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Biking the Golden Gate Bridge

Biking the Golden Gate Bridge

One of the must-do’s on our list when arriving in San Francisco was to cross the Golden Gate Bridge, regardless of how we did it. This was a non-negotiable and upon discovering our WharfPass included a two-hour bike rental, we knew what we had to do.

Bike The Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge looks enormous from a distance!

So off we went to Blazing Saddles, a local bicycle rental company, and decided to Bike The Bridge from San Francisco to the lovely seaside town of Sausalito. After this 8-mile (13 kilometer) journey, we would then catch the ferry back across the bay to the city at the end of the day – thank god!

The brochures said the ride would be “a fun and enjoyable activity for the beginner to the advanced rider” but considering we hadn’t ridden bicycles in a very long time, we decided to wait until after the ride to make a decision on that. Fortunately we were pleasantly surprised at (generally) how well we handled it!

Our bike ride started in Fisherman’s Wharf, through Fort Mason and along Marina Boulevard. We then proceeded to ride through the Presidio of San Francisco, a beautiful park along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay.

Bikes overlooking the bridge

Our bicycles overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.

But beware of the San Francisco hills! We decided it was a smarter move to conserve our energy and walk our bikes up a couple of the steeper hills, particularly the one from Fort Point to the start of the bridge. The effort was well worth it in the end and we were rewarded with this stunning view of San Francisco.

View of San Francisco from Fort Point

View of San Francisco from Fort Point.

Here’s the view we saw before crossing the bridge. A word of advice to recreational cyclists – stay on the city side of the bridge. Unfortunately we followed the ‘bicycle’ signs and ended up on the wrong side of the bridge with lycra-clad cyclists flying past us at great speed. Hence the lack of photos from on the bridge itself!

Before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

Before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

Once you’ve conquered the bridge, it’s an easy downhill cruise to Sausalito. As we rode into Sausalito, the ferry we wanted to catch was just leaving – but this turned out to be a blessing as this charming town was one of the highlights of the bike ride. We locked up our bikes and wound up at a seaside café munching down some delicious baguettes.

Sausalito

A photo of Sausalito from the ferry.

After you’ve finished in Sausalito, hop back on the ferry and it’s back to San Francisco. The bike ride was definitely one of the best parts of our visit to San Francisco and we would definitely do it again if the opportunity presented itself.

Have you biked across the Golden Gate Bridge or any other famous landmark? How was your experience?

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