http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/21/BAV116KEPK.DTL
Bicycling tourists overwhelm Sausalito
Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Some Sausalito locals are comparing the pedal-pushing tourists who descend on their boutiquey town to a plague of locusts, tying up traffic, taking over parks, blocking doorways and generally making the weekends miserable.
"They're just a big pain," says Tom Mahoney, manager of the Winships Restaurant on Bridgeway, who loves the business they bring but hates the clutter...
I guess there isn't enough room for all the giant tour busses who cart the elderly and infirm to Muir Woods on a daily basis, and for the Ferarri's and Porches, etc. that the Richie Riches need to park somewhere when they want to get out on one of the thousands of yachts parked on the docks there.
double post...
Muir Woods- that is exactly what I was thinking.
I think they would be fine if the people on bikes were all roadie's on $10,000 carbon frames in spandex.
yeah, that got some business going there. i did that ride, but with my own bike, and i was kind of surprised at how not bike friendly the ride was, and all the people doing it. those tourists looked super squirelly and not very confident on the bikes. i steered clear of them when i could.
I am not a big fan of riding in the midst of tons of tourists myself, either on the bike or off.
One time my friend and I rode to Washington DC we both thought it would be funny to post "Grey Hair" signs along the route to warn bicyclists when they are approaching the 4 or 5 mile buffer zone surrounding a tourist trap town like Ohiopyle. Any area where you have to watch out for squirelly grey-hairs and tourists on their beach cruisers or rental bikes weaving all over the place, not knowing what "ON YOUR LEFT" means LOL...
But in reality, if I were a business owner and a giant herd of bicyclists descended onto my establishment I would be glad to have them, even if I were someone who honks and yells at them while driving.
I only know about the giant parking lots full of tourist busses because I took a tourist trap bus to Muir Woods myself (LOL) when I was visiting for a week on business. I had VERY little time to do it any other way, so I forked out the money to get a bus ride to the woods to see the giant trees.
I would have much rather rented a bike for a week, but I knew I would not have enough free time to enjoy it.
I love Muir Woods. My parents used to take me there when I was young, I have hiked up the ocean view trail 7-8 times, but have only seen the ocean once.
Every time I am out there there are some crazy roadies treking up panoramic highway.
I recently moved to pgh from that area myself. I have ridden through Sausalito many times.
I wonder if the businesses and residents would rather have all those tourists driving cars into their town instead?
Or maybe Barbara Streisand could show up with her Giant mobile trailer home to go shopping because she hates using public toilets, at the same time she is bitching to the rest of us to stop driving SUVs. At least she can park it in the tour bus parking lot haha.
