicated soccer stadium, an indoor pool, dog park, children’s play area, etc.) and you have a lot of moving parts that need to play nicely together, but don’t always.
After that miasma of congestion I wanted more open spaces. I took Ocean down to Sunset, then around Lake Merced to Highway 35. I followed that out to Sawyer Camp Trail and am now about to drop down into San Mateo and come back by the Bay route.
The picture is looking north across the reservoir. The wet fog was constant until I got onto the trail.
