Sausalito

Cassie and I rode the San Francisco Bay Trail from the Pohono Street Park & Ride parking lot up to the Mill Valley Community Center, then down to Downtown Sausalito, where we hung out for a bit. We then rode back to Pohono Street Park & Ride after dinner.
I think the stretch of the San Francisco Bay Trail between Sausalito and Tiburon is one of the most scenic (and flat) rides. In Sausalito itself, we ended up riding sandwiched between parked and moving cars, but the drivers seemed friendly (passing with lots of room) enough.
I don’t think there were any public facilities at Pohono Street Park & Ride. In downtown Sausalito, there are apparently public bathrooms near Plaza Vina Del Mar (a public park). People in Sausalito do take their bike parking seriously though, and it’s important to park in the few available designated bike parking spaces (it has the heavy-duty bike locking stands).
There were far fewer people on the San Francisco Bay Trail than I thought there’d be, given that it was a hot day for most of the Bay Area. I also enjoyed how smooth the trail was, well, until Downtown Sausalito, where the roads were good, but less smooth.

We had visited Downtown Sausalito before, when we biked here with the girls, the Abshers, and Kassia last year. But with fewer people, we really got to slow down, walk more, and explore further. With the temperature being 20 degrees lower than San Jose, I have a feeling that we might be revisiting areas nearby as the summer temperatures rise.

Cassie has been carefully nursing her legs back to health, and we decided to see how well her knee would respond to a longer flat ride.

We stopped by many businesses on this day, and here’s what we liked and disliked about them.

Sausalito Gelato and Chocolate—Cassie had the Pineapple and Strawberry Dole Whip combined together, and it was very yummy. I had the Kahlua Brownie, and it too was very good. However, we saw an even longer line outside Lappert’s Ice Cream, and we got super curious about it. Next time, we’re going to try Lappert’s.
Simply Sausalito—Cassie bought one of her favorite dresses here last year, so we went back to see if she could find more. Unfortunately, she didn’t find any that she loved.
Taste of Rome—We stopped here so Cassie could rest her legs and paint some more. I ordered a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice, and it cost $8 before tip. While it was expensive, it was one of the best OJs I’ve ever tasted.
Fish.—This restaurant was one of the big reasons I had decided to bring Cassie to Sausalito, and it did not let us down. I had read about the simplicity and deliciousness of this restaurant, and it sure lived up to its billing. Out of the three dishes we had, our favorite was the dozen fresh oysters, followed by Oak Grilled rainbow trout, and then the Saigon Sandwich. What I didn’t expect was the wonderful short bench seating outside that has views of Richardson Bay or the super friendly staff. A must-visit for seafood aficionados.

We rode about 9 miles total, and we’re happy to say that there was no additional knee pain, so we’ll slowly ramp up the miles and continue her rehab.

San Gabriel River Trail