Alexandra B.

Golden Gate

The water glistened in the sunlight as my feet kept pedaling. The wind blew into my face giving me a chill. I took a deep breath in, feeling more excited than I have ever been before. A beautiful San Francisco morning had just begun.

The view was spectacular right on the water. It crashed against the rocks and then returned out to the sparkling bay. As we were biking, suddenly a beautiful bridge appeared right in front of me. “Look!!” I said excitedly, “It’s the Golden Gate Bridge!” There it was, in all its glory. It soared high above the water; leaving a passageway for both boats and sailboats underneath. We all pedaled faster than we did before, determined to get there. I could not have pictured a better day than this to be biking the Golden Gate Bridge with my family!

Excitement started to bubble up in me as the bridge was moving closer and closer. We were only about a quarter of a mile away, and we were already having a great time. “Enjoy every moment while we are here! It is not likely that you are going to ever experience this again!” my mom shouted as we neared the bridge. She was right. There were so many amazing things here to enjoy. There are so many famous landmarks and shops. We all raced toward the bridge, excited to see one of the most famous landmarks of all!

We all wanted to get to the bridge as quickly as we could. But the only thing that stood between us and the bridge was ourselves. Our legs hurt from pedaling furiously for an hour already. So half of the time I wanted to get there as fast as we could, but the other half of the time I wanted to sit down and have some cold, delicious, creamy ice cream.

We made a right onto the bike lane and gasped in excitement. “We are on the Golden Gate Bridge!” Billy, my twin brother, screamed excitedly. We all couldn’t believe that we were actually on the Golden Gate Bridge! I have always wanted to see what it would be like biking a bridge as big as this one! I have biked tiny bridges, like over little lakes and streams, but they could never compare to this bridge! I especially wanted to feel the accomplishment after getting across. I think all my family felt the same way. We all continued to bike happily above San Francisco. 

I flew down the narrow lane. I started shaking with excitement. My mom turned around in front of me holding her camera. “Smile!” she screamed cheerfully. I waved back and then continued my journey above San Francisco. Everything was going perfectly. “Nothing could ruin this day,” I thought.

The waves were tumbling through the bay as we flew above them. I felt like I was flying through the air on a golden highway. We all kept biking until a roar in the distance interrupted us.

At first I thought it was a car’s engine, but a car couldn’t make that loud a noise even if it tried to. I quickly turned my head, shaking with fear. All my family did the same. A gigantic black plane zoomed in the distance heading straight for the Golden Gate Bridge.

Everyone on the bike lane thought it was really cool and stopped to take pictures. Now, I don’t know why they would think it is such a cool thing because we were stuck in the middle of a bridge with a fighter jet heading straight for it! Apparently Billy and Stephanie, my little sister, agreed with me because they looked at me really confused. My mom was leaning on the side of the bridge along with everyone else trying to take a video of the gigantic plane. All I wanted to do was  keep biking and get off this bridge.

I started to wonder how a beautiful day could turn into a fighter jet heading straight for the bridge I was on? My legs started to ache and my heart started beating fast. The plane was now about a half a mile away from the bridge. What were we going to do?

“Dad” I said quietly, “Why is that plane heading straight toward us?” Dad shook his head.  “I don’t know honey, but whatever it is, it will be ok. We are all here for you,” Dad replied. I was getting more and more scared by the minute. The plane was now about a fourth of a mile away and I was ready to get off this bridge.

        I felt like I was about to cry, but then a thought came to me. One time when I was seven or eight, I woke up in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm. The rain was pounding on the roof and the lightning lit up the sky. The house shook every time the lightning struck. I was so scared that I couldn’t fall back asleep. But even though it was a really tough time for me, my parents were both there for me and made me feel better. They let me go into their room and watch one of my favorite shows. I then started to realize that I don’t need to be scared anymore because my family is right there for me. I put my arms around my mom and dad, shaking with fear. I gathered up all my courage and watched the plane fly right toward the bridge.

            “Boom!” the engine roared and the plane flew right above the bridge. It missed by

about a sixth of a mile. I took a deep breath in, feeling so relieved that the plane missed the bridge. That seemed like the most scary situation I have ever been put in in my life! I put my leg over my bike and began to pedal. “That was so scary!” I said, pedaling quickly.

“I agree,” my mom replied. All my family looked as happy as I was that the plane missed the bridge. As we neared the end of the bridge, my heart raced. We were about to complete the Golden Gate Bridge! We were all so excited to get to the other side! The cars flew past us going in each direction. Sausalito kept getting closer and closer until...until... “We biked the Golden Gate Bridge!” I shouted. We all made our way onto the hill that lead us down to Sausalito. “We did it!” Stephanie screamed happily. As I looked around me, Sausalito’s mountains were full of green and little carved out roads. It was beautiful. I was so excited that I was on this trip. But the best part of all was that my family was there with me. Now I know that if something is ever wrong or I am scared, they will always be there for me.