Get On Your Bikes and Ride: The Iconic Bits

After our mega-mosiac stairway experience, we wended our way back towards Golden Gate Park. On our way, we passed this amazing car:

Only in northern California!!


Back in Golden Gate Park, it was a lovely Sunday afternoon, with a free concert, and salsa dancing in another section of the park.

We cycled west, away from the museums and towards the ocean.


On the way we passed a little lake with an awesome remote controlled speedboat!

This water fountain was dog-friendly. I love San Francisco. So would Pickwick and Hercie.

Here I am at the bison pen.


Yes, bison.

From Wikipedia:


"Bison have been kept in Golden Gate Park since 1891, when a small herd was purchased by the park commission. At the time, the animal's population in North America had dwindled to an all-time low and San Francisco made a successful effort to breed them in captivity. In 1899, the paddock in the western section of the park was created. The animals today are cared for by staff from the San Francisco Zoo".


Last year we walked here, and then we had to scoot around the back and climb the 10ft fence in order to see any bison. This year we were cruising on our bikes, and the bison were out in force - although we did have to look closely to convince ourselves that the one on the right was merely asleep, as opposed to being dead:

Then it was onwards to previously unexplored sections of the park.

We encountered a very nice mounted policeman on a beautiful horse:

Right near the western exit, we happened upon the windmill:

The western exit finds you right at Ocean Beach! Sean is pleased to be here:

The kite-surfers were dominating the scene. It was WINDY. So much so, that we were blasted with sand. I had to cover up the camera, and I was digging sand grains out of my left ear for the next three days.

We pushed on uphill, and were rewarded with this great view south:

We headed even further up to Point Loma. Here we are looking down on the old swimming baths:

We made it all the way up to the Legion of Honor. Again, being Memorial Day weekend, there was a lot of activity around here, just like at Presidio Park.

(Yes, I have a fountain coming out of my head. Thanks, Sean!)

We continued onwards towards San Francisco's most famous icon. The best bit was, we didn't have to worry about cars trying to take us out, because traffic was gridlocked! The long weekend really played in our favour as we casually cruised past the bumper-to-bumper cars, easily beating them all to the bridge.

We were rewarded with spectacular views:

And with a little more pedal power, we were on it!

It's a big uphill ride to get there, and it's a loooooong way down:

I can never be passe about crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. I worked out this was my fourth time: once on foot, once by car (both in 1997), and now twice by bike.

The only upsetting thing was all the hard-core local cyclists. Understandably, they get a bit impatient with the hordes of gormless tourists, but it was a little unfriendly, especially when you were trying your best to keep out of their way. Not to worry. Sean is having fun.

About 2/3 of the way across, some fellow cycling tourists had spotted a dolphin! It looked tiny from so far up:

Happy cyclists on the Golden Gate Bridge. One with brain box, one without (that's brain BOX, not brain):

Stunning coastline views of the northern shore:

Our bridge experience is about to come to its end. Please keep all hands, feet and bicycles inside the dedicated lane, and make sure your helmet is securely fastened. Thank you for travelling with Bike and Roll.

Once we got to the other side, we paused to enjoy the view back to the city (and to try to recollect which way we had to pedal to get to Sausalito).

After a well-earned and super fun downhill cruise (past a private garage with a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and a Mercedes, always a highlight for Sean), we treadlied into the beautiful town of Sausalito. Last year it was a blur as we had to push pedal to make it to the ferry. This time we got to admire our surroundings a little more.

Well, a lot more. Being a long weekend, the queue for the ferry was HUGE.

After a bit of a wait, we made it on, and got to enjoy the view back to Sausalito and the bridge......

.....as we watched all the other cyclists board the ferry. You park your bike downstairs and then head up to the upper deck.

Hurrah for us! We had very sore buns at this point, but we were still happy cyclists:

Coit Tower and the Trans America pyramid seen as the ferry approached the city.

Soon, we saw, heard and smelled the sea lions hauled up on Pier 39:

A short ride back up Columbus Ave, and our sore butts we grateful when we relinquished the bikes and reverted to foot power:

We ambulated up to the nearest pizza joint, admiring the North Beach alfresco dining scene en route:

Sean nailed a pizza while I had a yummy salad. Still, something was needed to round off the day, and Sean had just the ticket when he suggested a visit to Gelateria Naia. My chai tea flavour was amazing! I think Sean enjoyed his also:

Thus ended our personal bicycling tour of the beautiful city of San Francisco. I was a little disappointed that I missed out on seeing my favourite Painted Ladies at Alamo Square (even though I've seen them twice before), but you can't have it all in this world. Although close to Golden Gate Park, they're in a very hilly area, and I think you'll agree we tackled more than enough hills as it was!

Still, I'll put a picture here, and that will make me feel good about the world. Here you go: