Scooter ride to the city

After somebody stole the battery in my scooter I had to ride it to San Francisco to get it fixed and serviced. There are no scooter shops south of San Francisco until you hit Santa Barbara. My scooter is still up there waiting for parts.

There is nothing like riding a motor scooter to San Francisco off the freeway. You can really get a sense of how Silicon Valley and San Francisco are knitted together this way.

There was a time when highway 82, The El Camino Real, was highway 101 and was the main road between San Jose and San Francisco. It is still a major road but with two freeways, 101 and 280, between the two cities, 82 is mostly used for local traffic. Few people drive between the two cities on 82. On a scooter it is almost a three hour ride. From where I start in San Jose, I ride to Los Gatos. then I take highway nine and continue straight after highway nine turns to go to Santa Cruz. I take Saratoga-Sunnyvale road to Cupertino, cut across to the Foothill Expressway, take that to Palo Alto, cut over to the El Camino Real (82) and take that to Daily City where 82 ends and the El Camino Real turns into Mission Street. Mission Street leads to the scooter shop on Mission and Tenth.

Riding through the Mission District is my favorite part. It is a maze of double parkers and left turners and Muni buses as well as open air markets, scents, sounds and people, lots of people. You really have to be on your toes here! I love the Mission, it is so alive.