Squint When You Ride That

Yo mountain bikers, looking for a little action this winter? If you've got the firepower, check out the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Dirty Harry Bike Tour (not affiliated with the Dirty Harry Tour of San Francisco) on Saturday, Jan. 28. Do ya feel lucky? Well, do yah punks?

Based on the homicidal meanderings of SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan, this tour covers about 10 miles, stopping off at specific locations seen in the 1971 antihero vehicle, "Dirty Harry". Tour Captain Brandon Baunach says he'll take the tour to as many points of interest from the movie as possible between Market Street in the City and Conzelman Road in the Marin Headlands while still providing an enjoyable bike ride.

This is the first time the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has offered this particular tour. Baunach tells SFist that the Dirty Harry Bike Tour is the result of popular demand by riders on some of his other specialty bike tours, which include a Hitchcock’s Vertigo Bike Tour, a History of Satanism in San Francisco Tour, and an annual trail ride through the Marin Municipal Water District. “People kept saying, ‘Hey, how about a Sam Spade tour. How about a Dirty Harry tour.’ Baunach confided, “so, I decided to set up a Dirty Harry tour.” And thusly is greatness born.

By SFist Truthmaker, contributing

Most of the people who take Baunach's tours are Bicycle Coalition members and locals looking for a fun time with other cyclists. “I try to expose people to interesting histories of San Francisco,” Baunach explains, “but most of the people that come on the tours seem to really just enjoy the camaraderie.” That said, Baunach acknowledges that because he leads really specific San Francisco subculture tours, “all the freaks that like that subject come out of the woodwork.”

The exact route is not yet available, but it doesn't actually matter to us where this tour goes, the name itself it cool enough. Can't you just picture yourself catching 30, 40, 50 feet of air on your mountain bike as you come bombing down Arkansas Street at 50 MPH, skidding through an intersection, then cutting a quick left in front of oncoming traffic. Oh yeah, we feel you Harry.

Well, not quite, but Baunach says he’d love to have someone on the tour try to re-create the last scene from "Dirty Harry" by jumping from a train trestle onto the top of a speeding bus.

The Dirty Harry Bike Tour squeals away from the Polk Street steps of San Francisco City Hall at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2006. Rated as semi-difficult, it's supposed to be a three-hour tour, but we've heard that one before. The tour is free and reservations are not required, but it is BYOB (bring your own bike).

And don't forget to ask Baunach to do his Dirty Harry impression for you.