San Francisco Sightseeing Articles

Holiday lights lovers can have a magical experience Sunday night, when the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition presents its sixth annual Christmas Lights Ride.

Tour the best and brightest

Ride leader Robin Marks is a veteran of evening excursion. She recalls that the night of the first ride was cold and foggy, so she was amazed when 30 adventurers turned up.

"A lot of people are kind of afraid to ride at night," Marks says, "so this was a nice way to support people to start thinking about nighttime as a time to ride."

For the Christmas lights outing, Marks spends hours scoping out the ideal route, which varies from year to year and is a very much guarded secret. By ride night, the hard work is already done. Just power up your bike lights, dress in layers if the night is cool and get some refreshments to share. Should the courage move you to dress up as Santa Claus or string colored lights on your bike, this is the perfect occasion.

"You never know what someone is available to show up wearing," Marks says. One year, one bicycle had a Christmas tree attached, while another cyclist was towing a cart with a Christmas tree on it.

Expect plenty of opportunities to ooh and ahh over beautiful holiday displays, much good cheer, creatively decorated bikes and yummy things to eat, the snack stop being a famous feature of the night rides.