Riding a Bicycle from The Mission District to Golden Gate Park via “The Wiggle.”
Cheap Thrill of the Week
If you are in The Mission, find 17th Street and ride west towards the Castro. You will pass Dolores Street which is actually a boulevard with a median and palm trees. If you look left you will get a glimpse of the historic Mission Dolores. Keep going on 17th Street until you hit Sanchez Street. Take a right.
Keep on Sanchez and then cross Market Street. Market is a massive street with many train tracks. Keep on Sanchez which after you cross Market becomes a quaint tree-lined street. When you hit Duboce Street you will have entered “The Wiggle.” Take a left on Duboce then a quick right on Steiner. Duboce Park will be on your left.
You are now riding “The Wiggle.” Keep your eyes out for signs for “The Wiggle – Route 30.” You will be taking a lot of turns and wiggling your way west to avoid hills. The bike path is often painted green. Your goal is to make it to the Pan Handle. From their folks, you are on your own.
About a year ago they got around to paving a few streets in “The Wiggle.” At one time the road was a treacherous, pot-hole thing that surely popped many a tire.
Just remember the key streets to look out for when riding from the Mission to Golden Gate Park are 17th Street and Sanchez.
Prelude
“Valencia was sort of a wasteland of old hardware and appliance stores, corner stores, a few Mexican restaurants but not much else. It is hard to imagine but true. If you rode a bike, you took your life in your own hands and probably were honked to the sidewalk. ”
From First Glance (2012) – Paul Lyons
Riding a bike is San Francisco has changed a lot in the last twenty years. The SF Bicycle Coalition along with a more politically empowered bicycle riding community and such events as Critical Mass have resulted in changes. Bike lanes have increased. Valencia Street is now a main bicycle thoroughfare and even Market Street is closed to cars.; now there are only buses, cabs and a bike lane.
At some point, if you live in San Francisco you hear of “The “Wiggle.” What is “The Wiggle?” Besides having an endearing name, “The Wiggle” is a bike route that starts in the Castro District and goes through the Lower Haight District, eventually along the Pan Handle and into Golden Gate Park. The concept is that you can wiggle your way out to the Richmond District, The Sunset or even Ocean Beach without having to bike up any significant hills. It is the logical thing to do and is surely the way you would ride a horse or carriage west back in the day before the rise of the internal combustion engine and the automobile.
There are so many recreational options along “The Wiggle.” This I will leave to your curiosity and imagination.
San Francisco Bike Route 30 follows The Wiggle, with signs from Duboce Avenue westbound (at Market Street or Church Street). In some places, the signs also read “The Wiggle.”