Biking the Golden Gate Bridge, Ferry Sausalito

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Geo: 37.7792, -122.42

Just like the weather man said,m the day was clear and the wind did not seem to be blowing. We had decided we were going to use public transportation so we got everything loaded up and off we set.

Caught the #49 bus at 7th and Heinz.

Was right on time and we got to the BART
station in time to figure out how to use the ticket machine, get our ticket, and get downstairs at the correct time and get on the BART.

We traveled in a tunnel under the Bay ? got off the BART at the Montgomery station in San Francisco and there was a Peet's coffee kiosk there.

We got some delicious coffee and enjoyed the musicians playing for our enjoyment.

Emerged from the station into the sunlight and after one false start found the bus stop to get us over to Bike and View where we were going to rent bicycles to cross the Golden Gate Bridge.

Got on the #30 bus that was supposed to get us within a block of Bike and View.

Got off where we thought we were supposed to and there was a bike shop but it was not Bike and View ! Called them and we had gotten off at the bottom of Lombard.

Told us to get back on the bus. Got back on the bus. The bus driver was a very friendly and helpful as were the regular riders, one of which pointed out the high school where OJ Simpson attended in case we were interested.

Found the bike place, got ourselves outfitted with bike, helmets, and locks.

They also furnished us with a map showing the area down by the harbor and leading up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Leaving from the bike shop, the ride was either downhill or flat once we got to Marine Drive heading to the bridge.

Did I mention it was a beautiful day? There were people everywhere, on bikes, walking, walking with dogs, small children and so on.

There is construction going on around the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge from the San Francisco side and so we were directed on how to get up onto the bridge. It was a steep climb and had to walk the bike some. It was also crowded so this also slowed bike traffic down.

FINALLY we were on the bridge. This was exciting. Lots of warning signs etc.

As far as I could tell, all the foot and bike traffic was on the side of the bridge that allows in unimpeded view of the bay, city and bridge.

The portion of the bridge dedicated to hike and bike is probably about 15 feet wide or so. The left side is for the bikers and the right hand side is for pedestrians.

Of course there are bikers coming from Sausalito as well as bikers from San Francisco going the other direction. All level of bikers, and most of us were not equipped with a bell and you really could not go to fast.

Remember, I said it was beautiful weather and as a result, there were many, many, many, many people out enjoying the day on the bridge.

It seems that 10:30 was a popular time to start because it was very crowded as we set off. The pedestrian side of the path was nearest to the edge of the bridge and so you would have people stop to have their picture taken, photographer might step into bike lane, people going around step into bike lane or people just wanting to move faster moving into bike lane.

Why tell you all this? Because, all of a sudden, TOURIST DOWN! and this one happened to be Laura!

Can't remember for sure what happened except that another bike and Laura's tangled along with at least one walker(think he is the one who caused the accident) and Laura hit the ground.

Had the camera around neck and the filter popped off, but the camera was OK. Laura had skinned and bruised knees, ankle and hand but other than being a little shaken was ok. Good news, no rips in the pants, so calmed down and continued on.

The view was just great. There were many sailboats out. Found out the America's Cup is going to be there later this year and many boats are practising as well as another sailing race was going to happen on Saturday.

Because it was so clear, we did stop many times to take pictures of everything. I did start calling out "on your left" to alert people to the fact I waas there!

Got to the other side. We had read that the less busy way to get down to Sausalito is to go through Fort Baker. There was construction going on and they had diverted all the bike and hikers down through Fort Baker anyway.

You go under the bridge and it was very interesting to see the bridge from that perspective. Fort Baker was interesting to bicycle through and as we started up the hill to drop us down into Sausalito, the chain came off Laura's bicycle. Walked it up the hill to catch up with Robert who was able to get it back on.

Coasted down the hill into Sausalito where a sign told us we as bikers could take up an entire lane. Did where there was no clear bicycle lane. Robert had read about places to eat and there was a place inside a local market, Golden Gate Market, where we stopped for lunch. I had a huge sandwich called the American and Robert had an enchilada. Sat outside on bench, eating our lunch and watching as the bicycles continued to pour into Sausalito.

After lunch, biked on down to where the houseboats were. There are not as many houseboats as there had been way back when we came to Sausalito on an earlier trip. Headed back toward the ferry landing and there was a ferry loading and we decided to go ahead and catch the ferry back since we were going to have to catch the bus, BART, bus back to Berkeley and did not know how long this would take.

We were the last two bicycles ont he ferry and there were 87 bikes on the ferry, ours included. The wind had picked up and it was choppy on the way back but not a bad ride.

Got off the ferry and meandered through the Wharf area looking at all the activities you can participate in as well as all the interesting people including street artists. Found our way back to the Bike and View and turned in our bikes and found the bus that would get us back to the BART.
Just like the earlier ride, it was very interesting, the people, Chinatown, the city, the views and so not a problem at all.

Got back across on the BART, caught the bus and arrived back at the outlet.

Had a scrumptuous dinner with Paul and Kjersten at their place and the back to call it a day.

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Photos

Bay Area Rapid Transit (Ashby Station)
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