{"id":7779,"date":"2014-02-06T20:09:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-06T20:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/?p=7779"},"modified":"2023-10-18T20:06:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T03:06:56","slug":"the-first-bicycle-san-franciscos-beginnings-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2014\/02\/06\/the-first-bicycle-san-franciscos-beginnings-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Bicycle & San Francisco’s Beginnings"},"content":{"rendered":"
From Our\u00a0NBG Biking Page<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0San Francisco:<\/div>\n
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By 1870 San Francisco, at 149,473 people, had become the tenth largest city in the United States. Everywhere one looked there were hotels, restaurants, parks, churches, synagogues, schools, libraries and academies. It was also in 1870 that the city approved the $801,593 needed for the 1,013 acres of barren land referred to jokingly as “The Great Sand Bank” that would become Golden Gate park. When \u00a0the building of the park began on what was also called “Sand Francisco” it was \u00a0called the greatest horticultural experiment of all time.<\/div>\n

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Six years later, in 1876, word has it that the first bicycle came to San Francisco from Paris. By the 1880’s, \u00a0HiWheel \u00a0bicycles, the first bicycles of the day, were ubiquitous in \u00a0Golden Gate Park. \u00a0So much so that they their \u00a0informal races on a horse racing track there, a mile and a quarter mile straightaway, called Speed Road, \u00a0caused much friction at City Hall. The cyclists were well enough organized back then that they formed, in 1878, the San Francisco Bicycle Club, the second bike club in America, and successfully campaigned \u00a0for their own \u00a0path along what is known now as JF Kennedy Dr. Until 1904 when cars were allowed into the park, \u00a0their only competition for use of \u00a0the park’s many paths had been people and \u00a0horses.<\/div>\n

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It was in and amongst this setting, in 1884, that a 30-year old man named Thomas Stevens began a two-year bike journey around the globe. Before he left, however, he polished the skills he would need to ride his 50-inch wheel in Golden Gate Park.<\/div>\n

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While in transit, his regular reports from the road in Harper’s Weekly an influential and widely read magazine in that time period, \u00a0expanded consciousness \u00a0for people all over the world \u00a0and established San Francisco as a beacon of hope for achieving the impossible once his ride was complete. \u00a0Upon his return, on Jan 3, 1887, \u00a0the \u00a0new bike club \u00a0that formed while he was away, the Bay City Wheelmen (BCW) joined the influential San Francisco Bike Club to receive him.<\/div>\n

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Thomas Stevens upon his return to San Francisco<\/div>\n

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In fact. It was the BCW that would go on to build the bike racing track at 8th and Market, very near City Hall, that produced a race that drew 20,000 spectators in 1893. In a city filled with high priced bikes that only the well off could afford, its many bike shops became an economic force that could not be ignored. In \u00a0endeavoring to spread the craze that bad erupted in their city to a larger market \u00a0they commissioned a map of the bike roads for \u00a0the entire state. The result in 1896 became the cutting edge \u00a0map you can see <HERE<\/a>>.<\/div>\n

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When by the 1890’s bicycling was made easier for women \u00a0and more affordable for the masses by the smaller wheel, diamond-frame safety bike, even more bikes flooded the streets of San Francisco. \u00a0Even the city’s major newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle knew that the city was a leader in \u00a0the two-wheel revolution, when in 1905 Ida L. Howard wrote “When San Francisco was Teaching America to Ride a Bicycle”.<\/div>\n

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A year later, by 1906, San Francisco was filled to the brim in other ways \u00a0as well. It had five daily newspapers and half a dozen others in foreign languages, 42 banks and 120 places of worship. It also had 3,117 places where liquor was sold. Just as booze flowed freely, so did money. In 1906, the U.S. Mint at Fifth and Mission streets was the largest in the world, and in its vaults was 222 million dollars in gold, one-third of the country’s gold supplies. Known as the Paris of the West, at 410,000 people, it was the largest city west of Chicago when disaster struck.<\/div>\n

