Cycling on Golden Gate

Time: July 11, 2015

Place: San Francisco

Company: Wife and Daughter

Highlights: To celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary "day" (Rio was already considered as our 7th wedding anniversary vacation), we finally chose cycling on Golden Gate after carefully choosing many nominations (hot air balloon, cycling, stretch limo ride, vacation, etc.)! Left house at about 10:30 am, took the BART & embarked at Embarcadero. First stop was the office where I work at Beale St. Then walked to waterfront and took snaps in front of Gandhi statue. Took street-side Indian samosa and then walked to Cupid's Span. More snaps.

Took a pedicab (like a manual cycle rickshaw in Indian terminology) from Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf. The last time I came here was in Sept 2006. Walked through the hustle-bustle to Blazing Saddles bike shop (had reserved previous day to get discount) and took two bikes. I rode the one with the daughter's child seat on my back.

After initial traffic of Fisherman's Wharf, it kinda became easier until we reached the Fort. The uphill was too much and had to walk through it. Then rode beside the beach (which was not so good because it was unpaved) until we were almost below the Golden Gate. Then again walked uphill towards the bridge. Finally we were on the bridge but for the first time, we were on the west side.

As usual it was cold and windy. Rode all the way from one end to the other. More snaps along the way and at the ends. The breeze and the chill added to the thrill of cycling on the bridge. Soon, we were back to the safety of the visitor's center on the east side. After a quick pit stop, it was all downhill. This time the ride was good and pedaling was easy (took the paved road). Even climbed the fort without getting down - and whooshed down! Spent some time in the beach in front of Ghirardelli and took the bikes back to the store for a roaring welcome! That was a surprise. 

Had planned to get back to Embarcadero by the trolley but the line was way too long. Thankfully, a neatly dressed man approached us and said he will get us there for the same price as trolley. We followed him, and guess what! It was a stretch-limo!! We were shocked at our surprise! Inside the limo, we clicked away a dozen more pics before we were joined with other customers. Then enjoyed the ride through the ups and downs of San Francisco.

Ended the day with a nice dinner & dessert at Osho Thai (my usual hangout for lunch with team mates during project parties). Then some more snaps at the night time Embarcadero. Walked back to BART station and took the ride home (it was packed but we were lucky to get seats). Reached home at about 11 pm.

All in all, it was a great day and had a great time. Cycling on Golden Gate was one of the items in our to-do list and so was riding in a stretch limo. Both done on this special day! Three cheers to our Seven years!!