Biking the bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge: The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean.Total length of Bridge including approaches from abutment to abutment: 1.7 miles Length of suspension span including main span and side spans: 1.2 miles

Well we decided to bike the bridge! Do what all the tourist do and rent bikes. Even though the fun facts above say under two miles the total ride is about eight! Can I just tell you it cost more to rent bikes than to rent a car!!! Well with the bike rental it included a ferry ticket back to San Francisco so I guess it was two modes of transportation for the price of one! 

It was a warm day. I wish I had shorts on-- luckily I did have cargo khaki's that had the tie strings to roll up as capri's. I actually got a little sunburnt. We decided to not use the helmets that the bike rental shop offered, my husband thought we might get lice. I on the other hand was afraid I was going to fall off my bike and hit my head or flip over. I actually thought that I was going to have a spinal cord injury(SCI) at one point. Just a thought. never did I fall. I just had a vision in my head.  I was recalling a guest speaker that came to my work and talked about his SCI and how he rolled over his handle bars riding his bike. God please help me when I have children, I worry about myself all the time since I work in an environment with children that their lives are changed so quickly. I guess I realize and appreciate the ability to bike, run, walk etc. Even when I was hurting pedaling up the hills. I was thankful my body is capable of doing it and feeling the pain in my muscles.  Ok I'm off my soap box...back to biking the bridge. 

What the brochure says for our journey:

Time:	1-1.5 Hours (to Sausalito)
Distance:	8miles/13km (to Sausalito)
Level:	Beginner/Intermediate

my love who was tired of all my photo taking~

a nice guy offered to take our photo :)

view from the bridge we rode our bikes along the water down there

That photo above and the next two are all photos by Brian. I was a little nervous!! I don't really have a fear of falling. I was just thinking I was going to slip into the water--you know-- because I'm nuts. The gap between the railing and the walkway was all of five inches maybe... It is a pretty wide walkway probably four or five feet. They tell walkers to stay to the right and bikers to the left. In theory that is a good idea except for the "serious" Lance wannabe's who clearly looked annoyed at the tourist on a bike. Also the runners and walkers that take up space. It is a little busy! And the fact that people are coming and going in both directions!

ecckk I'm happy right here

photo taken by Brian

Once you get across the bridge you bike another mile or two to get to the town of Sausalito. We found the bike racks and walked to a cute taco shop for lunch. The town was really cute. It reminded me of a nicer Haddonfield or Collingswood. If I lived near by and wasn't riding a bike I would have checked out all the neat little shops! We did buy a souvenir a Golden Gate Bridge magnet to hang on the fridge. It was hot! We hung out on a bench under the tree and watched the sailboats go by until it was time to catch the ferry back to San Fran. We missed the ferry at 1:05 by about 5 minutes. So we had to wait until 1:45. It wasn't the end of the world. We just enjoyed relaxing. 

all the bikes

Getting on the ferry with about 100 other people and waiting for it to get moving in the hot sun is not something fun. I honestly felt like I was going to be sick it was just hot and the air wasn't moving on the ferry. We were sitting under an enclosed deck but the sun was shining right into the area we were sitting in. Believe me when I say I was so thankful once it started moving! We headed back downstairs and stood out in the open area. I was happy to get a chill from the air and speed of the ferry ride!!

on our way back to San Francisco

Ferry ride back to San Fran...that's the Golden Gate Bridge 

Alcatraz Island 

We were able to see Alcatraz from the Ferry pretty well. We didn't go to Alcatraz. Brian didn't really have a desire. I didn't really care either way, so his vote won and we skipped it. It would have been cool to see but we have never even been to Eastern State Penitentiary. It also did take a little bit of time to go for the tour so maybe next time. After we got off the Ferry we had to get back on our bikes and ride along the water near Pier 39. Next we returned the bikes and walk back to the hotel. Needless to say all the activity sure did help with all the eating we did. We actually took a little rest before we went out to dinner that night.