Northern California - Bay Area Dream Rides!

Hey all,

New Englander here planning a vacation out to San Francisco the last week of February. Looking to experience the best rides the bay area has to offer. I've spent hours google-earthing the region looking for potential loops and I'm just overwhelmed by the options so I'd love to hear from some locals. I won't have a car, so all rides have to start and end downtown.

I'd like to do 3 big (100+ mi) rides: one north around Santa Rosa, one south towards Santa Cruz, and one in the East Bay hills area. On the off days I'd like some shorter routes to recover.

If anyone wants to meet up and show me around I'd be up for that too of course.

Can't wait to get some responses!

Try looking up past routes for some of the popular local century rides, e.g., the Sequoia Century on the peninsula, the Primavera Century or Grizzly Peak Century in the east bay, or the Marin Century in the north bay. None of these start in downtown SF, but you can get to the route by public transit: BART to the east bay, Caltrain down the peninsula, or ferries to Marin.

I can ride part of a 100 miler with you in the Santa Rosa area. The Santa Rosa Cycling Club www.srcc.com has a large file of Century and shorter routes in our area. See their web site. If you do not mind my pace I could guide you down to the Golden Gate Bridge (or back).

The Santa Cruz century can be done from Half Moon Bay and back. We recently did one for the Bike Forums gang - http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=337769.

I would be happy to join you in that ride, if you'd like. I live in Half Moon Bay.

I still have a route sheet for the Primavera Century. I wouldn't be able to ride it with you, though. It starts at Logan High School in Union City, but riding from the Union City Bart station to Alvarado Niles Road ( 1/4 mile from the station ) would put you about 1/2 mile into the route.

Hi There are so many great rides. I hop ethe weather will be nice while you're here. If you're staying in San Francisco, please remember that BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit all allow bikes, making it much easier to do long rides from S.F. Two centuries (or close to them) could be the following:
1 - SF, over the bridge into Marin. Through central Marin to Fairfax, over White's Hill on Sir Francis Drake, right on Nicasio Rd, Right on Pt Reyes-Petaluma Rd.,left on Hicks (?), left on Marshall-Petaluma Rd, Left on Highway 1 through Pt Reyes Station to Olema, left back on Sir Francis Drake, on bike path through Samual P. Taylor State Park, re-trace route through central Marin to San Francisco (about 107 mile from McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park.
2 - East Bay Century - begin at Berkeley BART, Up Spruce St to Tilden Park, Along Wildcat Canyon Rd to Bear Creek Rd. (for the three bears), Right at Alhambra Valley rd (up pig farm hill) and wind you way up to the top of Mt Diablo (north gate). Down the mountain and South Gate, through Danville to Lafayette, and Orinda, Moraga, Canyon, climb Pinehurst to Skyline, and down Tunnel to Rockridge BART. Bart back to S.F. This would be a very hard century.
So many other routes too.
Roads to look up are Palmares, Calaveras, Morgan Territory, Skyline, Old La Honda, Mt. Tam,Mt Hamilton.

Wow, what a great forum! Can't believe all the help in just a couple hours.

Here's a 100 mile loop I mapped down toward Santa Cruz heading east in Pescadero: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1514364

At first I had it go all the way to route 9 in Santa Cruz but it was getting too long. Any caveats about this loop? Skyline blvd looks like it's getting pretty busy around San Bruno so I don't know if this is the best way. Sticking to major roads to avoid getting lost, but I might get more creative with it later.

Ken, thanks for the great site. I like the look of the Sonoma Coast ride, as I've had my eye on the Coleman Valley climb since looking through the ToC routes.

SesameCrunch, thanks for the link, that photo is incredible! So the winds generally blow south in this area? Do you recommend sticking to the coast or is it worthwhile to head east for a change of scenery?

Bikely looks like a great way to map out routes, but is there an elevation feature? Gmap-pedometer has the topo option which is helpful, but it's tough to go through and count the contours.

As we get closer I'll set a schedule and see which days are best for you guys. Thanks again!

Nick, I'm having trouble following your route for the east bay century. You lost me at bear creek rd as I can't find it or Alhambra valley rd on google maps. Do you have a link to this route?