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From\u00a0http:\/\/bikeroute.com\/NBGBikingCities\/SanFrancisco\/SanFranciscoHistory.php<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Our\u00a0NBG Biking Page\u00a0for\u00a0San Francisco: <snip> By 1870 San Francisco, at 149,473 people, had become the tenth largest city in… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-nbggrabbag"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3VuuR-21t","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7978,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2014\/04\/11\/san-franciscos-groundbreaking-cyclists-our-2014-mayors-ride\/","url_meta":{"origin":7779,"position":0},"title":"San Francisco’s Groundbreaking Cyclists & our 2014 Mayors’ Ride","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"April 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Having grown up in San Francisco's East Bay,\u00a0San Francisco in the 70's or 80's was a pretty tough place to ride a bike.\u00a0\u00a0I remember when the only place bicycles could be found moving about in The City was in Golden Gate Park. It wasn't until the Loma Prieta earthquake brought\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mayors' Ride"","block_context":{"text":"Mayors' Ride","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/mayors-ride\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Picture 30","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Picture-30-600x198.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Picture-30-600x198.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Picture-30-600x198.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":573,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2013\/03\/15\/former-mayor-biking-to-sf-carla-lasers-tour-de-sf-follows\/","url_meta":{"origin":7779,"position":1},"title":"Former Mayor Biking to SF | Carla Laser’s Tour de SF Follows","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"March 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Former Palo Alto Mayor and present\u00a0Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District\u00a0Director,\u00a0Yoriko Kishimoto, will be helping lead several dozen cyclists up the SF Peninsula on Sat, May 4, to San Francisco. A ride her and her husband enjoyed with us once on their way to the symphony there, she tells me how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mayors' Ride"","block_context":{"text":"Mayors' Ride","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/mayors-ride\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8195,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2014\/05\/20\/san-franciscos-foremost-green-hotel-the-intercontinental-san-francisco-to-launch-sf-to-dc-national-bicycle-greenway-route-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":7779,"position":2},"title":"San Francisco’s Foremost Green Hotel, the InterContinental San Francisco, to Launch SF to DC National Bicycle Greenway Route","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"May 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"San Francisco's (and California's) largest green hotel (550 rooms), as certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (more) \u00a0\u00a0 came on as the anchor hotel for San Francisco yesterday. Details as we work them out but talk about exciting. Our bike route to the Nation's Capitol begins in the largest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NBG Route"","block_context":{"text":"NBG Route","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/nbg-route\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Picture 55","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Picture-55-364x600.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9244,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2015\/03\/08\/direction-of-ride-change-san-francisco-to-palo-alto-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":7779,"position":3},"title":"Direction of Ride Change: San Francisco TO Palo Alto Now!","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"March 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"On Sunday May 10, the direction of our 8th Palo Alto to\u00a0 San Francisco ride will change. Instead of ending in the Golden Gate city, we are riding to Palo Alto, the true cornerstone of the National Bicycle Greenway, a city through which all genuine rides across America on our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mayors' Ride"","block_context":{"text":"Mayors' Ride","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/mayors-ride\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Picture 20","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture-20-600x560.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9286,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2015\/03\/26\/palo-alto-bicycles-and-whole-foods-join-sf-to-palo-alto-ride\/","url_meta":{"origin":7779,"position":4},"title":"Palo Alto Bicycles and Whole Foods Join SF to Palo Alto Ride!","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"March 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"With Palo Alto as the cornerstone of our San Francisco to Washington DC route per this post, legendary Palo Alto Bicycles just signed on to be the start\/finish location for the three rides San Jose to\u00a0Palo Alto\u00a0 San Francisco to\u00a0Palo Alto \u00a0 Palo Alto to Oakland that are \u00a0epicentered around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mayors' Ride"","block_context":{"text":"Mayors' Ride","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/mayors-ride\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SANY1211.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SANY1211.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SANY1211.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SANY1211.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SANY1211.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SANY1211.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12919,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2017\/06\/01\/direction-of-ride-change-san-francisco-to-palo-alto-july-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":7779,"position":5},"title":"Direction of Ride Change: San Francisco TO Palo Alto July 1!","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"June 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"On Saturday July 1, the direction of our annual\u00a0\u00a0Palo Alto to\u00a0 San Francisco ride (since 2003) \u00a0will change. Instead of ending in the Golden Gate city, we are riding to Palo Alto, the true cornerstone of the National Bicycle Greenway, a city through which all genuine rides across America on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mayors' Ride"","block_context":{"text":"Mayors' Ride","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/mayors-ride\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screen shot 2015-03-08 at 9.26.47 AM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-shot-2015-03-08-at-9.26.47-AM.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-shot-2015-03-08-at-9.26.47-AM.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-shot-2015-03-08-at-9.26.47-AM.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7779"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17512,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7779\/revisions\/17512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}