Anais Nin once wrote "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." I'd like to think that mine expanded an additional 8 miles last March 14, 2007. :-)
Yeah, I know. 8 miles doesn't really sound like much. Definitely not the longest distance I've managed. But it's definitely a ride that I've always been afraid to take. And here I am, not a scratch on me! Woohoo!
Anybody who can ride a bike can do this ride (a knowledge of shifting gears wouldn't hurt, either). I took the 22-Fillmore to the end of the line, right on Marina Blvd. to get to the bike trail. The trail is clearly marked as you can see below:
I didn't really trust myself to be able to make it on my own (my sense of direction being what it is), so I waited until I got my handheld GPS to make this trip. Using a simplified map provided by Blazing Saddles, I used Google Earth's satellite view to plot coordinates and create my route in my GPS. In hindsight, I probably could have managed with just my handwritten directions but when you have billions of dollars worth of satellites hovering overhead to assist you, why not use 'em?
After taking a short detour to Fort Point, I doubled back to The Warming Hut where I had to make a series of climbs up to the Golden Gate Bridge. (a harsh reminder that I have to get my darned ass in shape one of these days
Through the length of the bridge are crisis counseling phones like this, a grim reminder that the Golden Gate Bridge is not only famous for its beauty but also for its allure to those wanting to end their lives.
The only thing annoying about going solo is that nobody is there to take my picture, so it definitely takes a certain amount of chutzpah to stop passers-by to take my picture, and then trading cameras with them so that I can take their picture. The trade is fair enough - usually the tourists are happy to oblige.
Whew! We made it across! This is a view of the bridge from the Vista Point on the Marin side.
After that, it is all downhill to Sausalito. Wheeeee!!!
Finally made it downtown. The GPS receiver was so accurate that when I uploaded my trip info to Google Earth Plus, it was able to pinpoint and zoom-in to the actual bench that I rested my bike on! Kewl beans, man!
After spending a little time in Sausalito it was finally time to take the ferry home. This is not some tourist ride but an actual part of the Golden Gate Transit system, so don't expect a leisurely ride. It costs about $6.75, I think. There is no pay booth at the pier. All you need to do is get on the ferry and pay inside.
On the ferry you can clearly see who the locals and who the tourists were. The locals were the ones wise enough to stay inside the warmth of the ship. The tourists (me included) were the idiots who were standing on the deck freezing our collective asses off. As a reward, I ended up sniffling with a runny nose for days. Note to self: stay indoors!
All in all, it was a good trip. I made the mistake of leaving home too late in the afternoon, because if I had left earlier I would have rode all the way to Tiburon. Unfortunately, I didn't know how long it would take me and I might miss the Tiburon ferry to go back home (they don't run as frequently as the Sausalito ferry). Well,there's always next time.
Here's a map from Google Earth showing my GPS tracks. You can see my trip details (elevation, min/max speed, time, coordinates, etc on my Motionbased.com page. Not that impressive, I have to agree. But for me and my lazy butt, this is the Tour de France, baby!
more pics of this ride at my Flickr.com page.
