Since I already decided against skipping work Wednesday to watch the Olympic Torch Relay, I thought I was going to miss all the protests.
Ha! In a city like San Francisco, where both professional sports franchises are a few steps away from even being considered mediocre, you can’t count on the athletes to provide theatrics.
But man, can this city protest.
I was going on my Monday ride, and what’s a good city ride without crossing the Golden Gate Bridge? Well, you might have heard already, but nobody was going across at 11:45 this morning.
As I came down Lincoln, there was a long line of cars going towards the bridge. As I got closer, I saw a guy on the side of the road, holding a huge camera. Oh boy, something newsworthy! So of course I kept going.
I rode through the bridge parking lot and saw several news trucks, with multiple helicopters flying overhead. As I rolled past the gift shop to the pedestrian/bike path and started riding up the hill to the sidewalk, a bridge employee in a yellow windbreaker told me it was closed. “I’ll save you a trip,” he said.
Apparently a few people actually scaled the cables near the southern end of the bridge (where I was), and unfurled what looked like a couple of banners. However, they both looked torn like they’d been in the wind for weeks, and it was hard to see what they even said. I thought one said “Game Over,” but I guess the Chronicle is reporting that the banners read, “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 08” and “Free Tibet.” Pretty effective banners.
I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t go across the bridge, a top-10 perk of living in The City. But to ride along, just minding my business, and see human beings on top of the Golden Gate with a couple hard-to-read banners…that’s probably a little more memorable than riding through Sausalito.