Bicycle riding guests at our zoo check out an endangered Snow Leopard (not like this one, more like this one) eating its breakfast. Slightly more graphic view here

Normally, you're not allowed to ride your bike at the San Francisco Zoo but there's an exception: the once-a-month Sunday morning BikeAbout program.

Our impressions, plus a closer view of what that big kitteh is eating, after the jump.

What's nice about BikeAbout is that you get your own private docent-led tour for an hour-and-a-half at a time the zoo is closed to visitors on foot. Some of the big animals are more active in the early morning than they are in the afternoon -- there's your bonus. The zoo is kind of big so having everybody on bikes allows the group to move quickly.

Our tour stopped to get a close-up view of a newly refurbished big cat grotto. Some in TV-land feel that the grottoes (grottos? gratti?) were "not up to standard...for 68 years" - a debatable statement to be sure. But we'll hash over these issues when the time comes. The new setup certainly looks kitteh-proof, anyway.

The snow leopard isn't that big a cat compared to some, but it had no problem managing this bunny. Rest assured, the bunny was dead long before it became a breakfast.

If you can wake up and get to the zoo with your bike by 8:30 AM on a Sunday, you should sign up and check it out. BikeAbout would look to be a good event for families on Mother's or Father's Day. You can find similar bike-related activities on the calendar page of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

See you there!