sapporoguy

The protected bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge opened last month, just north of San Francisco. My wife and I tried it this last weekend on the tandem, and it's great!
That means:
-You can start an overland tour without riding a ferry or taking an out-of-the-way route.
-You can do the fun 3-bridge-loop day we did (SF--Golden Gate Bridge--Richmond Bridge--Bay Bridge--Treasure Island), 50-60 miles if you use the nooks and crannies of the Bay Trail.
Until now, the first leg on a tour eastward from San Francisco was hard to do purely overland. You either took a giant detour north or south, or took the Vallejo ferry, as the ACA Western Express route has you doing (a lovely ferry ride!)
Now, you can start by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge northward, via Sausalito, Marin bike trail, bike lane along 101, Larkspur, ride around San Quentin prison, cross the Richmond Bridge.
Then either: Head over the Carquinez bridge to Vallejo and pick up the Western Express route; or head from Richmond east over the hills to Antioch and across the Route 160 bridge, perhaps to Brannan Island State Park, which has a bike-hike campground--that would be about 70 miles from the south end of GG bridge.
Please use the Richmond Bridge bike lane early and often, as some pro-auto forces are lobbying to get it closed early and turned into a third car lane!

jamawani 

But riding from the Golden Gate Bridge to the ferry terminal is so nice.
And then the ferry ride simply can't be beat.
Not to mention the Carquinez Scenic Drive - which is bike/ped only in the middle section.

Tourist in MSN

In 2014 when we finished our Pacific Coast tour in San Fransisco at the Fishermans Wharf HI Hostel, we rode the shuttle bus from a bus stop on Fishermans Wharf to the Amtrak station in Emeryville (spell?). Is there no longer a bus option across the Bay Bridge like we took?

Amazing how few people you see on Fishermans Wharf at 5am.



Our bikes in the bike rack on the front of the bus going across the bridge.



I am not saying that the bus was a better option than you took, but it was another option at that time.

zweitesmal2

Whenever I visit my brother in SF I borrow his bike for several days of solo riding. This will be my exact route next time. Thank you!

sapporoguy

If you do the 3-bridge loop and aren't in a hurry, I recommend sticking tight to the waterfront on the Bay Trail in the East Bay instead of the more-direct routes RWGPS or Google Maps will recommend--for example, loop around the Rosie The Riveter museum. Once in Treasure Island, you can put your bike on a bus rack back to SF or better yet, bike back down the Bay Bridge to Jack London Square in Oakland and take the Ferry back to SF (recommended! There's a nice bar right by the ferry landing if you get there too early.)

sapporoguy

Nice pix!
There are lots of options for getting a single bike across the SF Bay if you're just trying to get your bike across and don't mind not riding it!
-Put it on bus rack, as you did (won't work for tandem)
-Bay Bridge Bike Shuttle ($1, I think, and during commute hours; not sure about tandems)
-Take it on BART (we've taken our tandem on, no problem)
-Aboard Ferries to Oakland, Alameda, Richmond, Vallejo, etc. (tandem OK)
The point here is that if you want to RIDE your bike, whether at the beginning of a tour or on a local ride, you can now do that via the Richmond Bridge.
And did I mention? Please use the Richmond Bridge bike lane so the car drivers don't take it away from us!