Garden ride builds community and love for plants

When I started at SFBike last year, I wanted to find a way to share my favorite community-powered gardens with my new SFBike community – just a couple of weeks ago, we hosted a community garden bike ride. 

A group of 15 of us met at Garden for the Environment and began with a staff-led tour of the garden. We got to touch hot compost, taste California Saltbush, and feel fuzzy lamb’s ear. We then biked up and over the hill, past Laguna Honda and through the tree-lined streets of Saint Francis Wood, and by the flowered front yards in the Excelsior The ride ended at Alemany Farm to learn about their plants and community programs, and just in time for their Saturday afternoon volunteer shift.

One participant shared how meaningful the ride felt to them: “Your ride made a huge impression on my son. He has been talking about the farm and garden all day. He loved smelling and trying the different plants. We will be looking for goose berries to plant and we will definitely go back to the farm in the future.”

Public gardens like Alemany Farm and Garden for the Environment support more liveable cities by creating opportunities for community connection, garden education, and gardens that make moving through the city a little more special. This ride was so special because it introduced people to these unique public green spaces for the first time, but hopefully not the last. It was also a great example of how our group bike rides serve as a conduit for building connection within our own SFBike community and beyond, as participants met new friends and shared stories, all in our beautiful local environment. Thank you everyone for joining.

If you’re interested in joining us for upcoming rides like this, check out our events page as new rides get added throughout this summer!