mschwett 

i actually greatly prefer riding in SF to most of the more car-centric cities around california; much slower speeds, more four-way stops (vs lights), a fair number of bike lanes and quite a few new "slow streets" or streets fully closed to traffic. definitely takes a little learning what the best routes are to avoid 20% + gradients, buses, streetcars, etc, but there are hundreds of great miles to ride! i routinely do 30 mile rides in which i have to really stop only once or twice, with as much as 3/4 of the ride in protected lanes or closed streets.

on the other hand, the real is getting out into the watersheds, open space areas, hills, etc. but for urban riding, SF has been the best of the various cities i've ridden in the bay.