Rachel rolled out of bed a few hours later at 9.30am, complaining of feeling "a bit rough". I showed little sympathy, and by 10am we were on the bus heading to San Francisco to bike the bridge!
Several companies hawk their wares along the shoreline of the Bay, but we chose Blazing Saddles. Their big selling point is that you can ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, peddle down to Sausalito and then catch a ferry back. This sounded far too active for us, so we hired a tandem and set off to see if we could get to the other side.
Like Berkeley, SF drivers are very used to clueless tourists stepping and cycling out in front of them - a fact that saved our lives on a number of occasions. We got into trouble on the first incline we encountered, but had soon pushed the bike to the top and freewheeled down the other side. This set a pattern for the rest of the trip.
The bridge walkway was very crowded. Bikes have to stick to one side or the other, depending on the time of day, but walkers can go where they pleased. Soon we were pushing our trusty tandem again. Things had quietened down on the way back and, save for one quick photo stop, we got all the way across in saddle.
We were less ambitious on the way home, attempting only one ascent once it got flat enough for us to go on with confidence. Back on the streets of SF we fell in behind some riders who had no qualms about going the wrong way down one-way streets, and made it back to the bike supplier with no more ill effects than aching muscles, chapped skin, blurred vision, dehydration...
Our trusty steed.
On the way to the bridge.
A few feet up the first incline...
Yay - we've reached the bottom!
Hmmm.
Some people even more insane than us.
On the cycle path, off the bike.
It's large!
Looking from the other side.
On the way back (this is the only time we stopped - honest!)
Action shot. Unfortunately this doesn't really convey the sense of speed.
Rachel is happy to let the trolley car take the strain on the way home.
