San Francisco in bici. Un classico ma bellissimo percorso !
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 33.16 mi
- Elevation gain
- 1,440 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 1,581 ft
- Max elevation
- 59 ft
- TrailRank
- 61
- Min elevation
- -291 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Moving time
- 3 hours 45 minutes
- Time
- 7 hours 32 minutes
- Coordinates
- 7244
- Uploaded
- January 29, 2024
- Recorded
- January 2024
near Financial District, California (United States)
Viewed 33 times, downloaded 0 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
|
A beautiful ride with the bicycle, this time assisted, rented from the Alcatraz rental shop, in Post street. Cost $72 with insurance. The bike is one of those with very large wheels, not easy to pedal without assistance. Luckily the tires were very inflated. One strange thing about these bicycles is that they have a tip that puts them in motorbike mode, that is, without pedaling. Strange feeling, at least at the beginning…
Beautiful day, with 20 degrees, little wind, in short, ideal. The only small problem is that there are so many people around in the parks because it is Sunday. In the United States you can't cycle on sidewalks and electric bikes are almost considered like motorcycles so there are restrictions on where you can go. Attention !
I start pedaling, gassy, with a nine-hour time difference compared to Italy. Arrival in the town hall square, where there was a demonstration of Sich Indians, see the first photo. From here I choose to travel along roads with little traffic but in a very pleasant area. The traffic lights with interruptions in the rhythm are very boring
Soon you arrive at the painted sisters and the beautiful park above. You cannot enter this park by bicycle, even if I had done so in the past, but perhaps the rules have changed recently.
Finally we enter the Golden Gate Park, beautiful and very curious with many new statues and fun things to see. In the end I always take the same main road, JFK boulevard, I plan to try other routes inside the park next time. Here you can find many species of plants, even a waterfall, bison in an enclosure and many many other beautiful things. At the end of the park you arrive at the spectacular beach where huge waves crash and people go surfing. On Sunday it was quite full, despite its size.
I was thus able to try out the huge wheels of this bicycle on the sand which I must say don't go much better than my e-mtb on the sand.
From here begins a stretch that puts a strain on those with bicycles without assistance, because there are several ups and downs and you get there quite tired, at least that's what I seem to remember from the times I've done a similar ride.
Crossing the bridge is worth a lot of the effort mentioned, but you have to pay attention to the direction of traffic because it changes with the days, and on one side I can pass on bicycles while on the other it takes days.
Be careful not to make mistakes!
The view of the bridge is very beautiful but you have to be careful of other cyclists who are really numerous on Sundays. Once on the opposite side there are two ways to go down but this time I didn't find the alternative. However, this is very nice because there are some climbs to face Piergiorgio cover which is quite tough with the muscular bike I had the last few times. Once I arrived in Sausalito, I tried to look for the houseboats based on where I remembered them being, but this is not the case at all and they are located about 4/5 km from where you then have to take the ferri boat to return to San Francisco, that is, from the center of Sausalito.
Given the short time and the almost empty battery, I decided not to go and see the beautiful houseboats again, but I recommend getting organized to do so!
The cost of the ferry-boat is €14 per person, the bicycle is free. You have to buy the ticket at a vending machine directly on the pier. Ticket control is at the end, before exiting to San Francisco.
Just after getting off the ship and onto Market Street, the battery ran out and the bicycle no longer helped. Very heavy, sometimes even steep uphill. In the end I pushed him a lot, oh well...
From Wikipedia
The US city of San Francisco is home to 465 skyscrapers, 52 of which are more than 122 meters tall.[1] The tallest building is the Salesforce Tower, which at 326 meters is also the 12th tallest building in the United States of America.[2] The second tallest building is the 260 meter Transamerica Pyramid, which remained the tallest structure in the city for 45 years, from 1972 to 2017.
In total, the city of San Francisco has 24 skyscrapers over 500 feet tall, placing it second on the West Coast behind Los Angeles and sixth in the country behind the cities of New York, Chicago, Miami, Houston and Los Angeles.
