For many years I’ve been curious to try the transit (train and bus) method of getting to Yosemite Valley, and potentially bring my bike along… and I finally did it: Read on for some logistics notes, though exact train and bus timetables and web links change year to year and season to season, so you’ll want to look up schedules yourself… ...
For years I’ve daydreamed about biking from DC to Pittsburgh on mostly car-free dirt trails, on a ~330 mile winding route that combines the C&O Canal Trail (a dirt trail formerly used by mules to pull cargo barges along the C&O canal in the 1800s, a transportation method that eventually lost to the railroad, and was nearly converted to roads before being preserved as a park in the 1970s) and the Great Allegheny Passage (a combination of rail trails integrated and completed in 2013). ...
(retroactively writing up a quick summary, months later…) I’ve dreamed about doing some sort of week+ off-road bike tour somewhere in the world. While I enjoy solo DIY exploration and have many great memories of going somewhere and figuring it out on the fly, my gravel touring experience is limited and I’ve never even really been mountain biking (at least, farther than a few miles), so perhaps it would be easier and more fun to join an organized tour… ...
I never really got into “mountain biking”, because for years I associated it with going fast on rough terrain and dodging obstacles, while I like to ramble and mosey and stop a lot. I also like rides where I can walk out my door (or hop off a train or plane) and get on the bike without having to drive somewhere. I realize my impressions were a narrow caricature of what mountain biking can be, though, and I’ve always enjoyed the bits of off-roading that sneak into rides– the last mile of dirt getting to a camp site from the road, strange muddy paths I find myself on when trying to bypass roads, or detours through parks to avoid main roads, and even when “road biking” I generally run 32mm+ tires to give myself more comfort and flexibility for unexpected detours. ...
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). ...
Monday morning just after sunrise, heading straight from overnight camping in Marin to work = magic…
After a few years of trying, I finally snagged the coveted Campsite #1 at Kirby Cove, and gathered a group of friends + kids for a Sunday afternoon ride there… the weather was perfect and clear, the company was good, and the vibe was relaxed. We could practically see the campsite from the bridge… And down we go along the gravel road… ...
I had to travel to Munich for a few days for work, right before the summer solstice, a weekend when Swift Industries cheers people on to go bike camping anywhere (#swiftcampout). So why not? I packed a single small pannier with only essential camping gear and stuffed it and a bivy sack in my suitcase with my work clothes and laptop. When the work week wrapped up, I asked the hotel to hold my suitcase for a day, rented a basic city bike with a rack, and set out into the woods… ...
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