What to do in San Francisco

[nickajshelden]

I will be passing through San Francisco this summer.
I already know of the church of 8 wheels and the midnight roller's friday skate thing, and I plan to hit both of those. What else is must-see SF skating activities?

[sk84luv]

Originally Posted by nickajshelden

I will be passing through San Francisco this summer.
I already know of the church of 8 wheels and the midnight roller's friday skate thing, and I plan to hit both of those. What else is must-see SF skating activities?

Take your outdoor gear, too. There is a very cool group of avid quad skaters there. http://www.cora.org/

[ese002]

I'm not sure which Church of 8 Wheels you are thinking of. There is the physical site which is an actual church transformed into a roller rink. Then there is the older concept which refers to skating at Sixth Avenue in Golden Gate Park on Sundays.

The latter is also the meeting point for a small group skate that used do the Merced Loop but now mostly does the "wiggle" route to Downtown and back. Leaves at 2:00pm on Sundays.

There is also a Tuesday Night Skate. It is mostly a subset of Friday, both in route and turnout. I'm not sure exactly when they leave. Ask around on the Friday Night Skate group on Facebook

If you can travel a little, check on the Wednesday Night Skate at Stanford University. Gather at 7:30pm. Be ready to leave at 7:50pm. This skate is faster and smoother but not flatter than Friday.

If the trip overlaps the first Saturday of the month, check out San Jose Skate Night. Very flat. Very slow. 7:30pm in Downtown San Jose.

All three of these events are regularly mentioned on Friday Night Skate Facebook group.

[campingnut]

There is a nice, short, skate from Fort Mason to Chrissy Field (Marina dist). You can park for free in the lot off of Marina Drive closest to Fort Mason...you end below the GG bridge. Beautiful view the entire time.

[nickajshelden]

thanks y'all, I guess I never did reply, but I ended up doing all of the above and much more. just plain skated all over the city for a week.

[freeislandsk8tr]

I plan to spend a lot of time in the city.

I hope to make at least Sunday at Golden gate park, but maybe I can make these other events. Should I drive or take the train/Bart from San Jose?

thanks

[ese002]

Originally Posted by freeislandsk8tr

I plan to spend a lot of time in the city.

I hope to make at least Sunday at Golden gate park, but maybe I can make these other events. Should I drive or take the train/Bart from San Jose?

thanks

I'm a fan of public transit but the reality is that it is a bit tricky to use it for the skating events, especially coming from San Jose. Notably, the last Caltrain (no BART yet) to San Jose leaves at midnight and the Friday Night Skate ends just after midnight. For that reason, drive to the Friday Night Skate. There is a parking lot at Washington & Embaracadro that is effectively free for that time. Don't park in the back and don't leave anything visible in your car. Coming from North San Jose, I usually leave at around 7:45pm arriving at 8:45pm. You should probably leave earlier. But not too early since the parking lot is pay lot until 8pm. Street parking on Embarcadro is also a possibility but is often full, there are meters to consider, and technically you must vacate at midnight sharp.

Golden Gate Park on Sunday is less clear. Transit is quite slow and a little complicated but it avoids tricky parking. If you drive, aim to park on MLK drive. Failing that (and you may fail to find a spot), try Stow Lake Drive. It's a bit of a hill but space is often available when Martin Luthor King Drive is packed.