2022
Have you ever lived in another city outside of your home city or traveled to another city so many times that you know it so well? I have been very fortunate to live in a few different cities in the last five years or so and have discovered some favourite spots while living there. I've also had the opportunity to travel to the San Francisco Bay Area numerous times for various occasions, and have had some locals there that have shown me some amazing spots. I've previously biked the Golden Gate Bridge too, so some of the tips, I have to credit @iyudhi.
Over the US Memorial Weekend, a long time friend of mine invited me to join in on her wedding festivities in the SF Bay Area and she also invited another mutual friend of mine who has never been to US before. But since she was very busy with her wedding planning, I took our mutual friend for a quick sightseeing bike tour. We were staying in south bay, but what trip would be complete without seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, so one afternoon, I drove my friend up there for our bike tour.
First off, we stopped by Arsicault Bakery for some yummy croissants, how will you have energy, if you don't eat??? =D
This bike tour was super quick and not very difficult to do. We stopped at Sports Basement for bike rentals. They do 3 hour bike rentals and this was really all the time we had as we had other things planned for our 1 day in SF City trip. It's great to know other Local Guides in the other cities and then that way I can take some of the knowledge and share it with my other circles of friends. But anyway, we opted for the electric bikes because from my previous experience, unless if you're a frequent cyclist, the hills in SF are not fun! The process of renting bikes was super fast and simple, once you've paid, you're good to walk out with the bikes. Plus, you'll get a 20% off coupon for anything in the store afterwards!
Getting to the Golden Gate Bridge is really easy, the bike trail is literally right outside of the store and you just follow over to get to Crissy Field for some initial photos of the bridge.
We proceeded up the hill towards the bridge. At this point, we saw a number of people walking their bikes, but not an issue at all with electric bikes!! A ton of signs are visible, so it is easy to follow the bike path to get to the bridge. Cyclists are on one side of the bridge while pedestrians are on the other side of the bridge. As you cycle across the bridge, it can get really windy, so come prepared with layers. Karl (the fog) is still lurking over the top of the bridge.
After crossing the bridge, this time, I decided to cycle up to Marin Headlands with my friend for a different view of the bridge. I've only been here by car and there is so much traffic, so I said to my friend, we will go there with our bikes and it won't be an issue at all with the electric bikes! It was super easy and the bikes actually have different modes to give you more power. Right after the bridge, there were signs that directly us where to go and in no time, we got a completely different view of the bridge.
After taking a number of photos of the bridge from this angle, we then proceed to cycle to Sausalito. This is a very quaint waterfront town with tons of motorboat homes on the water. There is even one that was inspired by the Taj Mahal!
We walked around with our bikes a bit in the area just to enjoy the scenery and to soak up the atmosphere of this waterfront town. Following this, it was time to make our way back. But before not before capturing a photo of the bridge from this angle.
We managed to also sneak in the view from south west side of the bridge as well. So on this super quick trip, we managed to see the bridge from all four sides!
Then we headed back to the store as we needed to return our bikes. And of course...we rewarded ourselves with some shopping, or at least I did. Let's not go into how much money I then spent in the store... =D
I cannot claim to be a Local Guide in the SF Bay Area, but thanks to a previous experience with Local Guides, I had a great time showing my friend from Singapore around. We may not know all the best spots, but we definitely had a great time enjoying what San Francisco city had to offer!
What about you? Have you had the chance to discover a city that isn't your home town? If so, what are your experiences??
