Originally Posted by B. Carfree

There was a time when people just disappeared in the swamps when the fog disoriented them and were never heard from again, but those days are long gone, or at least I stopped encountering much in the way of fog from Williams to Merced sometime in the early '90s. You can probably thank some combination of climate change, urban heat island effects and swamp draining for the lack of winter fog. I wouldn't let the remote possibility of fog put you off from taking a little detour through the valley. Some of the nicest riding in NorCal is in the coast ranges going from/to the coast; I encourage you to go ahead and detour around the Bay Area. Of course, you'll miss things like the Golden Gate bridge, but you'll also miss the mess at Devil's Slide. (Devil's slide will become a bike/ped road in a year or so when the tunnel bypass is complete, which will dramatically improve conditions for cyclists along the coast.)

By the way, there was a washout of highway 1 just north of Jenner last month. I don't know if the road is open yet. Be sure to check with Caltrans before you head out regarding this and any other road closures.