One of the best sites for descriptions of various roads is Chain Reaction Cycle's: http://www.chainreactionbicycles.com/coastloop.htm

This particular ride is only 50 miles, but with a couple of healthy climbs. Use the box at the bottom to select other rides (although the links to some seem broken).

I also look at some of the bike clubs' sites for routes:

Western Wheelers seems to have some good ones, although they don't give turn by turn directions (or at least I can never find them on the website):
www.westernwheelers.org

Valley Spokesmen also have some good routes, more focused on the East Bay:http://www.valleyspokesmen.org/routes.php

JB

Bikely looks like a great way to map out routes, but is there an elevation feature? Gmap-pedometer has the topo option which is helpful, but it's tough to go through and count the contours.



Hi
On the route page, Top left , Click on show and the elevation button will appear as a dropdown, Click on that , Also do a search on bikely to get some more ideas

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2296/2142763885_27b5b98288_b.jpg

Not quite a century, 87 miles and 9500ft of elevation.


Nick, I'm having trouble following your route for the east bay century. You lost me at bear creek rd as I can't find it or Alhambra valley rd on google maps. Do you have a link to this route?

Wow, what a great forum! Can't believe all the help in just a couple hours.

Here's a 100 mile loop I mapped down toward Santa Cruz heading east in Pescadero: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1514364



Two major cautions on this route. Hwy 92 is very dangerous to cyclists, and Hwy1 near Pacifica is very dangerous also. You'd want to ride to Woodside and climb up the hills there to get to the coast.

Just let us know when you get out here and we'll schedule some rides with the locals who can lead you.

Go to routeslip.com and bikely.com and search the area's you want to go. Pescadero-Palo Alto you should come up with lots. East bay try Mt Hamilton-Calaveras, and Im not sure about Santa Rosa, perhaps part of the Tour of California route.

Nick and jvsabas: That route looks awesome! Thanks for the map, I can't wait to ride that.

Maybe someone can refer me to another thread, but I have some concerns about flying my new racing bike out there. AA charges $80 each way to check a bike box, which I'd imagine doesn't buy any guarantees. Is renting a competitive option?

Here's a map of last year's Sequoia Century. It starts in Palo Alto, a couple of miles from the California Ave. Caltrain station. The route climbs Page Mill, descends Alpine Rd., then takes Pescadero Road out to the coast and Hwy 1 down to Santa Cruz. Return to Silicon Valley up Mountain Charlie and Skyline, then down Hwy 9. Probably a little over 10,000 feet of climbing. If you google "Sequoia Century", you should be able to find detailed route directions. The route changes every couple of years, but is always a lot of fun.

Let's have a BF group ride when SereneGreen is in town and show him some Cali hospitality.
I should be riding by then.

serenegreen, what size bike do you ride?

Don't thank me for the map. I am a complete illiterate when it comes to computers and would havce no way of making such a great overview map. All the thanks goes to jvsabas. I tend to bring along old AAA or various bike coalition maps with me if I don't know the way.
As for the bringing the bike I'd see about renting a nice hard case from a bike shop near you, perhaps from the store you just purchased your new bike? I think Blazing Saddles in San Francisco rents road bikes, though not sure what kind. If they do you'll probably want to bring your pedals and shoes.

Someone suggested Calaveras and Mt. Hamilton as one ride. Though never done both together it would definitely make for a hard day. I believe the Ray Hoesler(sp?) book, Bay Area Bike Rides lists it as a century that includes the San Antonio Valley (back side of Mt. Hamilton). That is a great great great section of road but be careful. The area is really isolated, bad downhill (off camber turns, sand, snow, cattle guards) from the top of Mt. Hamilton, and barely any services/phone reception.

I'd love to join you for a ride but I doubt I could keep up. I can ride a long distance but go real slow. I mean real slow.

Devil's slide, between Pacifica and Montara is scenic, but that part of the ride is short. Not worth the narrow road, lack of shoulders and heavy traffic. I'd take Johnny99's recommendation and ride CalTrain down to Palo Alto to do parts of the Sequoia Century through the Santa Cruz Mountains to the coast and back. Less traffic, much more scenic and much more challenging.

