Pictures and stories, bikes and SF, and hopes for 2021

Our photos tell our 2020 stories

I try to make a photo album with pictures from the year. I've done books for each of the last five years or so. The scroll through the months of photos from 2020 told the story of the year. 

The early months included photos of the "before covid" life: maskless jaunts around San Francisco; scenes from work trips to Washington, D.C. and Durango, Colorado; tightly packed group shots inside a crowded Mission putt-putt course; dinner at our favorite ramen spot in the Lower Haight; our son's grandma reading him a book inside Bird and Beckett bookstore in Glen Park; our son among a group of other kiddos and parents at music class. There is no sign of an impending global pandemic, economic shutdown, or anything of the like.

Soon, the first masks show up (the disposable ones, of course), and it's clear the world has changed. Photos of boarded up buildings in the Castro suggest broad worry about what's next. There's the photo I took of the scene outside a pizza restaurant in Noe Valley: a long "line" of frustrated diners trying to figure out the new norms in this weird world of social distancing (I distinctly remember my own anxiety as I waited something like an hour for my pizza to finally emerge, feeling at once frustration with and also empathy for the employees, who were equally clueless about how to operate in this new world). There are photos of long grocery lists and even longer receipts from the dreaded bi-weekly trips to Safeway to stock up on groceries (and toilet paper). 

Eventually, it's clear we got into a groove, with more regular trips to the beach, the zoo, Golden Gate Park, and lots of hiking trails. All of our pictures are from the Bay Area. Other than the two nights we spent at the hospital for our son's birth in September, we were home every single night after the mid-March lockdown. For us, the last part of the year was indeed full of joyful photos as we welcomed our second son to the family.

Many of us found new goals; mine included discovering all of San Francisco's streets on a bike

This was the year of behavioral changes, for obvious reasons. We all had to adapt to new ways of working, new ways of playing and exercising, new ways of staying in touch and interacting with friends and family. Some people started baking bread; and of course many turned to other hobbies. Many people found the benefits of walking. A data analyst in New York logged more than 10,000 miles in 2020 on his bike. Peloton sales surged.

I've lived in San Francisco since 2014. I've spent more of my adult life here than anywhere else. Both of our sons were born here. I've made it a point to get to know the city and its colorful history (see this list for some books if you're interested). It is arguably the most beautiful city in the country, with its rolling hills, ocean, mountain, and bridge views, meandering fog, and glimmering skyline. And yet so much of it remained unknown to me.

As a way to better know the city, and to consistently get outside for exercise, I started riding my newly acquired Rad Wagon (which I assembled April 11) on 5am bike rides from our house on Liberty Street. Located near the geographical center of San Francisco, our house was a great place to serve as a base for this goal. I was able to get into a pretty good groove. The night before, I would look at my map tracker (I use Gaia GPS to track my rides) and plan the next morning's ride. Some weeks, I would mix up the rides, heading in a different direction every day. Other weeks, I would focus on the same general direction or region of the city all week. (For example, the week of June 15, I went west, covering parts of the Richmond, Sea Cliff, Forest Hill, Golden Gate Heights, and the Sunset. 

I haven't figured out the most efficient way to cover all the streets. I'm sure someone at FedEx or Amazon could help me with my routes. But in general, to avoid covering the same streets multiple times, while minimizing how often I have to check my phone during the ride (which is dangerous and slows me down), I follow a few principles:

• Plan as much of the ride mentally ahead of time as possible (take this road out, then go back and forth between these two streets, then head back on a different road, etc.)
• Try to get as far away from the home base as possible and then cover those areas far from home efficiently (e.g., if I'm riding out to Visitacion Valley or North Beach or Park Merced, I would rather cover 100% of a smaller area there than 80% of a larger one, since I've already gotten all the way out there)
• Conserve battery power and use downhills to recharge to maximize possible distance covered (my rides generally are between 15-20 miles long, although at least one ride (covering many of the western-most Avenues) has topped 30 miles)
• Check my phone regularly to make sure I'm not missing anything, and that the app hasn't crashed
• When safe, take pictures of cool things to remember

The arrival of a new family member in September meant a sharp decrease in the number of rides per week. That being said, I still managed to get out once or twice a week for the rest of the year, and am happy to report that I've made good progress. My goals is to get to 95%+ of the streets by the one-year mark (set at April 11).

