World's Fairs and Celebrated Author All in One NOPA VELO Ride

Palace of Fine Arts

Gail Sheehy (2nd from right) joins NOPA VELO ride

Ready for the World's Fairs

After last Saturday’s wet and chill, Sunday’s brisk and sunny morning was a treat for the sixteen riders gathered for NOPA VELO’s first bike ride of the year. With a Lions-to-Maidens World’s Fair tour in mind, cyclists met up at Central Coffee, Tea and Spice, a prime neighborhood spot to meet, greet, and power-up.

Then with a flourish of pink, the day’s Celebrity Rider appeared. Noted and influential author, journalist, and lecturer Gail Sheehy rolled up with her good friend and regular NOPA VELO rider, Steve Hershoff. (Check Sheehy's interview talking about her latest book, Passages in Caregiving). Gracious and poised, Ms. Sheehy said she happened to be in the city and the morning’s ride seemed “so San Francisco.” Besides, she added, “I haven’t been on a bike since last summer.” She lives mostly in New York, and we know about the weather back East.

Soon enough riders spun their way back in time to the site of the 1894 California Midwinter Exposition in Golden Gate Park. The Music Concourse got its start when Michael H. de Young, publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle, persuaded the city to sponsor a world’s fair on the undeveloped park land. An astute and calculating fellow, de Young managed to lure many of the exhibitors from Chicago’s celebrated “White City” World's Fair the year before to transport their exhibits to San Francisco. Seventeen countries and most of the states showed off their wares, and more than 1.3 million people attended during the six-month run of the fair.

NOPA VELO riders checked out the exposition’s remnants including the two sphinxes in front of today’s de Young Museum, the Japanese Village (now the Japanese Tea Garden), and the Cider Press statue.

After a spin around the concourse, riders zipped 21 years forward to the Palace of Fine Arts and the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. Fair enthusiasts have their favorites, but the PPIE, as it became known, was truly San Francisco’s most extravagant and wildly successful presentation to the world. The Tower of Jewels alone, a 43-story building glittering with more than 100,000 colored-glass ornaments, suggests the flamboyance of the fair. The Palace of Fine Arts, designed by Bernard Maybeck and the prized remnant of the celebration, beckoned riders for self-guided tours before heading back to NOPA for lunch at Ziryab restaurant, a jewel in itself on Divisadero.

Next NOPA VELO ride set for April. To get the news first join the NOPA VELO Google Group.

World's Fair NOPA VELO Ride this Sunday Morning

Maidens, lions, sphinxes, and a cider press -- just a few of the sites NOPA VELO riders will see on the first spin of the year during its Lions to Maidens World's Fair Tour Sunday morning. After days of snow on city streets -- or, well, maybe not -- the sun will come out for this special ride through the neighborhood and into two of San Francisco's favorite scenic spots.

Everyone welcome for this NOPA-based biking group. Join us for a brisk morning spin.

Check out our previous rides here.

NOPA VELO Lions to Maidens World's Fair Ride

Sunday, February 27

9:30 am - Meet at Central Coffee, Tea & Spice, corner Central & Hayes

10:00 am - Ride begins

All level riders welcome. Kids on own bikes OK if with guardian.

Pets too if on bike or leash.

Info: Lenore at 415-300-6744, lmcjunker@gmail.com

Join NOPA-VELO Google Group:

http://groups.google.com/group/nopa-velo

Updates and pics @ BIKE NOPA: ibikenopa.blogspot.com

NOPA VELO'S Lions to Maidens World's Fair Ride Sunday February 27

Image: Rick Helf www.helf.com

Celebrate two of San Francisco's great World's Fairs in one awesome bike ride as NOPA VELO launches its second year of distinctive, thematic spins through the neighborhood and beyond this Sunday morning. Join the NOPA VELO cyclists at one of our favorite cafes for the much-needed power-up and then kick off seeking the lions and sphinxes of Golden Gate Park.

On August 24, 1893 San Franciscans gathered to cheer the first shovel-full of earth turned for the start of construction of the California Mid-Winter International Exposition. Michael de Young, publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle, hoped to attract new settlers by extolling the midwinter climate of California, the land of sunshine. (Ummm, ok). Today's Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park featured four exotic exhibition halls with the style and design of the Middle and Far East. More than 72,000 people flocked to the park for opening day ceremonies on January 27, 1894. NOPA VELO riders will stop by the few reminders of the city's first world's fair: the bronze lion and pair of sphinxes near the de Young Museum, the Wine Press statue, the bronze Roman Gladiator, and the Japanese Tea Garden.

Spinning out of Golden Gate Park riders will head cross-town to the site of the even grander Panama Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) of 1915. When fair organizers proposed returning to Golden Gate Park once again, local folks objected in their very San Francisco way. The city had barely recovered from the 1906 Earthquake and Fire with refugee camps situated all over the park, and advocates wanted to protect the city's prize park. Instead, the promoters filled in the mudflats of what was known then as the Harbor View District -- and today is the Marina District -- to construct an architectural fantasia with a 43-story Tower of Jewels in the center. One of the most beloved structures was the Palace of Fine Arts designed by Bernard H. Maybeck. NOPA VELO riders will visit the newly renovated Palace 95 years and seven days after the official PPIE opening.

If you haven't stopped by either World's Fair site lately, this ride will be a treat, especially to see the makeover at the Palace. Join NOPA VELO for a fine ride through the city with one long climb and one sweeping descent (but all very manageable) followed by lunch at NOPA's own Ziryab Grill on Divisadero at about noon.

NOPA VELO Lions to Maidens World's Fair Ride

Sunday, February 27

9:30 am - Meet at Central Coffee, Tea & Spice, corner Central & Hayes

10:00 am - Ride begins

All level riders welcome. Kids on own bikes OK if with guardian.

Pets too if on bike or leash.

Info: Lenore at 415-300-6744, lmcjunker@gmail.com

Join NOPA-VELO Google Group:

http://groups.google.com/group/nopa-velo

Updates and pics @ BIKE NOPA: ibikenopa.blogspot.com

Special thanks to Robert Ehler Blaisdell's fine evocation of these expositions in San Francisciana Photographs of Three World Fairs. (Marilyn Blaisdell, Publisher, 1994, San Franicsco).