Biking is definitely the best way to learn a city. All over San Fran there are these signs with a sea gull that say "49 Mile Scenic Drive". My plan was to do that ride this evening, but about 5 miles into the ride my knee still felt a little sore and it was really, really windy, and cold for what I was wearing, so I decided to turn the ride into a loop around Lake Merced.
25 Miles, just shy of 2 hours. Here's the route [1]. Not a good pace for this ride.