Tag: Camping

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Bike camping in Kirby Cove: For years I’d wanted to camp here (and use it as an easy introductory S24O ride for some friends interested in trying out bike camping who didn’t want to ride 40 miles each way to Samuel P Taylor or Point Reyes), but the reservations fill up three months ahead within minutes of being posted online. ...

Something I’ve always wanted to do– ride from SF up to the Healdsburg / Russian River / wine country area (88.8 miles via the scenic route a friend and I took this weekend). Lush green hills, a few hours of rain and wet socks (hey, at least it wasn’t 103-108 degrees like a few summers ago), two cheese tastings (Nicasio Valley Cheese Company and Marin French Cheese Company), wildflowers, a stop for a burger and salty snacks at Lagunitas Brewing, coffee and cocoa in Santa Rosa to fight the chill, and then expanding my personal biking map (Santa Rosa having been my previous farthest-North-from-SF ride) and plugging along the final 20-odd miles to a campground in Alexander Valley. ...

An excellent one-night bike camping trip to the Oakland hills, S24O-style. Knocking wild plums out of a tree after a long, swooping descent down Pinehurst: Camping among the eucalyptus in Anthony Chabot park. ...

I’m back from a euphoria-inducing 8-day, 600-mile bike camping tour across Iowa and Wisconsin. The ride combined RAGBRAI (a 15,000-person group ride across Iowa with pork chops, pie, live music, and beer in tiny towns along the way) and a solo ride across beautiful, rural Southwest Wisconsin. The mix of mostly good weather, wildlife (fireflies, startled rabbits, and red-winged blackbirds), friendly strangers, no email, the ability to improvise and change plans on the spot (the flexibility of carrying a tent…), and plenty of time to ride alone and drift between states of present observation and introspection are why I always come back to bike touring… ...

I’ve been on long bike tours and three-day-weekend bike camping trips, but I wanted to do something quick involving minimal preparation, in the spirit of the S24O (Sub-24 Hour Overnight): Five of us riding through Marin, with luggage ranging from just a seat post rack to panniers to a clip-on cooler to a pull-behind trailer: By lucky coincidence, we had to ride right through Fairfax on the day of Biketoberfest. So we stopped for a few hours for the classic bikes, the beer-dispensing cargo bikes, and the food. ...

My second year bike camping for a three-day weekend in Point Reyes: eight of us rode up lugging camping gear, braving the hilly Four Corners / Panoramic / Highway 1 route, and admiring the views. , The blackberries were out in full force. We filled up a whole container for breakfast the next morning: Oyster break in Olema: ...

Currently in the works: a two-night bike camping trip to Sky Camp in Point Reyes National Seashore (I made the reservations six months ago and am finally sorting out the details– I’ve talked to several people and it looks like we’ll have a good posse). I’ll probably follow the same general route as this Point Reyes trip from last year, to keep it easy to plan…

I had to make the reservation 6 months ago early on a Saturday morning (as the camp sites often fill up within hours of going on sale), but we lucked out on the weather, and seven of us camped on Angel Island (5 by bike). The Long Haul Trucker handled well as usual, even loaded with two unconventional panniers: ...

The bike-mounted cooler I made rides again, this time carrying 2 lbs of marinated beef, tubs of pickles, and beer, to a camping trip…