A few friends had been interested in doing a multi-night bike camping trip in the Bay Area before one of them moved out of town. I happened to be up in Guerneville for a few days, so we schemed to meet up there with camping gear and ride back to SF (a friend with a van who was heading up North for the weekend dropped them off in Guerneville to meet me).
The whole point of this ride was to enjoy time outdoors and off the grid, so we didn’t try to push too hard and rode about 40-45 miles/day loaded with gear. We also plotted a route taking back roads wherever possible (even if hillier or out of the way), and I’d driven up on ‘Bohemian Highway’ through the redwoods and knew I wanted to bike back on it.
I was feeling out of shape so it wasn’t always easy, but it was an invigorating three days that was good for my spirit.
We camped one night at Bodega Dunes, which I’d highly recommend– the campsites were spaced well apart and were just a short hike to the beach.
Our second night was at Samuel P Taylor– a fine place to camp (some sites are more secluded than others), and I’d forgotten how pleasant it was to be able to ride the Cross Marin Trail rather than Sir Francis Drake.
A map heavily annotated with food and coffee stops (only some of which we could fit in) is here, about 103 miles and 6500’ of climbing over the three days: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35972064
For me, food highlights were Wild Flour Bakery (my go-to in Freestone) and Freestone Artisan Cheese, good fish tacos at Birds Cafe, the Route One Bakery where we had a surprisingly good baguette, and tasting mead at Heidrun Meadery in Point Reyes, lured in by a sandwich board sign on the road.
