North Beach & Chinatown Ride, San Francisco

When I lived in nearby North Beach every walk was an adventure. The neighborhood hasn't changed much. If Socrates had been a San Franciscan he would have said: the over-scheduled life is not worth living.

How many American cities have named streets after their poets?


Chinatown is almost always crowded, which makes for slow--and interesting-- biking.
“For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” Whitman


Lunch--Won Ton Soup with chunks of fresh, roast duck; hot tea: $4.75

Back in the Gold Rush days, Mrs. Coit loved to chase fire engines while puffing on a trademark cigar. She left her fortune to her beloved San Francisco and to honor her memory the city built a monument on a hilltop overlooking the bay. To some it's simply Coit Tower, others see the model itself: a fire nozzle.