Here's another North Bay Area ride to consider, take the Ferry from SF to Vallejo and ride up to Napa via HWY29, Silverado Trail, HWY128 to Chiles Pope Valley, Pope Valley, Ink Grade, Howell Mtn Rd, Deer Park, to HWY29 via St Helena.

And for more ride ideas, check out Tom Holub's page at http://inl.org/bicycle/


Wow, what a great forum! Can't believe all the help in just a couple hours.

Here's a 100 mile loop I mapped down toward Santa Cruz heading east in Pescadero: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1514364

At first I had it go all the way to route 9 in Santa Cruz but it was getting too long. Any caveats about this loop? Skyline blvd looks like it's getting pretty busy around San Bruno so I don't know if this is the best way. Sticking to major roads to avoid getting lost, but I might get more creative with it later.

Ken, thanks for the great site. I like the look of the Sonoma Coast ride, as I've had my eye on the Coleman Valley climb since looking through the ToC routes.

SesameCrunch, thanks for the link, that photo is incredible! So the winds generally blow south in this area? Do you recommend sticking to the coast or is it worthwhile to head east for a change of scenery?

Bikely looks like a great way to map out routes, but is there an elevation feature? Gmap-pedometer has the topo option which is helpful, but it's tough to go through and count the contours.

As we get closer I'll set a schedule and see which days are best for you guys. Thanks again!

You're the man Johnny! I Bikely'd that route and it looks great. 8047 ft of climbing, wow. We don't have hills like that out here, at least not in two pitches. I'm going to have to check out the rollers I ride to see how they stack up.

That's enough clicking for one evening; I have to pace myself, I still have 2 months to figure this out.

I want to do every ride that's been posted here.

BlastRadius, I ride a 58 cm frame if you have an extra around that size, that would be wicked generous! I've been riding a couple steel frames and finally made the switch to a more modern machine after much nagging from everyone I've ridden with. With the help of ebay ($100 caad5 frame!) and some great friends I've pieced together a nice bike that I can't wait to ride, so naturally I'm going to try to bring it out west. I'll be racing for McGill at the ECCC this spring and am looking forward to a great season.

You guys are great.

If you're planning on an epic ride in the San Francisco area, you need to be ready for at least a few 2000 foot climbs. Mt. Hamilton and Mt. Diablo that some people recommended are around 4000 feet each (usually followed by a few smaller climbs to loop back to your starting location).

All my bikes are around 50cm :( There are places to rent though... a friend of mine rented from CyclePath in San Mateo.

You're the man Johnny! I Bikely'd that route and it looks great. 8047 ft of climbing, wow. We don't have hills like that out here, at least not in two pitches. I'm going to have to check out the rollers I ride to see how they stack up.

That's enough clicking for one evening; I have to pace myself, I still have 2 months to figure this out.

I want to do every ride that's been posted here.

BlastRadius, I ride a 58 cm frame if you have an extra around that size, that would be wicked generous! I've been riding a couple steel frames and finally made the switch to a more modern machine after much nagging from everyone I've ridden with. With the help of ebay ($100 caad5 frame!) and some great friends I've pieced together a nice bike that I can't wait to ride, so naturally I'm going to try to bring it out west. I'll be racing for McGill at the ECCC this spring and am looking forward to a great season.

You guys are great.

I have a 2003 57cm Lemond Zurich that I can loan you, if you want. It's a nice, 853 steel bike with Ultegra drivetrain and Easton Circuit wheels.

That sounds like a nice ride SesameCrunch, tempting...

My Lemond Tourmalet just recently failed with a crack almost all the way around the base of the seat tube. It was a great frame and will be missed.

Swapped components to another nice steel frame. All clean and ready for winter

I'm planning to bring my new Cannondale out there. Man, it's tough to find bike boxes this time of year.

Here's one of the routes I've mapped out: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Marin

I'm not sure of the best way to get through to Fairfax, but there looks to be a bike path that leads to Corte Madera Ave and then it's a straight shot to Sir Francis Drake Blvd. I just follwed the map when I made that Bikely route but now on the satellite view I see where I should take the bike path instead of the highway :)

Hey SG, do you have a schedule for your rides yet?

It won't be long!

I'm landing a week from Sunday at noon (the 24th), so first Monday I'd like to go though Marin county since it's the least mountainous.

