Sausalito and the Bridge

An early departure today for Lady P, who has booked to ride the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito with the Kiwis. Flashman and the Major will head off on the Ferry as an advance team to secure a restaurant for lunch. We have been blessed with terrific weather since arrival in SF, with mid twenty's (C) and clear sky, so it is interesting to see what the guide books describe as typical SF weather today. The fog is sitting on top of the bridge and a mist obscures the SF skyline as we cruise past Alcatraz to Sausalito. This is a clean and obviously expensive little suburb, alive with tourists and hundreds of bike riders pouring off the Golden Gate Bridge and looking for bike parking and sustenance. Luckily for our team, the advance party has found a waterside restaurant, the 'Trident'. After a refreshing beer in 'The Bar with no name' and a period of intense research at the bar of the Trident, where the boys observe Manny the barman making frozen cocktails, we decide that we have found a suitable lunch venue. The bike riders of the team arrive and haggle with the poor valet who wants $2 to park the bikes, explaining that despite the large sign stating 'Free Bike Parking', you do actually have to pay $2 and get your lunch receipt stamped by the reception girls then the valet will give you back the $2, unless of course, you tell him to keep it as a tip.
Another  bucket list TICK for Lady P - a bike ride across the famous Golden Gate Bridge to Sausilito and it was a blast. As described above the pylons of the bridge were shrouded in fog as we approached the bridge mid morning so we stalled our ride with several photo stops and a delicious coffee and orange blossom donut at a tiny coffee spot on Crissy Field on the waterfront. After all when you're chasing shadows in San Francisco you need some sunshine to cast the elusive shadows! The ride initially takes us along the foreshore of SF past the original Fishermans Wharf, Fort Mason and to the base of the south pylon at Fort Point. So far so good, the terrain is predominately flat and there are literally hundreds of fellow bike riders accompanying us so we don't even have to check our maps. The bikes are well kitted out with racks for back packs, and little pouches in the front for cameras etc so you can stop and grab endless photos as you pedal power along the bike path.

 At the base of the south pylon we get a look at our first (and probably the only real challenge) a steep uphill climb which uses muscles we didn't know we had ! Egged on and inspired by some of the pro bike riders who fly past - uphill!, we go all out and mostly make it at least halfway up the steep incline. Then a slow walk gets us to the look out at the top. The sun is trying to break through and as we navigate our way across the bridge we are duly rewarded with some real shadows on the north side. Navigation is a challenge as there are pedestrians and cyclists moving as one with limited sense of direction (as in an understanding of the USA sidewalk rules of keeping to the right) so bell ringing is a constant and avoiding the oncoming pedal power (probably serious SF commuters  en route to the city) makes for a challenging ride. But the views are spectacular and there is still plenty of time to take in the icon that is the Golden Gate Bridge. Once across the bridge it is a swift - meaning steep downhill decent into the seaside town of Sausilito as described by Flashman above.
Our lunch of clams, fish tacos, seafood platters and a hambuger (Mikayla) plus cocktails and beer tastings (Warren) was well received and yes we did get our $2 back from Fernando the bike minder. The Major and Flashman sauntered through town with us before boarding the ferry back to the city. The bike riders joined the queue of fellow pedal people and even after booking our ferry slot we had to wait in line for almost an hour before securing a spot on the ferry home, bikes safely racked on the lower deck, before berthing at the Ferry terminal still a 2km ride along the waterfront  from the drop off point. Another cocktail and cold beer upstairs at Pier 39 before we farewelled the Kiwi clan who were heading south to LA the next day.