By Ed Martin

In reading this, you will discover that a couple of us will take issue with the word train in the title.

This year’s train ride to San Francisco to bike Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and Tiburon was a comparatively low-key affair, we had only 6 riders. This was unfortunate since the weather was absolute tops, we could even pause on the bridge to admire the ocean view without having our heads blown off. The 6 of us boarded train 423 at various stations from San Jose to San Antonio, arriving at San Francisco around 9:30 a.m.

We made our traditional coffee and bagel stop at a cafe along Embarcadero before continuing on our way, threading through the crowds near Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. Once free of the throng we enjoyed the beautiful day along the Marina, a great place to watch people jog, bicycle and fly giant kites. The climbing approach to the Golden Gate Bridge offered an exceptional view in the clear air that made it worth every push. The bridge crossing was wonderful with sunshine and a moderate but not too cold breeze allowing us to linger mid span and watch the boats.

Continuing to Sausalito we decided not to take a break for ice cream, pretending to forget that Lappert’s is just the greatest, and made our way somewhat tentatively out of Sausalito, the trail had changed, and across the wetlands to finally arrive at Tiburon. This was our lunch stop and we dined lightly at a restaurant that used to be Boudoins Bakery, now is an Italian. Checking the ferry times we decided to take the earliest sailing since some of us had evening appointments, perhaps even dates. Again, the weather could be enjoyed at its best and we arrived in good time to the usual mob scene at Pier 39.

With just 25 minutes before the next train we terrorized the pedestrians (I exaggerate, we were reasonably considerate), to make the 4:00 O'clock departure. And now for the sad part, for some weird reason only understood by public transportation authorities, the train could take only 16 bicycles. I say weird because the morning train could carry 32. Did they think passengers planned to drop 16 bikes off the bridge before returning? There were too many of us and someone had to lose out and wait for the next train. Unfortunately for John and Wivine, they were left waving goodbye (or was that a fist?) I understand they caught the 5 O'clock OK and I just hope they relaxed over a beer or two without too many harsh words.