My second full day in San Francisco was all about exploring the city on two wheels. So I started out by picking up a bike and then doing a 2 hour guided tour to Sausalito north of SF.

First stop on the way was at The Palace of Fine Arts that was originally built for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915.

Then it was on to the main event of the tour: The Golden Gate Bridge!

From the bridge to Sausalito the ride is quite relaxing as it is steep downhill the entire way so it’s mostly about braking and steering .

Nice views on the way to Sausalito

Sausalito is a nice and cozy coastal town where a lot of people from SF escape to during the summer as the weather tends to be a lot better overthere. This was the last stop on the guided tour so from then on I was on my own again.

Since the weather hadn’t been amazing in the morning (although no fog!) I decided to give the bridge a second chance after taking a quick break in Sausalito. Most people bring their bikes on the ferry back to SF because all that downhill riding in to Sausalito sort of has a bit of a side effect on the ride back..

But the reward was priceless: great scenery and The Golden Gate Bridge in sunshine from a clear (at least almost) blue sky!

When I finally dragged myself away from the bridge I decided it was time to pay the sea-lebreties a visit down at Pier 39.

They were so cute although quite noisy and a little bit smelly. But apparently you can get away with that as long as you look adorable lying in a big pile..

The last thing I did before returning the bike was going up to Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. Even though I didn’t go to the top of Coit Tower the view of San Francisco was still quite spectacular!

After one last night my time in San Francisco had come to an end and the following morning I made my way to Santa Cruz via a bit of a detour to Muir Woods north of SF.

The Muir Woods National Monument is an old forest with redwoods – like really tall redwoods! I just took a short stroll there admiring the gigantic trees before making my way to Santa Cruz for a couple of relaxed days before Louise would join me for the road trip back to Santa Monica.