Bike through history on this 1906 San Francisco earthquake tour
Guide Jefferson McCarley in front of three Victorian houses that survived the 1906 San Francisco quake.
Bicyclists who are interested in San Francisco’s history, especially the city’s devastating 1906 earthquake, may want to hop on Mission Bicycle Co.’s new temblor tour.
It was April 18 more than a century ago when San Franciscans were awakened around 5 a.m. by what is now estimated as a magnitude 7.8 quake rocked the city. The subsequent shaking and fire killed 3,000 people and left more than half the city’s residents homeless.
Cyclists in San Francisco’s Mission Dolores Park.
“Even today, scars, remnants and reminders are plentiful, if you know where to look. Fortunately, we do,” guide Jefferson MCarley said on a recent ride with Mission Bicycle. The small company’s primary focus is making custom bikes for city riding.
McCarley, who’s also general manager of the company, said tour leaders use landmarks and historical photographs to give riders an idea of what San Francisco looked like before and after the earthquake.
A bicycle from Mission Bicycles Co. that participants use on the earthquake tour.
For an acoustical punch, cyclists stop at a small theater and listen to an audio re-creation of the 42-second temblor that includes creaking beams and falling bricks.
Guide Jefferson McCarley, right, chats with earthquake tour riders at the Crepe House Restaurant in San Francisco.
Then it’s off to stops at 10 sites, including the famed “Sparky” fire hydrant near Mission Dolores Park. Sparky was the only fire hydrant that continued to work during the disaster after water mains to all the other hydrants were ruptured.
Each year, McCarley said, it’s repainted gold to celebrate the role it played in saving parts of the neighborhood.
The famous “Sparky” fire hydrant continued to work during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
The ride also rolls by Mission Dolores, an adobe church that was built in 1791 and survived the earthquake. It also houses the city’s only remaining cemetery. In 1912 -- because land was scarce -- city fathers ordered the exhumation and relocation of the dead south on the peninsula to Colma, which is made up mostly of cemeteries.
The three-hour tour costs $99, covers about four miles, has little exposure to traffic and follows easy terrain. The price includes a rental bike and lunch (with vegetarian and vegan options).
All tours leave at 11 a.m. from Mission Bicycle , 766 Valencia St., San Francisco.
Info: Mission Bicycle Co., (415) 683-94110 or email [email protected]
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