Bay Area by Bike

If you read the first article about my proposed trip to the San Francisco Bay Area by bike, you may have sensed some hesitation, especially around sharing specifics of my route. A large part of this hesitation was because I wasn't sure (positive, really) I was going to be able to complete it. You can't publicly fail if no one knows what success is, right?

There were too many unknowns; the route was too long, and as we discussed I was pushing the limits of my experience. And although I did trim a bit out before I left, I also added some other bits, and somehow it all just worked. Yes, there were some on the fly changes, hiccups, and on day one I hit the wall harder than I ever have, but overall it was a massive success and I more or less followed the route as planned. Win!

Here's how it all went down; in an upcoming piece we'll cover all the gear specifics.

Day One. 93 km, 2,362m (Part 1, Part 2)

With a 4:45 am call time to get out the door, a plane ride, and twenty five hundred meters of elevation on the docket, day one was never going to be easy. But there was also plenty to look forward to, with trolleys, some snack favorites, and a big red bridge to ride across.

My bike build, bag drop off, and train down to the Ferry Building on Embarcadero went smoothly, albeit slowly due to some navigational errors between the airport, bag drop, and transit stop. By the time I was across the Golden Gate I was approximately 2 hours behind schedule. It should also be noted, pedaling across that bridge isn’t as romantic as it sounds - crowded two way bike traffic, classic San Francisco Bay winds, and traffic noise make for an experience I wouldn’t recommend doing just for the sake of it. However, once you’re across and into the Marin Headwinds - sorry, Headlands - you’re in gravel bike heaven.

I knew going into it the day was always going to be a push, but as the day progressed I became reasonably sure I was going to make it to the campsite somewhere around dark. Deep in the redwood trees of Bolinas Ridge with around 20km to go, it became clear my time on distance was off, as my speeds were tumbling. And then it got ugly. After the worst descent of the trip I broke, heading up the final climb. In the dark, the final kilometers took me an hour, head down; my only focus, trying to keep the cranks spinning. For the icing on the cake, as I walked off the main campground trail onto the path to my site, I got hit with stinging nettles. Tent. Dinner. Sleep.

Lesson one. Pay close attention to specifics, and have everything mapped out. I lost a lot of time getting to my bag dropoff point and transit. Streamlining this would have made the whole day much easier, although it was alway going to be a stretch with half the day consumed by flying and airports.

Day Two. 76 km, 1,423m (Link)

Mornings were relaxed, knowing the only thing I needed to do that day was ride my bike. Each day I was typically up around 7:30 for coffee, stroopwafels, packed and rolling around 9ish. Day two was a solid mixed surface day starting with single track, plenty of gravel and double track, all connected with some classic Bay Area road riding. It was also in an area I had a solid lay of the land in my head from previous non-bike visits. Basically, I already knew where I was getting good coffee, good snacks, good sandwiches, and good beer in and around Point Reyes Station.

I was comfortable on my bike, settled into the routine, and as I would learn from chatting with some folks on a sunny patio I managed to, “hit all the local high points” from a riding perspective. To cap off a day of widely varied terrain, great descents, and big trees and big views, I finished with some rail grade trails through the valley, good Indian food, and a shower.

Lesson two. Listen to the locals - I got some good beta and modified my planned afternoon route based on that same patio conversation due to recent weather.

Day Three. 92 km, 2,092m (Link)

If you were looking at this report for trails to go ride, day three is the day I'd repeat. The major change I would make would be to go a different day of the week so that the mountain bike Hall of Fame is open. It's also worth noting that Repack Hill is steep, rough, and nearly unimaginably difficult for me to fathom riding on some awful klunker with a coaster brake. I'm glad I did it. It was very neat to ride, but as my riding guide for the morning described, Repack is a bit of a “waste of good vertical” compared to some of the other trails in the Watershed.

The hardest part of day three was leaving the patio of the Gestalt Haus in Fairfax and not just sitting and seeing how many more beers and sausages I could consume before collapsing. But I slowly climbed back aboard, and it was absolutely the right call as the afternoon trails were picture perfect. The climbs were a bit grindy at times which was a theme throughout the trip, but long flowing singletrack descents made the juice worth the squeeze.

Lesson three. The Marin Watershed should still be a major destination for mountain biking, however there’s zero singletrack that’s legal within its boundaries. The Marin County Bicycle Coalition is working hard to change that, and needs your support.

Day Four. 67 km, 1,318m (Link)

On paper, it was going to be a relatively easy day across the San Rafael bridge, through Richmond, and through the Berkeley Hill; in practice it was a bit harder. Trying to beat the incoming rain across the nearly 9 km long bridge, some more needless time lost due to planning that wasn’t specific enough (I’ll get supplies and lunch in Richmond!), a reroute due to landslide, and the aforementioned weather slowed me down through an afternoon of very punchy climbs. Chalk it up to Sea to Sky ego and that lack of attention to fine route detail, but I wasn’t expecting the number of climbs in excess of 12 or 15% that I encountered throughout the trip.