The Transamerica Pyramid is a skyscraper in San Francisco, as well as one of the most recognizable contemporary symbols of the Californian city together with the Golden Gate Bridge; it is the main building of the Transamerica Pyramid Center complex, also made up of a lower building of about twenty floors and the surrounding Redwood Park.
The area on which the Transamerican Pyramid Center stands is called Montgomery Block because it originally included the large four-storey building of the same name built in 1853, known for being the first fireproof and earthquake-proof building in the city where illustrious professional firms had their headquarters and commercial activities; it was demolished in 1959, leaving free the vast lot where the Transamerican Pyramid and some other neighboring buildings were built.
The project of the new headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation was commissioned to the American architect William Pereira in 1967 by John R. Beckett, the then CEO of the Transamerica Corporation, a company founded by Amadeo Giannini in 1928. In 1968, when the project was made public , aroused some doubts and did not receive much enthusiasm,[2] however its unexpected and futuristic shapes were appreciated by the client and the mayor Joseph Alioto.
The controversies continued even during its construction which began in 1969, so much so that the American architect John Pastier harshly criticized the project in an article published in the Los Angeles Times. Despite the controversy, the construction site was completed in 1972, with a total cost of $32,000,000. Surpassing 555 California Street, the building became the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco and on the West Coast of the United States of America but lost this record in 1974, although it continued to be the tallest building in San Francisco until 2017. year of completion of the Salesforce Tower.[3]
Probably the many doubts about the aesthetics of the building were allayed when, in 1989, the Transamerican Pyramid was completely unharmed following the strong earthquake that hit the city.
After being acquired by GE Capital which purchased the Transamerican Corporation and following several other changes of ownership,[4][5][6] the entire building was purchased in 1999 by the Dutch insurance company Aegon, while maintaining the original name .
In 2009, after a complete renovation, the Transamerica Pyramid Center was awarded LEED Platinum recognition by the Green Building Council for its environmental sustainability practices, including energy conservation, water efficiency, and reduction of polluting emissions. and the best indoor environmental quality.
The building is now one of the distinctive features of the city's panorama and one of the most characteristic references of the Financial District and has been included in the list of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, and is also registered as a California Historical Landmark.
Description
edit
A view from Columbus Avenue
A detail of the truss structure of the base
A view of the portico and the entrance to the building
The commemorative plaque commemorating the place where the building stands
The Transamerica Pyramid is the main building of the Transamerica Pyramid Center, also consisting of a lower building of approximately twenty floors and the surrounding Redwood Park which has several tall trees and over 2,000 m² of space. The entire complex stands on a regular plot of land bounded to the north by Washington Street, to the south by Clay Street, to the east by the contextual Redwood Park and Sansome Street, to the west by Montgomery Street, where the entrance is at number 600 main of the Transamerica Pyramid. Over time the building has become the landmark of San Francisco's Financial District.
Design features
edit
The skyscraper is the most original building of the entire complex and is immediately recognizable for its characteristic pyramidal morphology with a square base which gives it a slender line, which culminates in a spire covered in anodized aluminium. With its 48 floors it reaches a total height of 260 meters, dominating Chinatown and the Financial District of San Francisco. At its base there are the main entrances which overlook a pedestrian portico characterized by a thick oblique exposed beam which makes up a complex lattice structure; the oblique side elevations are characterized by a light quartz powder coating and a relative simplicity of shapes which house 3,678 quadrangular windows on the entire usable area of the four sides. The two parallelepiped modules that protrude conspicuously from the 27th floor onwards are sails that contain the shafts of four of the 18 elevators that serve the entire structure. On each of their summits there is a fully glazed panoramic terrace, however both have no longer been open to the public since 2001, but are only accessible for the exclusive use of the building's occupants.[7] Overall, the building measures approximately 49,000 m² and hosts around fifty companies, for a total of approximately 1,500 people; due to its tapered shape, the floor area varies with height, starting from 2,065 m² on the 6th floor, up to just 235 m² on the 48th floor.
