Skate the Lake Merced Loop Any Sunday

Every Sunday a group of people meet in Golden Gate Park at 1:00 pm in the milddle of John F. Kennedy Drive at 6'th avenue, where the skaters dance. We skate down to the beach, then South to the S.F. Zoo, around Lake Merced, and the back to Golden Gate Park. The trip is about 17 miles and takes about two hours. There are five stops along the way where skaters catch up before we all proceed again.

Extended Description

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Skate the Lake Merced Loop Any Sunday

We meet in Golden Gate Park every Sunday at 1:00 pm in the middle of John F. Kennedy Drive at 6th ave., where the skaters dance. We leave right at 1:15. There are two groups, a recreational group and a fast group. The fast group often skates through to the end without stopping and sometimes averages 17 miles per hour! The recreational group makes all scheduled stops and averages about 10 miles per hour. The whole trip is between 16 and 17 miles. The fast group takes about 60 minutes. The recreational group takes about 100 minutes.

We all start together going West on JFK down the big hill to Spreckles Lake (the first stop). Then we skate West until we reach a tee intersection where we make a left. We make our first right and go down a hill. This leads to the Southwest corner of the Park (the second stop). This is a convenient turn-around point for people who don't want to skate the whole loop.

Those going on to Lake Merced cross Lincoln ave., which borders Golden Gate Park. We head up the Great Highway (there are several "Great Highways", we take the lower Great Highway, the one bordered by a land strip) to 47'th and Sloat across from the SF Zoo (third stop).

Then we make a left onto Sloat Blvd. At the top of the hill make a right onto Highway 35 briefly and then carefully make the first left possible, across oncoming traffic. We proceed directly toward the lake and when we reach it we turn left and follow the pathway. We proceed around the lake following the path, past the golf course and down a big hill. We stop at the 20 foot penguin statue on the right (fourth stop, "The Giant Penguine"). This is about the half-way point.

Then we follow the lake path around and finally up a hill on John Muir Blvd., past the shooting range. When we get to the crest of the hill, where John Muir Blvd. ends at Highway 35, we stay right on the path (or take the street). We follow the path down to the first stop sign and make a left onto the beginning of Great Highway. Careful, the right lane does not have a stop sign! We go up a steep but short hill by the water plant. Then we go over the crest and bear right, following the Great Highway. The view of the ocean is a wonderful sight! We skate North on the shoulder of the Great Highway into the new Zoo parking lot, and come out the entrance on Sloat.

We head north on the Great Highway, to Irving and make a right. Some skaters like to stop at TC Pastry (23rd & Irving) for some dim, I mean Dim Sum. Jamba Juice is at 9'th and Irving, one block South of an entrance to the park.

After lunching and/or juicing, we head back to the start, entering the park at 7th Ave.

Wear a helmet and pads, and bring or share water. Rain cancels. If you can skate down to the beach and back twice then you can complete this 17 mile skate. For more info, access http://www.snapsite.com/guests/skate/public/html/page2.html



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