san francisco - Tuesday

Of course, the day began with a trip to the Bike and Roll rental shop. And of course the guy working there had no idea why no one answered the phone when I called the day before. But he was sweet about giving me a different bike, complete with a flat repair kit, and we rode away happy.

Hubby and I had different ideas about what would be interesting, so we decided to split up for a couple of hours. He'd go his way; I'd go mine. Funny enough, last night as we walked back to the hotel after dinner, I heard another couple making similar plans -- she wanted to go shopping while he was going to some museum. It's always nice to know you are, in some ways, like your fellow man, right?

What I wanted to do was just ride my bike around, exploring the streets, looking at shops, watching the people. So I ventured a little off the beaten track and rode up and down some hills and somehow ended up at the Crookedest Street. Another overrated sight. We went there last time we were in San Francisco, and it didn't seem so bad, but that was in October. This time it was so crowded, a person could barely walk. I had to walk the bike down, as it would have been insane to try to weave my way through the pedestrians. This street is the approach to the Crookedest Street:

 

 After lunch, we decided to take the ferry to Sausalito and ride up to the Golden Gate Seminary area. My friend from Wisconsin attended this seminary many years ago, and she told me that this area is a must-see. 

So we rolled the bikes onto the ferry and rode across the bay.

Alcatraz, seen from the ferry

The bike route in this area is simply amazing. First, there is a wide multi-use path that winds along the shore, past some charming houseboat-type cottages and crane-inhabited marshes. That would be crane as in bird, not the construction cranes we see all over Edmonton. 

Houseboats, Sausalito-style

hello, Kath! I made it here!

 The Seminary Road is not a dedicated bike path, but traffic is light and it's marked as a bike route, so we felt safe and comfortable riding there. We stopped for a photo at the entrance to the seminary grounds, but hubby declined the option of riding uphill to the actual building. The road winds around, up and down hill, turning into Strawberry Road, and offering a great view of the bay or whatever water is down there. My favourite bit along this road was when we passed "The Club at Harbor Point" where the sign for the Nourish Grill says, "Public and Bicyclists Welcome." Unfortunately, the timing was wrong -- we were not hungry or thirsty at this point. But it was tempting to go just in response to that sign!

It's always a bit hard riding in places like this as a newbie, as you don't know exactly how long it will take to get back or what awaits you on the trail ahead. Being cautious in nature, I tend to play it safe and often wish I could go back and do it again, stopping along the way, or taking that side road that I passed up. It was like that this time; we headed back to the ferry landing earlier than we needed to --  sort of wish we had gone on to Tiburon. But maybe next time we're down that way... It was an amazing ride, nonetheless, and I felt a wee bit envious of the many road cyclists we saw, who can enjoy that route any time. 

And this made me laugh -- reminded me of the shared pathway I ride on my way to work each day. It was the second shopping cart I saw along here.

While waiting for the return ferry, we struck up a conversation with a family from Flanders who are taking three weeks to tour California, Nevada and Utah. Their English was excellent, and the teen girl told me they study it in school from age 14 on, but that the real secret of their success is English TV and music! Her little 9 year old brother, she told me, can't really speak English yet, but he can understand quite a lot. Who says TV isn't good for anything?