The 48th and top floor houses a single multifunctional room which boasts a 360-degree panoramic view of the city, it is equipped to host conferences, business lunches, receptions and public or private events.
The spire, nicknamed crown jewel, is the most characteristic element of the building. Its structure is made up of a 64.6 meter high steel framework covered with cracked aluminum grilles, from which the night lighting shines through, powered by six 1,000 Watt projectors installed inside, programmed to change color at depending on the occasion; an additional 1,000 Watt red beacon is installed on the top of the spire for aviation safety.
The anti-seismic peculiarities
edit
Its characteristic shape and some other structural details do not only represent simple stylistic choices but also combine specific technical and static requirements based on resilience to the intense seismic events that have always affected the area. Furthermore, the tapered shape allows to significantly reduce air resistance and the shadow area projected on the urban area, guaranteeing greater brightness and air flow to the surrounding environment.[8]
The foundations of the building are placed approximately 16 meters deep and are made with a single cast of 16,000 m³ of reinforced concrete, on which special deterrents have been installed which allow the entire structure to oscillate following the movements of the ground in the event of earthquake, absorbing the shock wave of the earthquake as much as possible. At street level there is a complex oblique lattice structure which extends outside the perimeter of the elevations above and which occupies the first six floors of the building; the widening of this structure, specially designed to resist vertical and horizontal loads and any torsional movements of the building, ensures a greater stabilizing effect and allows the availability of open spaces at the base thanks to the system of crossed reinforced concrete elements. The rest of the load-bearing structure is made up of electro-welded and bolted steel beams which guarantee elasticity to the building.
These particular design features proved effective during the 1989 earthquake that hit San Francisco, when some internal measurements ascertained the actual oscillation of the building without reporting any damage to the structure.
The building in mass culture
edit
Given its characteristic shape, the Transamerica Pyramid is easily recognizable in all the panoramic views of the city that appear in various films and, moreover, it was inserted in the city of San Fierro in the video game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and is also present in the video game Driver: San Francisco, produced by Ubisoft, and also in Watch Dogs 2.
In the film Zodiac (film) the construction of the tower is shown in a short time-lapse sequence.
The cycle route is approximately 40 km while the rest is by ship
Beautiful day, with 20 degrees, little wind, in short, ideal. The only small problem is that there are so many people around in the parks because it is Sunday. In the United States you can't cycle on sidewalks and electric bikes are almost considered like motorcycles so there are restrictions on where you can go. Attention !
I start pedaling, gassy, with a nine-hour time difference compared to Italy. Arrival in the town hall square, where there was a demonstration of Sich Indians, see the first photo. From here I choose to travel along roads with little traffic but in a very pleasant area. The traffic lights with interruptions in the rhythm are very boring
Soon you arrive at the painted sisters and the beautiful park above. You cannot enter this park by bicycle, even if I had done so in the past, but perhaps the rules have changed recently.
Finally we enter the Golden Gate Park, beautiful and very curious with many new statues and fun things to see. In the end I always take the same main road, JFK boulevard, I plan to try other routes inside the park next time. Here you can find many species of plants, even a waterfall, bison in an enclosure and many many other beautiful things. At the end of the park you arrive at the spectacular beach where huge waves crash and people go surfing. On Sunday it was quite full, despite its size.
I was thus able to try out the huge wheels of this bicycle on the sand which I must say don't go much better than my e-mtb on the sand.
From here begins a stretch that puts a strain on those with bicycles without assistance, because there are several ups and downs and you get there quite tired, at least that's what I seem to remember from the times I've done a similar ride.
Crossing the bridge is worth a lot of the effort mentioned, but you have to pay attention to the direction of traffic because it changes with the days, and on one side I can pass on bicycles while on the other it takes days.
Be careful not to make mistakes!
The view of the bridge is very beautiful but you have to be careful of other cyclists who are really numerous on Sundays. Once on the opposite side there are two ways to go down but this time I didn't find the alternative. However, this is very nice because there are some climbs to face Piergiorgio cover which is quite tough with the muscular bike I had the last few times. Once I arrived in Sausalito, I tried to look for the houseboats based on where I remembered them being, but this is not the case at all and they are located about 4/5 km from where you then have to take the ferri boat to return to San Francisco, that is, from the center of Sausalito.
