Rough idea of food costs in the USA

[ian]

It's good - but not as good as they think they are themselves! The service is definitely not up to what you'll get in restaurants that have to try a bit harder - and they stink out the entire neighbourhood. I well remember nights in (I think) the Sheraton at Fisherman's Wharf with the wind in the wrong direction...

Very close to them is Blazing Saddles, who do good, cheap bike hire (including proper road bikes).

Ah, that was the smell.

There's a decent, gentle ride (if it's not too windy) to be had along the bay to the Golden Gate, then over to the Marin headlands, and then down into Sausalito for lunch and on to Tiburon. You can get a ferry back, or cycle back the way you came in time for a nice IPA at Magnolia in Haight-Ashbury.

[fuzzy]

TimO,

This visit seems to be causing you a considerable amount of stress.

Can I offer my services and go in your stead?

I'm cheap and I also have a BA ^(Hons) in MFI assembly so should be OK with the Rocket Science

If not, I echo this post

There's a decent, gentle ride (if it's not too windy) to be had along the bay to the Golden Gate, then over to the Marin headlands, and then down into Sausalito for lunch and on to Tiburon. You can get a ferry back, or cycle back the way you came in time for a nice IPA at Magnolia in Haight-Ashbury.

The Golden gate Bridge- Sausilito- Marin City- Manzanita and back route is a great ride.

[mark]

I remember the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway 1 and Marin County being great places to ride, but quite honestly there's a lot of excellent riding to be had around Berkeley without having to cross the Bay. The hills above Berkeley and Oakland are designated as regional parkland, and there are lots of quiet roads winding through them.

[ian]

I remember the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway 1 and Marin County being great places to ride, but quite honestly there's a lot of excellent riding to be had around Berkeley without having to cross the Bay. The hills above Berkeley and Oakland are designated as regional parkland, and there are lots of quiet roads winding through them.

Yes, but it's San Francisco. You have to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and visit Alcatraz. It's the law. Like shooting punks who have neglected to count the number of bullets you've fired from your .44 Magnum. Or driving your Ford Mustang a teeny bit too fast down steep hills.

[Woofage]

Or driving your Ford Mustang a teeny bit too fast down steep hills.

Especially Lombard Street .

[mark]

Yes, but it's San Francisco. You have to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and visit Alcatraz. It's the law. Like shooting punks who have neglected to count the number of bullets you've fired from your .44 Magnum. Or driving your Ford Mustang a teeny bit too fast down steep hills.

Actually, you would cross the Bay Bridge to get from Berkeley to San Francisco, unless you were taking one hell of a detour.

[ian]

Yes, but it's San Francisco. You have to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and visit Alcatraz. It's the law. Like shooting punks who have neglected to count the number of bullets you've fired from your .44 Magnum. Or driving your Ford Mustang a teeny bit too fast down steep hills.

Actually, you would cross the Bay Bridge to get from Berkeley to San Francisco, unless you were taking one hell of a detour.

What kind of self-respecting sea monster is going to wrap its tentacles around the stinky 10 lanes of clogged traffic that is the Bay Bridge?

None. Pah, to the Bay Bridge. And double pah to the San Mateo.

[Mr Larrington]

The last time I used the Bay Bridge it was totally unclogged, which came as a surprise.  Mind you, it was half past seven on a Saturday evening.  +1 to your op!on of the San Mateo-Hayward, though.

[ian]

The last time I used the Bay Bridge it was totally unclogged, which came as a surprise.  Mind you, it was half past seven on a Saturday evening.  +1 to your op!on of the San Mateo-Hayward, though.

Actually, it's not that bad. It's a bit ugly though and it looks like it got half way and then decided to have a bit of think about whether to carry on. Sea monsters pretty much set the grade for bridges. They're very choosy. If the Golden Gate is booked, it's pretty much a swim all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge. And that's fraught, there's a lot of well-publicised tension between the East and West coast sea monsters.