It was spectacular riding home yesterday! In the 70s, very little breeze through the Tunnel of Venti (Marina Green and Crissy Field). I just made that up if you couldn’t tell—named after the Roman God of Wind. Anyway, it struck me yesterday when I was crossing Hyde and Beach, as I do twice during each commute day, that San Francisco’s cable cars are awesome.

During the early morning when I cross this famous intersection en route to work the atmosphere is pure SF. You can smell Fisherman’s Wharf and fresh coffee. The sidewalk in front of the Buena Vista Café is being washed down, across the street Tiernan’s Irish Pub is resting after another eventful night, and helping out on the other corner is a popular Starbuck’s. The last corner, off of Hyde, is the turnabout and staging area for the Powell/Hyde cable car. Even in the early morning—before the tourists arrive—the cable cars are lining up, the conductors and brakemen are yacking it up, usually with a cop or two.

In the afternoon, on the way home, this entire intersection is transformed into spectacularly-controlled anarchy! All three of the previously mentioned establishments are hopping and the line to ride the cable cars stretches for hundreds of feet. There is also street music thrown in and the street vendors that line Beach. Check out the short cable car video from the other day. And, if you want to find out more about San Francisco’s most famous form of transportation, visit the San Francisco Cable Car Museum.

Have you ever ridden one of SF’s cable cars? Tell us your story.