Looking back, this shouldn’t have been a surprise; I was often on forestry roads built in a somewhat similar climate to here in Southwestern BC… of course they’re similar grades. Day four was the only day I gave up and just hopped off to push up several significant climbs; this was rewarded with some spectacular views, and a surprised appreciation for how close I was to so many people, and yet I encountered very few, and often felt deep in the woods. It was also the first day I was glad I packed Goretex.

Lesson four. You’re always going to get to camp later than you expect, and closer to dark than you think. Get your tent set up first, you’ll thank yourself later.

Day Five. 123 km, 1,611m (Link)

The day I’d been most worried about completing started off slow. Everything was wet, and I got out of camp like a herd of turtles. It was the longest day - by distance - by a wide margin, necessitated by a large gap in known areas to camp. I had pre-planned a few different bailout options to get out of the hills and down along the water where it was flat; I ended up doing this partially to save vert, but largely because the trails were a slippery, sticky mess. I’m blessed to live in an area with very limited clay, and where we can ride basically year round. You need to be smart with your wet weather trails, but as a general rule we lack that wheel-stopping, drivetrain ruining shit that accumulates until it's several inches tall on the bottom of your shoes.

So down I bailed, through San Leandro, and along some wonderful dike trails by the bay with shorebirds, headwinds, tailwinds, and no hills. I put my head down, pushed hard, and made up some time lost earlier in the day on the way to Dumbarton Bridge. Next stop, Mountain View, where I picked up some supplies (Breaking news: a market catering to the tech-wealth of Mountain View has more options than Richmond. If anyone knows where to get Walking Tamales in Canada/Metro Vancouver, I’m addicted.)

The day’s riding ended with what would be an absolutely stunning road bike descent, which I struggled to acknowledge as I was going up it on a fully loaded bike at the end of a big day. The temperature dropped dramatically as I arrived in camp. I struggled to get changed into warm gear, jumped into my bag with a puffy coat on, and wound up making Extra Spicy dinner in the vestibule before conking out.

Lesson five. Knowing where and how you can bail - or having route variations and options pre-planned can save your bacon; spend lots of time looking at maps ahead of time if you don’t know the area well. This will pay dividends if (when) you need to think on your feet and come up with a new route for the day.

Day Six. 64 km, 730m (Link)

Cold. So cold. And wind. So much wind. After a long night wearing everything I had, I packed up my bike in the outhouse where it was relatively warm, dry, and wind free. The rain meant trails were off the menu, and I (mostly) enjoyed a day of cruising Skyline Drive in light rain. As you’d expect flying United, I started getting notifications fairly early in the day that my flight was delayed; given the day’s light climbing load and low distance requirements, this meant I was able to take my time, having a nice brunch at Alice’s Restaurant* and then enjoying familiar-feeling big trees and fog. One major upside to the weather was the wet roads discouraged most of the Californians Behaving Badly in Sportscars, and I was able to cruise without erratic BMW’s driving too fast at regular intervals.

By the time I hit the day’s descent on Highway 35 down towards the airport, it was… wet. The kind of wet where everything soaks through instantly. But yet, it was also that classic canyon-carving downhill that makes road biking in California famous; I wasn’t going to waste it. I went for it; 60km/h, on slippery roads, with a fully loaded bike on knobby tires, just pedaling with everything to keep warm and laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, and wondering what the surrounding cars thought. At the bottom, as if on queue, the rain lifted for most of the ride back to my bag**.

*I was disappointed to learn the restaurant is named after the song, not the other way around…

**It would absolutely POUR again on my ride from retrieving my bag to the airport.

Lesson six. Get moving; the day will improve once you get out of camp. Even if its still cold and wet, you’re moving.

Lesson six point five. United Airlines is terrible, always.

And that was it. It worked. I don’t think anyone in the airport was impressed with my soaked gear strewn about in a quiet corner as I packed everything down, but they left me alone. After I got changed, checked my bags, I had two dinners while waiting for the plane to arrive, and we were done, and back to reality the next day.

This isn’t meant to be a story about how you should go find all the long days and steep hills and do nothing but ride for a week. Hopefully, it's some inspiration to just get out and do something a bit unusual and outside your normal rides. I’m the “Local Legend” on a few segments around where I live and I’m realizing those aren’t badges of honor, they’re an indicator you’re a creature of habit. You can go somewhere right in the backyard of nearly nine MILLION people, and have a grand adventure if you want. There’s a thousand variations on this trip in the Bay Area alone - whether you want to go for 10 days or an overnight the option is there.

But, if all you’re waiting on is “what gear do I take”, I’d suggest starting to book your tickets and plan your days, because we’ll talk about all that shortly.