As of 12/31/20, some numbers on the goal include:

• 1,088: the purported total number of miles of streets in San Francisco, at least per SF Travel (a 2019 article in the SF Chronicle says the city has 1,017 miles of streets)
• 1,890: miles ridden on the Rad Wagon since 4/11/20, per its odometer (I will clearly have to travel at least twice the number of miles of streets to hit them all)
• 2,359: miles covered in 2020 on tracked rides, walks, and hikes, per my Gaia GPS stats (this includes a lot of walking meetings
• 9,007: average number of steps taken per day, per the Health app on my iPhone. It's short of my original goal of 10,000, although the bike rides are weird because they count as steps, though in a way I do not understand 

We're all looking forward to what 2021 might bring; I have a few things on my list

Many of us are ready to be rid of 2020. We'll look back, hopefully, with shock at how many things could have gone wrong in one year. Global pandemic. Economic dislocation and uncertainties. A gut-wrenching national conversation about race, justice, and the pursuit of a more perfect union. Disinformation and conspiracy theories. A highly contentious election and transition of power. In California, raging wildfires that poisoned the air and discolored the sky. For our family, several unexpected trips to the emergency room, along with mold and leaks in the rental house we moved into late in the year. And of course, a nice 3.6 earthquake tossed in for good measure on the last day of the year.

What are we looking for in 2021? Most of us pine for a return to some sort of "normal," whatever that might look like. I have a few hopes for 2021 beyond feeling like we're not moving from crisis to crisis.

I hope we can keep some of the benefits of remote work.

Almost half of workers are able to telework, according to BLS research. The forced experiment of 2020 has shown that for many workers and industries, we can get as much done or more working fully remotely. Of course, the jury is still out on what's best, and it will vary across industries, companies, teams, and individuals. We'll have a lot to sort through. But it's my sincere hope that for those who are interested and able, working from home becomes the norm. I have traveled a lot for work in my career, often missing time with family. Since the pandemic, I have been present every single day and night with my family. My young son is sitting on my lap as I write this. I've never felt closer to my family than I do this year. I hope we don't have to give that up.

Many (bordering on "most") of my own San Francisco-based colleagues have moved away from the city to cheaper places, often close to family. I know they've valued that flexibility in 2020 and I hope we continue as a society make it easier for people to live wherever is best for their families, without compromising access to opportunity.

I hope our newfound appreciation for the hard work of "essential workers" translates to policy changes designed to protect and respect them

While many traditional "office" workers have seen relatively minimal disruption to work, millions of others in industries critical to "continuity of essential functions" continue to work, often in situations of risk to personal health and safety. They includes those who take care of us when we get sick, who watch our kids, who grow and distribute our food, who fix things that break, and who deliver things we need or want. I'm hopeful that we've seen just how critical they are and that we thank, recognize, and support those who have served in these roles. Coming out of world wars, the U.S. rightfully provided generous benefits to veterans and those who served the country. We should do the same for those who have so nobly served the country during covid. (Google suggests I am not the first with this idea.) 

I hope that a President Biden, working with those from across viewpoints, can help us discover our common humanity and shared sense of purpose and community 

The country feels sometimes like it's coming apart across all seams. I don't have to recount the ways in which this is true. But whether or not you supported President-elect Joe Biden in the primaries, or in the general election, hopefully we're all able to cheer for him to succeed, for the good of a country that could use some good news, and for an increasingly chaotic and unpredictable global order. I know that I will be cheering for him, and his entire team, although with all of our elected officials. 

Happy New Year!