Tag: Marin

Ten years ago I’d go on a 70 or 80 mile ride to Santa Rosa for a beer at Russian River Brewing… but I’m not feeling anywhere near that strong these days. But I’d been musing for a while about some sort of Russian River area ride on some bike paths I’d wanted to scope out, assisted by the newer Marin/Sonoma SMART train. One transit-heavy way to do this could be to take BART to El Cerrito del Norte, change to Golden Gate Transit bus #40 from that station to the San Rafael Transit Center, and hop on the SMART train there… but there are some timing logistics to make work: ...

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…

A gorgeous day. Taking a spin on the fat-tired Pugsley along dirt roads and trails in the Marin Headlands (my first time off-road there, remarkably). Amazing views, trails mostly in good condition, a few uphill grinds, and one slightly gnarly downhill on Old Springs (at least, for a beginner like me): ruts, loose gravel, a long set of shallow stairs to ride down, and a few narrow sections of trail lined on both sides with glistening poison oak (“please don’t fall now…”) ...

I was itching to get out of the city and just ride. So a small group of us headed North to Mill Valley, Panoramic, Pan Toll / Mt Tam, Ridgecrest, Bolinas-Fairfax, Alpine Dam, Fairfax… and back home. About 65 miles, very hilly, and took us all day (with the requisite stops for Sol Food limeade, looking at the ocean, burgers, and beer). ...

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. ...

I went on a long, faster-than-usual ride (sustained 20+mph drives on long flat sections) with L and R on a sunny day, including two loops on paved car-free paths in Samuel P Taylor park. ...

It was great weather for a casual-pace 50ish mile jaunt to San Rafael and back with friends, along scenic bike paths and the water, with delicious plantain-heavy Puerto Rican food as the prize to keep eyes on. In photos: Railroad drawbridge: Wildflowers along Marin Bike Route 20: The Pacific: ...

I haven’t organized a ride in a while, but I’ve joined friends’ last-minute. Last weekend I followed Greg and company on a brisk-paced 65-mile ride around Paradise Loop and up to Fairfax, with a stop for fish tacos and beer at Iron Springs. The weather was great, the road bike was well tuned, and it slid by like butter: Preride at Velo Rouge: ...

As planned (and despite the Severe Weather Warning and 70% chance of thunderstorms), four of us gathered Sunday morning to get a coffee at Farley’s and bike the flat 19 miles from Potrero Hill to the bottom of the Dipsea Steps in Mill Valley: Leaving bikes there, we met a larger group of friends who’d driven up, and hiked up the Dipsea Steps and along the beautiful exposed ridges of the Sun Trail: ...