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Published: September 29th 2016
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So the master plan for today was to bike the Golden Bridge. Unfortunately the weather decided not to cooperate and even before we left the campsite on the 9.30am shuttle, we could see there was a lingering mist in the distance in the direction of the bridge. We could also hear the fog horn sounding, which we had been hearing all night for the past two nights. Although yesterday had been hot and sunny, the bridge had been shrouded in cloud and on reaching Fisherman's wharf we could see today was even worse. However we had said we would bike the bridge, so we weren't going to let a little inclement weather spoil our plans, after all we are British. There are so many different companies hiring bikes to both bike the bridge and to bike around San Francisco itself, that it was hard to choose one, so we went with Blazing Saddles, mainly because the bikes looked good and had large comfy saddles. It was a very slick operation and in no time at all we were equipped with two bikes, two helmets, route directions and two ferry tickets for our return journey.
We set off along the sea
front passing Aquatic Park, Fort Mason then Great Meadow, where there was a tent city erected after the earthquake and fire of 1906. There were several vista points, but no bridge to be seen and it was quite chilly, so when we reached the aptly named cafe Warming Hut, we locked the bikes up and went inside for a coffee and cookie. When cycling you need to sustain the inner man/woman!! Then it was a climb uphill from the bay level to reach the road level of the bridge. There were many people on the sidewalk of the bridge, both walking and cycling and as it was not the weekend only the east side footpath was open, so initially we walked pushing the bikes, until the crowd thinned a bit and it was safe to ride. We still could not see the tops of the bridge turrets and the view out over San Francisco was non- existent, but we were biking over the Golden Gate Bridge. We soon reached the other side and began the descent into Sausalito, a little harbour side town and almost immediately we came out of the low cloud and into lovely sunshine. It was quite
a steep descent and it was a little disconcerting to spy two police cars, one police motorcycle a departing ambulance and two abandoned bicycles!! Once in the town we had to find one of the designated parking lots for the bikes, as it is illegal to leave them anywhere else. The first two we spied said valet parking $3: what were they going to do wash the bikes, so we carried on and found some more bike racks for free!
We decided to have some lunch as it was 2pm by now and then we browsed the many shops along the waterfront in the warm sunshine. The bridge remained totally enshrouded in fog and cloud, so we decided to return by ferry and use the tickets we had been provided with. Had we not used them we could have returned them to the bike hire shop. We boarded the 3.20 pm ferry along with many other cyclists and the bicycles were all stowed away on the lowest deck. This left us free to sit out on the decks and enjoy the views as we sailed away from Sausalito towards San Francisco ferry building, passing by Alcatraz on the way. The weather deteriorated as we approached the shore and it was hard to believe that we had been sitting in sunshine on the other side - the weather and cloud formation here is very unpredictable.
As we approached land the tannoy asked all cyclists to return to their bikes and it was another very slick operation to get us all off the ferry, especially as the bikes had to go up a deck via stairs for disembarkation. We then had quite a ride along the front to return the bikes to our starting point and the very friendly staff - Hi you guys have you had a fun day!!
We then had a longish walk back to our shuttle bus pick up spot, but we did have time to call in at the Cable Car museum. We had passed this on our way back yesterday, but did not have time to stop and had been told that it was well worth a visit. It certainly was as it is from here that all the cable cars are run on huge wheels, which pull the cables to which the cars attach themselves. Yesterday one of the cable cars broke down with some of our party aboard. They were able to go into the museum and watch the cable being repaired, but today all was working smoothly.
The traffic was not as bad tonight and we were picked up at 6pm prompt, luckily as it was now quite cold. The wind is howling outside now, so it looks like more blankets again!! Tomorrow we leave to begin our journey down Highway 1 towards Los Angeles.
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