One of the benefits of living in a popular tourist area is that people always want to visit. That means we get opportunities to play tourist while staying close to home. When our friends visited San Francisco in the summer, we joined in on part of their itinerary: An electric bike tour of San Francisco that included biking across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Biking across the Golden Gate Bridge had been on my to-do list since moving to the Bay Area, so I was excited when my friends wanted to do it, too. Since they were the visitors, they researched the company we used. We booked tickets for the Blazing Saddles e-bike tour.
The half-day guided tour took us through some of the most iconic sights and attractions at the northern tip of San Francisco before crossing the famous Golden Gate bridge. Though I was most looking forward to the Golden Gate Bridge, the rest of the tour was a lot of fun.
Tour Start: Fisherman’s Wharf
We picked up our bikes from their headquarters at Fisherman’s Wharf. Fisherman’s Wharf is one of the most popular tourist spots in San Francisco. It has incredible views of the bay, including the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. It also has popular attractions like Ghiradelli Square. You can easily spend the morning exploring this area before taking the afternoon bike tour.
After checking in, we were fitted for our bikes. As a smaller person, they didn’t do a great job of fitting me at first. A few minutes into the bike tour, it was clear my bike was a little too big for me. Luckily, I was able to easily switch it out for something more suitable.
Our tour guide introduced himself and gave us a quick lesson on the e-bike controls. Then we were off!
Highlight 1: Fort Mason
The first stop on the tour made us glad we splurged for the electric bikes. The Blazing Saddles website claims the trail is mostly flat. However, “mostly flat” means something else in the notoriously hilly San Francisco. It turns out riding an eclectic bike makes navigating hills much easier.
Our first proper stop on the tour required us to ascend a hill above Fort Mason Center. Fort Mason is a historic army checkpoint that has existed since the 1700s. Its strategic location on the coast has made it important to the Spanish, Mexican and US armies throughout its history.
Our guide gave us a brief history of the fort and gave us time to admire the views before we headed to our next stop.
Highlight 2: Palace of Fine Arts
We then rode our bikes to the Palace of Fine Arts at the edge of the Presidio. The Palace of Fine Arts was part of the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915 and is the only structure from that Expo still standing. It’s possibly best known for its gorgeous open-air rotunda. Our tour guide told us this rotunda inspired the design of R2D2 in Star Wars. While we didn’t get to go inside the Palace of Fine Arts, we got to spend time admiring views of the structure.
Highlight 3: Presidio
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the peninsula at the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge. There are quite a few hiking and biking trails through the park that allow visitors to see the beauty and biodiversity of the area. We stopped for a few minutes in Crissy Field to learn more history of the city and take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Highlight 4: Golden Gate Bridge
Then it was time for the star of the show: The Golden Gate Bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge is among the most famous and best recognized bridges in the world. We learned the bridge is constantly being painted to keep up its color. We took a few moments to admire it before biking across it.
The bridge sees mostly car traffic, but has bike lanes on either side of it. We rode in mostly a straight line across the bridge in our bike lane, but not everything went as smoothly as planned. You see, San Francisco is very windy. The Golden Gate Bridge is no exception. In fact, it felt windier on the bridge than the rest of our time in the city.
The windiest parts of the bridge were the towers. We were warned to carefully and slowly bike around these towers because the wind was especially powerful in this area.
Even so, I was surprised at the extreme power of the wind here. I took the first tower carefully and was okay. I kept biking along, trying to take in the bridge and the bay and fully appreciate this experience.
Perhaps emboldened by successfully taking the first tower, I guess I wasn’t quite as careful when I reached the second one. As I was biking around the tower, the wind slammed me against the side of the bridge and off the seat of my bike. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt and got right back on my seat and kept going.
The End: Sausalito
After the Golden Gate Bridge, we took a breather to appreciate what we’d just done and make sure the whole group made it across. Then, we descended a steep hill into the coastal town of Sausalito. Here, we turned our bikes back in and picked up our ferry tickets. Before going back to San Francisco, we enjoyed some drinks and snacks then headed to the ferry.
Was it worth it?
I love a bike tour. This tour brings visitors to some must-see locations in the northern part of San Francisco while giving a history lesson of the city. The electric bikes also make it much easier to navigate the hills of San Francisco. While biking across the Golden Gate Bridge was more difficult than I expected due to the wind, I am glad I got to experience it.
If you want to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, be prepared for wind and be careful going around the towers. It’s an experience you won’t forget!