Given the short time and the almost empty battery, I decided not to go and see the beautiful houseboats again, but I recommend getting organized to do so!
The cost of the ferry-boat is €14 per person, the bicycle is free. You have to buy the ticket at a vending machine directly on the pier. Ticket control is at the end, before exiting to San Francisco.
Just after getting off the ship and onto Market Street, the battery ran out and the bicycle no longer helped. Very heavy, sometimes even steep uphill. In the end I pushed him a lot, oh well...
From Wikipedia
The US city of San Francisco is home to 465 skyscrapers, 52 of which are more than 122 meters tall.[1] The tallest building is the Salesforce Tower, which at 326 meters is also the 12th tallest building in the United States of America.[2] The second tallest building is the 260 meter Transamerica Pyramid, which remained the tallest structure in the city for 45 years, from 1972 to 2017.
In total, the city of San Francisco has 24 skyscrapers over 500 feet tall, placing it second on the West Coast behind Los Angeles and sixth in the country behind the cities of New York, Chicago, Miami, Houston and Los Angeles.
The Transamerica Pyramid is a skyscraper in San Francisco, as well as one of the most recognizable contemporary symbols of the Californian city together with the Golden Gate Bridge; it is the main building of the Transamerica Pyramid Center complex, also made up of a lower building of about twenty floors and the surrounding Redwood Park.
The area on which the Transamerican Pyramid Center stands is called Montgomery Block because it originally included the large four-storey building of the same name built in 1853, known for being the first fireproof and earthquake-proof building in the city where illustrious professional firms had their headquarters and commercial activities; it was demolished in 1959, leaving free the vast lot where the Transamerican Pyramid and some other neighboring buildings were built.
The project of the new headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation was commissioned to the American architect William Pereira in 1967 by John R. Beckett, the then CEO of the Transamerica Corporation, a company founded by Amadeo Giannini in 1928. In 1968, when the project was made public , aroused some doubts and did not receive much enthusiasm,[2] however its unexpected and futuristic shapes were appreciated by the client and the mayor Joseph Alioto.
The controversies continued even during its construction which began in 1969, so much so that the American architect John Pastier harshly criticized the project in an article published in the Los Angeles Times. Despite the controversy, the construction site was completed in 1972, with a total cost of $32,000,000. Surpassing 555 California Street, the building became the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco and on the West Coast of the United States of America but lost this record in 1974, although it continued to be the tallest building in San Francisco until 2017. year of completion of the Salesforce Tower.[3]
Probably the many doubts about the aesthetics of the building were allayed when, in 1989, the Transamerican Pyramid was completely unharmed following the strong earthquake that hit the city.
After being acquired by GE Capital which purchased the Transamerican Corporation and following several other changes of ownership,[4][5][6] the entire building was purchased in 1999 by the Dutch insurance company Aegon, while maintaining the original name .
In 2009, after a complete renovation, the Transamerica Pyramid Center was awarded LEED Platinum recognition by the Green Building Council for its environmental sustainability practices, including energy conservation, water efficiency, and reduction of polluting emissions. and the best indoor environmental quality.
The building is now one of the distinctive features of the city's panorama and one of the most characteristic references of the Financial District and has been included in the list of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, and is also registered as a California Historical Landmark.
Description
edit
A view from Columbus Avenue
A detail of the truss structure of the base
A view of the portico and the entrance to the building
The commemorative plaque commemorating the place where the building stands
The Transamerica Pyramid is the main building of the Transamerica Pyramid Center, also consisting of a lower building of approximately twenty floors and the surrounding Redwood Park which has several tall trees and over 2,000 m² of space. The entire complex stands on a regular plot of land bounded to the north by Washington Street, to the south by Clay Street, to the east by the contextual Redwood Park and Sansome Street, to the west by Montgomery Street, where the entrance is at number 600 main of the Transamerica Pyramid. Over time the building has become the landmark of San Francisco's Financial District.
