Some of you might be familiar of Mario and my weekly bike trips around Montreal and its surroundings. I felt a little guilty of the fact that I would missing two weeks of biking because of the trip(ok, maybe not really), so when the opportunity for this bike trip, offered by the hostel, presented itself, I decided to go for it. An all-day bike ride over Golden Gate bridge, down into Sausalito, and then a return ferry ride to San Francisco? What could be better? Let's go!
 | Our bike group heading out
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 | Parked in Crissy Field
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We were 19 strong for this particular trip, so you can imagine the mess we made as we rolled, as group, down major roads in business districts! Weaving and darting in between cars, snaking in and out of intersection and the bike lane...It was crazy to watch from my place at the back of the group, and not because I was slow. We were all a little slow! I just felt that SOMEONE had to bring up the rear! I didn't stay there for long, though.
We paused a moment at the Ferry building to listen to some fun facts offered by our guide, Sam, who was on his second guiding stint since arriving in SF. I think we all agreed that he did a great job with the rag-tag team of ruffians he was presented with! Onward we went, past the Embarcadero, Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf, into Crissy Field where we got some awesome views of the bridge, and our first real taste for climbing it involved. I gotta say, about half of us had to walk out bikes up those hills, but did we ever have a blast riding them back down!
Finally, at the end of a rather long and tedious climb, we crested at the start of the Golden Gate Bridge. What a sight! What an amazing feat of engineering! What a beautiful colour!(I've hear that the colour was mixed specifically for this application alone) It was a little tough biking along the walkway that runs the length of the bridge, but only because of the amount of people walking and biking along with us. It's a popular place.
 | Golden Gate Bridge
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 | Looking towards Sausalito
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Of course, each vista required a photo, and each span of the bridge required another photo, and each new view point of the structure required another photo - well, you get the point. Lots of stopping, lots of photos, but I eventually made it to the other side with the rest of the group, and then we all descended all of the mountains we had painstakingly climbed and rolled into Sausalito.
 | Descending into Sausalito
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 | Our lunch spot, seen from the ferry
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Sausalito is a quaint little tourist town across the bay from SF, and is filled with cafes, gourmet food shops, and cutesy clothing and souvenir boutiques. Some of our group went to one of these cafes for lunch, but Wendy and I instead visited the Venice Gourmet Shop and had delicious sandwiches made up for us. We found a spot next to the water and, dangling our legs over the edge of the pier, we ate our lunch and enjoyed a fantastic view of the bay and San Francisco. We also had a rather heated exchange with a large seagull who wanted to share lunch with us.
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| Crossing back to SF by ferry |
Fun bonus of this particular tour was the fact that it included the ferry ride back to SF from Sausalito which meant NO MORE HILLS! We boarded the ferry with a lot of other cyclists, because this seems to be quite the popular circular route to take, and I realized that I had a flat. No problem, once we got to the other side of the water, I pushed my bike to the nearest Blazing Saddles bike shop, where they happily exchanged me a ride in working condition. And they were so good about the whole experience, it was as though getting a flat was totally normal and expected! There were no forms to fill out, no explaining to a judge how I didn't roll over a spike strip or broken glass or any other sharp objects. Just a smile, and a joke, and a new bike. So great.
Wendy and I returned along the Embarcadero the same way we had come, past the Ferry Building and up Market street, walking the final block since the climb was close to 45 degrees(not kidding), dropped off our awesome rides and returned to the hostel. It was 6 pm, and I had to shower, change, figure out the buses and get myself across town to Don's house for my EatWith dinner at
7:30. Yikes. That was the fastest shower I think I've ever taken. I made it out of the hostel and was back on the street at 6:15.
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| Don, our EatWith chef, opening oysters |
So EatWith is a new concept I have discovered, where local chefs offer meals in their homes to complete strangers, offering you a great experience to discover the local cuisine. Chef Don is not a chef, and is incredibly humble about the fact that his Fishmonger's dinner is rated the number one restaurant in SF on Tripadvisor, but believe me when I say it is well deserved. His meal is not pretentious - it is a feast of the bounty of the sea and the local tastes of SF. Don welcomed us into his spacious kitchen, where Allie, his girlfriend, offered a glass of sparkling wine and we tasted delicious oysters on the half shell. Alongside were several toppings to compliment the sweet saltiness of the bivalves, including a duo of mignonettes and a homemade Yuzu granita, done with dashi, mirin, sake, and soya. Fantastic.
We were ushered into the dining room and the 10 of us sat around a large round table, set and decorated to reflect the theme of the meal, and conversation flowed as freely as the wine, perhaps even moreso. One guest from Palo Alto even makes his own wine, and brought a bottle for dinner, a Chardonnay that kicked the legs out from under my bottle of Barefoot Chardonnay. We worked through several course, a slice of the best sourdough in the city, a salad with smoked trout and avocado, one humongous rock shrimp, a creamy, yet light clam chowder with the clams still in their shells, relishing in the simple freshness of each dish, and enjoying the car Don takes in picking his ingredients and showcasing the local producers.
 | Clam chowder
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 | That Dungeness crab is now on my plate
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The piece de resistance, a half of a Dungeness crab, had meat so sweet it seemed a shame to leave any still in the shell, so we gained a new level of comfort with each other and cracked open the creatures with our hands. What a tasty mess!
Stuffed, we all made a little extra room for a wonderful ice cream sandwich, homemade Kahlua ice cream on homemade chocolate chip cookies. Then we chatted a little more, of wine and places in Sonoma, the amazing meal, where to travel in SF and beyond, and then Steve and Ally offered me a lift in their Uber taxi, which would be passing by my hostel, so I gladly accepted, and offered them a meal in my kitchen the next time they are in Montreal. Because that's a currency that resounds with fellow foodies - they won't accept money, but will gladly take you up on that offer to share your table.
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