The day got off to a bit of a rough start. I had spent many hours researching a route to ride that would give us a nice overview of the city and it's sights while keeping us off some of the steeper hills. I had mapped a route that looked like it would fit the bill and stored it. Upon arrival last night I made sure phones, cameras, and GPS were all charged. As I went to load the route the Garmin would not work. It seemed to be completely dead. The computer wouldn't see it, no screen display, no nothing. The GoPro was not powering up. It's been acting up a bit lately and decided to really start causing problems today. My friend's phone wasn't charging, and mine always has 4g connection problems and internet access is spotty at best.
We had planned to start our 38 mile pedal at 8:30 AM. It was 10:30 before we finally got on the road, handwritten cue sheet for a last minute modified course, and a portable battery charging device with assorted connection cables in hand.
Within the first mile the Garmin finally decided to start functioning. Sure was glad about that. I haven't had to navigate via a paper cue sheet in years, and wasn't looking forward to the prospect.
As we pedaled out there were many things to see.
We did far more sight seeing than biking. Never planning a LONG ride, our late start meant we shortened it up even more.
We made our way to the Embarcadero, and followed that to Fisherman's Wharf were we had an early lunch. We spent a little time there playing tourist.
One of our "must do's" was to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, and after a stop at Ghirardelli Square, a ride through Marina Green Park, and passing through Crissy Field we made our approach.
We spent a long time on and around the bridge There were a lot of other people enjoying a ride or walk across the bridge. To minimize conflicts today bikes were limited to the west side while pedestrians were relegated to the east side.
It is the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge and before we left we got jerseys to commemorate the visit.
We continued on to The Presidio and looked around briefly. It reminded me a lot of Oregon's Fort Stevens.
We had thought that riding to China Beach would be a good goal today before turning back around. However, we turned toward Frankenart Mart, in the mistaken idea that today was "free hotdog day". We were one week early, but enjoyed riding through the neighborhoods.
With the day approaching and end, we decided to start working our way back to the bike rental facility where our bikes we due back by 6PM. We knew which direction we needed to go, if not the best route. We headed east staying on designated bike routes.
We saw many interesting things as we pedaled along.
We made pretty good time on our cross city pedal. We determined that we had a little time to spare and pulling out the map we carried we decided that we could take in the famed Lombard Street on our way back.
We arrived at the top of Lombard Street as the shadows began to get long.
It took a bit of arm twisting, but I finally got my friend to join me on a roll down this famously twisted road.
After riding down the hill we visited with the gardener a bit. Surprisingly, this is not a public park, but a labor of love tended to by a local resident using personal funds. While there, we heard many stories of unusual occurrences, and even had a chance to witness one.
As we pedaled our last few miles it was clear that we didn't get to see everything on our list.
As is nearly always the case, it was a great day to be on a bike!
............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today...........21..............0.............0..........0..............21 Jan.............105.............34............0..........0............139 Feb...........428............108.............0.........24..........536 March.........809..............0.............0.........22..........831 April........1010..............0.............0...........0.........1010 May..........1000..............0............20........0.........1020 June.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0..........1558 Aug...........531..............0.............0..........0............531 Sept..........730..............0.............0..........0............730 Oct............844.............0.............0..........0.............844
Nov............41..............0..............0..........0..............41
YTD..........8542.........142...........20.........46............8701
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