What a great experience it was to have biked over the Golden Gate Bridge. Our bike journey began at Blazing Saddles at Fisherman's Wharf near our hotel. We had a good idea of what and where we wanted to go and the first stop was Coit Tower which was a short distance from the hotel at the top of Telegraph Hill.
The ride to the top by bike wasn't the easiest thing we did and after recovering we decided that hill's would cause a quick end to our day of biking. When we arrived at Coit Tower we chained our bikes to the railing and then took the elevator to the top. (See my post about Coit Tower to learn more). After Coit Tower we returned to Blazing Saddles to exchange Chris's bike for one that wouldnt wabble when going down hills and continued along Fishermans's Wharf until we reached Ghiaradelli Square and then we continued along the water going out onto the long breakwater in front of Maritime Park.
We then continued up the large hill overlooking Gashouse Cove and Fort Mason. This allowed us to follow Marina Blvd all the way along the water front by Marina Green, San Francisco's St Francis Yacht Club, and Chrissy Field. We then biked along the Golden Gate Promande until we reached the Warming Hut. Here we stopped and relaxed a bit before going up the big hill at Long Ave. At the end of Long Ave we took a right on to Bike Route 2/Lincoln Blvd where we found a perfect vista to take some pictures of the bridge.
From here we passed the Visitors's Center at the bridge and our journey across began. It wasn't as easy a ride as we would have liked. Half the bridge was closed to pedestrian and bike traffic which made it a busy crossing. There were many other biker's and pedestrians and we often had to stop to allow people to pass by.
The views from and of the bridge were amazing. The railings are low and I can see why it isn't hard for people to jump off. Many of the stops were also to take some pictures including the mid point where Dan and I used our strengh to support the massive cables.
Once to the other side we enjoyed Vista Point Overlook where we had stopped a few days before when we took the first of our tours to the Muir Woods. Here we spend sometime capturing more photographs since we wern't rushed and so we could rest.
The trip back across the bridge we didn't stop for pictures or pedestrians as the crowds had definitely begun to get smaller. We followed the same route back except when we go to the Warming Hut. I decided to follow along the San Francisco Bay Trail while both Dan and Chris followed Old Mason Street. We rejoined each other just before Crissy Marsh.
From there we followed the same route we took to get here along Mason Street until we reached the Place of Fine Art's Theatre. Here we stopped for a while and explored the beautiful pond and the amazing art deco structures. We walked the entire perimiter fo the pond and stopped to sit and enjoy the view. (See my post about the Palace of Fine Art's Theatre)
After enjoying the Palace we continued back along Marina Blvd until we reached Fort Mason. Again we took the bike path through the green and down along the water to the pier at the Maritime Park.
We rejoined the cars at Jefferson Street and made a right turn up Hyde St until we reached the Trolley Cars where we turned left on to Beach Street which we followed all the way back to our hotel before turning left onto Powell Street where we picked up the bikes.
I charted our path using Google Earth and came up with an estimated distance of 14.3 miles give or take. It was a great ride and I am very pleased I did it and that I convinced the others to take the ride too. I think if they had known how far it was going to be they might not have been so willing to participate.
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