Design features
edit
The skyscraper is the most original building of the entire complex and is immediately recognizable for its characteristic pyramidal morphology with a square base which gives it a slender line, which culminates in a spire covered in anodized aluminium. With its 48 floors it reaches a total height of 260 meters, dominating Chinatown and the Financial District of San Francisco. At its base there are the main entrances which overlook a pedestrian portico characterized by a thick oblique exposed beam which makes up a complex lattice structure; the oblique side elevations are characterized by a light quartz powder coating and a relative simplicity of shapes which house 3,678 quadrangular windows on the entire usable area of the four sides. The two parallelepiped modules that protrude conspicuously from the 27th floor onwards are sails that contain the shafts of four of the 18 elevators that serve the entire structure. On each of their summits there is a fully glazed panoramic terrace, however both have no longer been open to the public since 2001, but are only accessible for the exclusive use of the building's occupants.[7] Overall, the building measures approximately 49,000 m² and hosts around fifty companies, for a total of approximately 1,500 people; due to its tapered shape, the floor area varies with height, starting from 2,065 m² on the 6th floor, up to just 235 m² on the 48th floor.
The 48th and top floor houses a single multifunctional room which boasts a 360-degree panoramic view of the city, it is equipped to host conferences, business lunches, receptions and public or private events.
The spire, nicknamed crown jewel, is the most characteristic element of the building. Its structure is made up of a 64.6 meter high steel framework covered with cracked aluminum grilles, from which the night lighting shines through, powered by six 1,000 Watt projectors installed inside, programmed to change color at depending on the occasion; an additional 1,000 Watt red beacon is installed on the top of the spire for aviation safety.
The anti-seismic peculiarities
edit
Its characteristic shape and some other structural details do not only represent simple stylistic choices but also combine specific technical and static requirements based on resilience to the intense seismic events that have always affected the area. Furthermore, the tapered shape allows to significantly reduce air resistance and the shadow area projected on the urban area, guaranteeing greater brightness and air flow to the surrounding environment.[8]
The foundations of the building are placed approximately 16 meters deep and are made with a single cast of 16,000 m³ of reinforced concrete, on which special deterrents have been installed which allow the entire structure to oscillate following the movements of the ground in the event of earthquake, absorbing the shock wave of the earthquake as much as possible. At street level there is a complex oblique lattice structure which extends outside the perimeter of the elevations above and which occupies the first six floors of the building; the widening of this structure, specially designed to resist vertical and horizontal loads and any torsional movements of the building, ensures a greater stabilizing effect and allows the availability of open spaces at the base thanks to the system of crossed reinforced concrete elements. The rest of the load-bearing structure is made up of electro-welded and bolted steel beams which guarantee elasticity to the building.
These particular design features proved effective during the 1989 earthquake that hit San Francisco, when some internal measurements ascertained the actual oscillation of the building without reporting any damage to the structure.
The building in mass culture
edit
Given its characteristic shape, the Transamerica Pyramid is easily recognizable in all the panoramic views of the city that appear in various films and, moreover, it was inserted in the city of San Fierro in the video game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and is also present in the video game Driver: San Francisco, produced by Ubisoft, and also in Watch Dogs 2.
In the film Zodiac (film) the construction of the tower is shown in a short time-lapse sequence.
The cycle route is approximately 40 km while the rest is by ship
Waypoints
Religious site
69 ft
Monument
Panorama
Picnic
Tree
Archaeological site
Waterfall
Waypoint
Park
Beach
Bridge
Fauna
Ferry
Provisioning
Comments (4)
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Suggerisco di calcolare bene il tempo perché la prima parte è scorrevole mentre la seconda è un po’ più complicata
Notare che il primo dislivello (negativo) è l’ascensore che dalla mia stanza al 31esimo piano scende a terra
Bellissimo giro........con un po di invidia!
Ma quale invidia ! Ci verrai presto