Back from vacation and celebrating

It has taken me four days to catch up with real life, detatch the very clingy dogs and cats ( mom youy went away and left us with strangers!) and download the photos from our trip.

We thouroughly explored San Francisco, rode a cable car, ate too much dungenes and blue claw crab and celebrated the 40th anniversary day by riding a couple of rental bikes from Pier 39 ay Fisherman's wharf to Sausalito across the Golden Gate Bridge for a grand total of 12 miles. We have plans to make this an every ten years event until we have to be dragged across in trailers behind the bikes.

A quick reprise. There are several bike rental companies including one that rents electric assist bikes. We opted for one called "Blazing Saddles" for obvious reasons. We chose not to go with the expense of a road bike rental, but took the lowest price range which was a comfort hybrid with a rack, front bag, wide comfort seat, front and back shock absorbers,helmets, wide tires Why a comfort bike?- because it was a bit less than the other bikes and we were only planning on doodling along. The bikes were ok except for the fact the the front and rear gearing was opposite of our road bike gearing, ie the rear derailleur was on the left and the front gearing was on the right. Fortunately the brakes were the same as on a road bike. Unfortunatly, I didn't really figure out the gearing until I had walked up the first 1 1/2 hills. After that it was fine and I granny geared up the other two hills with no problem.

The rental fee included a trip back from Sausalito on the ferry so it was a nice little package and came to $100.00 for the day for the two of us.

We rode past all of Fisherman's wharf and out along the water side to the Presidio on bike path. Then we hit a long but not horribly steep hill and a shorter steeper hill, both of which were highway but the traffic was light ( we rode on a Monday but I'm sure if had been a weekend it would have been crazy.) The two hills and a bit more of false flat and we were on the bike/walk path on the east side of the bridge. Things were a bit congestd right at the beginning of the bridge because of the pedestrian traffic but when it sorted it self out, it was easier to maintain a nice easy 3-5 mph and since we were on the East side, we had a full view of the city scenery. They trade to paths to alternate sides depending on the time and day. Since we hit the bridge at 10:30, the wind was fairly low and there was no rush hour traffic. The ride was smooth except for at the points where the spans came up through the bridge, then you had to do three short sides of a square and the was the possibility of someone coming in the opposite direction coming around the corner at you. Luckily there were only two of these.

The other rough spot was at the Sausalito side where the connection between 101 ( the main route on the bridge and the coastal road was being reworked. This required that the bikes be walked down a steep set of stairs (with a narrow plank ramp for the bike,), across the ravine below the bridge (amusingly or perhaps seriously marked as a Tsunami zone) and back up an equally steep stairs on the other side . Having hefted the bike and knowing that it was about twice the weight of my road bike I was prepared to try it with a death grip on the brakes. Fortunately there were a couple of helpful, handsome young construction workers there to help anyone who needed it, with their bikes. I availed myself of the help and learned that the bikes are deliberately heavy, non carbon, to avoid easy theft. We then rode down the hill to the coastal road and climbed back up the headland towards Susalito, covering another couple of moderate climbs and the a nice downhill coast into the town of Sausalito.

The town itself is right against the headland hill and only about three blocks wide. We rode through the town to survey it, stopped at a couple of bike shops, walked through the central plaza,park, square, fountain... and found a seaside seat to have a glass of wine and some bread and cheese while waitingfor the ferry back to SF.

The ferry ride stopped at one island in the bay which is a national park (Angels Island, and stopped at another to pick up some passengers, then went back past Alcatraz to the Fisherman's Wharf where we unloaded oursleves and the bikes. It was a short 1/2mile ride through the tourists to return the bike and we got back in time for a cleanup and a nap before a celebratory dinner at The Cliff House( a Victorian bath house for Sailors that has been converted to a restaurant.) The view of the ocean and the sunset was rather spectacular.

We spent another 4 days in a rental car going up the northern California Coast as far as highway 1 would take us. We went through a couple of Redwood forests, drove out to a light house and saw Elephant Seals and pups on the protected beach below, saw some petrified redwoods and then cruised back down highway 101 (Pacific Coast Highway) through the two wine vallies of Napa and Sonoma, and flew back home again.

I could say a lot more but I will let the pictures speakAttachment 16203 Attachment 16199 Attachment 16200 Attachment 16201 Attachment 16202

the captions should be: Sea lions at Fishermans Wharf, the anniversary couple, view off of the bridge to the shore, Marni and the Sag Guy on the bridge with Alcatraz behind, the bike path and one of the bridge supports.