Gremlin's Tall Stories

The alarm rings at 8am. It’s a lay day in San Francisco. Those that are hiring bikes are collecting them today, the rest of us can do anything we like. A few of us have booked Alcatraz Cruises, I have as well (couldn’t pass up the chance to visit the iconic island). I booked weeks ago, but still couldn’t get anything earlier than 11.30am.

Murray is sharing my room, and he hasn’t booked anything, but reckons a harbour cruise would suit him. I mention my preference for trying out public transport when in foreign cities, and he’s happy to give it a crack, so we will try the streetcars.

First however, is the requirement for some breakfast. Ken’s wife has recommended the Urban Market, a block south from the hotel, so we go there. It’s thoroughly bewildering, with so many options. It’s a mix between supermarket, café and organic shop. The food service area didn’t contain my sort of breakfast, but further digging found a fantastic combination near the salad bar checkout, with the coffee.

A large cup, yoghurt in the bottom, then cereal on top, and topped off with fresh fruit (strawberries, kiwifruit and blueberries). I bought a couple and an orange juice. See the pictures for the shot. Murray had a cooked breakfast, and it even included fruit, strawberries and raspberries. Once done, we headed a block north west to take us to the streetcar circuit.

The streetcars have been brought back as a tourist attraction, each painted in the original livery they had when they served their respective areas. One or two have even been brought in from the Netherlands I believe. $2 gets you on, you get off when you want. Make sure you have the exact change… they do not provide change (I almost fell short) and I’ve heard they even get unhappy if you over-pay.

Half an hour later I had trundled my way to the necessary pier for the Alcatraz cruises, and Murray had separated, off to find a harbour cruise. I had already printed my ticket, so queued up, and in due course we boarded the ferry. The crossing only takes 15min, and there’s certainly no shortage of the number of people visiting the island. Other cruises are available, night or day, multiple islands etc, but I’ve just gone for Alcatraz.

Arriving on the island at 11.45am, we were given a brief presentation on the history and some important facts, and then we were free to explore. I had a tight schedule, so put in a quick march up the equivalent of 13 flights of stairs to the cellhouse, and the included cellhouse audio tour. As with your usual audio tour, you get your own unit that walks you through the cellhouse, narrated by former officers and inmates from the prison, describing some of their experiences and the history. Once completed I continued walking around the island, photographing buildings and the views.

Information listened to, tour done (and of course, pictures taken) I jumped back on the next ferry (they left every 30min ish) for the mainland, at 1.35pm. I think it would be the minimum amount of time you’d need to explore the island, and more time would be handy so you could take in the videos and museum as well, and I was moving quickly through everything.

On the mainland I headed straight for the streetcar, this time having changed notes on the ferry so better prepared for the precious streetcar controllers. Reversing the route and walking back to the hotel, it was straight into some bike gear and onto the bike.

I was heading to Hayward, home of AdvDesigns, an adventure based accessory supplier I have previously bought off. They test, research and sell the best of the best in accessories. For an example, I have their micro pump air kit, which is the smallest compressor for pumping tyres, and I have it feeding off a cigarette lighter socket on my dash (the bmw supplied one won’t supply enough power and also auto-shuts off).

This time it was for a battery free torch, sidestand foot and the pièce de résistance, Clearwater Krista lamps, which replace the BMW fog lamps. LED, dimmable, and will flick to full power when you turn on your high beam. They’re some of the very brightest LED lamps on the market, and certainly not the cheapest. Still, you get what you pay for.

It took around an hour to get out to Hayward from downtown San Francisco, only just in time for my 3.30pm appointment. They had brought in an installer for the lights so it was important to be there. While he got to work, Chad and Christian, the owners, and I chatted about everything under the sun. New products, viewpoints on new bikes, how accessories work etc. The installation of the lights turned out to be more difficult than usual (well, for normal people. Standard stuff for me), so I gave him a hand or two, getting the cables into the right places, as one had been installed very short.

I ended up talking to Chad and Christian a heap more, Chad took some photos of the bike kitted out in front of the store (which I should actually get a copy of… forgot to take my own ) and I headed back to the hotel.

Karen, my beloved GPS insisted on sending me right around the bay, a distance of 61 miles, which I figured was completely wrong and I headed south, and decided it was best to re-trace my steps. Since Karen was ignoring my ideas, this proved rather hard, and the first interchange I tried put me back on the Interstate going south…. Again. The second interchange proved a little more successful, but while heading north Karen was constantly insisting I head south, which seemed very strange.

This all became abundantly clear as I approached the Bay Bridge. It was tolled heading into the city, and I had set toll roads to be avoided under avoidances. Of course, my wallet isn’t sitting on the seat next to me, so I stopped in front of one of the lane dividers, between traffic, to retrieve my wallet and some money.

The Bay Bridge itself is crazy. It’s 5 lanes one way, heading into the city. Exiting the city? The bridge is a double deck, the eastbound traffic travels underneath the westbound, so you have 5 lanes each way. In the middle of the bridge is an island. NZ would try to build over it… here in the states… they built right through it

Returning to the hotel around 9.15pm, it was off to the Urban Market for more of the cereal combination in preparation for the next morning’s breakfast, and to find some dinner. A search for a small pizza place failed, so I had a burger from Custom Burger, which is in the bottom of the hotel.

Another crack at the wireless was a bit better, so I uploaded the pictures, but half way through, that stopped working, so I gave up and headed for bed. Pics for today: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fqTBFQgKhQEysKuRA