Biking the Golden Gate Bridge
 

On our second day in San Francisco we plan on taking the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf and hopping a ferry to Alcatraz. We'll be taking the 10:00 a.m. tour. Upon our return we thought we'd try biking across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito for lunch and ferrying it back and then off to our Union Square hotel to lay low until dinner time. Others who have biked the bridge - I'm curious if it was windy? Would you recommend it? Would walking half way across and then turning around to spend more time in SF be a better idea? We'll only be in SF for what amounts to 2.5 days when we include travel time. Thanks in advance for the advice!

It CAN be very cold and windy so check the weather out while you are on the ferry.

My husband and I biked onver the bridge in mid-August last summer. We did not find it exceptionally windy or cold.
It was a lot of fun to do- we wound up riding down into Sausalito. I definitley recommend it!

I invested in a lightweight windbreaker (with hood) that I got from LLBean. I could roll it up small enough to fit in the carrier thing on my bike. I used it both on the ferry to Alcatraz and also biking across the GGB. In fact it came in handy in many places.

When you do the bike ride across the GGB and into Sausalito you cover a beautiful area on the way to the Bridge that you probably wouldn't see otherwise. For that I think it is well worth it, but it really depends on what all you want to do/see in SF.

I biked the bridge last summer, and it was one of the highlights of my trip. I rented from Blazing Saddles on Fisherman's Wharf, and they even give you a ferry ticket so you don't have to stand in line - they only charge you for it if you actually use it.

The ride along the waterfront bike path to the GG Bridge is really beautiful, too - be sure to stop and take a look at the wave organ, it's pretty neat. However, unless you plan on a very late lunch, if you're doing the 10:00 am Alcatraz tour, I don't know how you'd get to Sausalito by lunchtime - I enjoyed taking my time to look at all of the great views and take lots of pictures - I wouldn't have wanted to rush it. I stopped and bought lunch at the Fort Point Visitor's Center near the bridge and ate a picnic lunch outside, which worked fine for me. Have a great time, and I hope you have a clear day for your trip across the bridge.

Just an fyi -- If you are planning on taking the cable car from the turntable by Union Square, I would have a back up plan to be sure you get to Fisherman's Wharf area in time for your tour. I can't remember exactly what time we got to the turntable, but it was early in the morning and there was already a long line for the cars. They also had something happen along the route that stopped them for a while -- they came pretty much all in a row for a while, but it was somewhat of a wait and I would have hated to have to be somewhere at a certain time. I know of people who have caught it inroute, but all the cars we saw were full so I wouldn't count on that as an option. There was much less of a line at the bottom coming back up from FW.

VERY helpful advice. I think our plan will probably be revised a bit based on your feedback. Tour to Alcatraz maybe we'll save the cable car ride for the way back. Stop for lunch before biking the bridge - bike over to Sausalito for a little happy hour libation and ferry home. Of course this all depends on the weather which I know is going to be just gorgeous that day :o) Thanks everyone - always grateful for insider information!

doogs--taking the F streetcar to the Wharf is probably faster than the cable car and less crowded. You can catch it at Market and Powell. T