On Wednesday I think I'll take BART out to Berkeley and ride to (and up) Mt Diablo and back.

And the Sequoia century, how about Saturday? Will the car traffic on Route 1 be too crazy? This is probably the best day for you guys, so we can do a different ride if there's a consensus.

Bump!

Is that Saturday 3/1? I might be in. Anyone else?

Aw man .... I'm on call that weekend.:mad:

Work really cramps my style.

Bump!

Is that Saturday 3/1? I might be in. Anyone else?

Ooooh:(. If it was on Sunday, I could do it. Can't do Saturday as my wife is still out of town and I have kid duties.

Serenegreen: do you want to borrow my 57cm Lemond?

I'm up for Sunday instead, but it depends on serenegreen's schedule.

3/1 bad for me, gig with the band in Santa Clara.

The Santa Cruz century can be done from Half Moon Bay and back. We recently did one for the Bike Forums gang - http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=337769.

I would be happy to join you in that ride, if you'd like. I live in Half Moon Bay.

Alan,
Where in HMB is good place to stage this kind of ride?
Let say close to 50 riders so maybe a parking space for about 20-30 vehicles.

-jack

Alan,
Where in HMB is good place to stage this kind of ride?
Let say close to 50 riders so maybe a parking space for about 20-30 vehicles.

-jack

Dude, you either got lots of friends or a big family!

We could meet up at the Half Moon Bay Fire Dept, corner of Higgins Canyon Rd and Main St. There's plenty of street parking there.

How about it? Sunday 3/2, say 8:30am?

Dude, you either got lots of friends or a big family!

We could meet up at the Half Moon Bay Fire Dept, corner of Higgins Canyon Rd and Main St. There's plenty of street parking there.

How about it? Sunday 3/2, say 8:30am?

I'm not ready yet pal. Something is already scheduled for 3/2 and a lot of events up until the end of March but I'm looking at the last weekend of March as a possible date.
Friends? yeah and they've been bugging me to set it up since I told them the ride you cooked up from SC-HMB-SC was a blast. They just want to start it in HMB though. Another ? is, where would be a good lunch stop in SC?

I'll definitely check the corner of Higgins Canyon Rd and Main St.

Thanks a bunch

I'm not ready yet pal. Something is already scheduled for 3/2 and a lot of events up until the end of March but I'm looking at the last weekend of March as a possible date.
Friends? yeah and they've been bugging me to set it up since I told them the ride you cooked up from SC-HMB-SC was a blast. They just want to start it in HMB though. Another ? is, where would be a good lunch stop in SC?

I'll definitely check the corner of Higgins Canyon Rd and Main St.

Thanks a bunch

A good place for lunch in Santa Cruz is Upper Crust Pizza, corner of Hwy1 and Swift Rd. It's the first traffic light once you hit Santa Cruz. Lots of cyclists and other sports types go there.

If you start out in HMB, warn your friends about the headwind coming back. You will want to ride in a paceline on the way back to help each other out.

If you start out in HMB, warn your friends about the headwind coming back. You will want to ride in a paceline on the way back to help each other out.

Yup, they're ready for it. I told them about how you planned our SC century that the tail wind will help us get home sooner but they said they don't care, let's just do it. Gung ho weekend warriors :D

I'll give our friends here at BF a heads up if I post up the ride.

The inland route avoids most of the wind on the way back: Gazos Creek, Cloverdale, Stage Rd, Verde, Higgins-Purissima. Stage Road goes by 2 great snack stops: the bakery in Pescadero and the general store in San Gregorio.

The inland route avoids most of the wind on the way back: Gazos Creek, Cloverdale, Stage Rd, Verde, Higgins-Purissima. Stage Road goes by 2 great snack stops: the bakery in Pescadero and the general store in San Gregorio.

Yeah, but it's like trading one evil for another though. Hills vs wind :(.

Yeah, but it's like trading one evil for another though. Hills vs wind :(.

The hills are very scenic and not long or steep. Besides, Hwy 1 is not perfectly flat, either.

It's been a great week for me, riding the rollers in the living room watching the ToC. Hope you all aren't sick of cycling by next week...

Saturday 3/1 is my last day there I'm afraid, taking a flight back to Boston at 11:30 that night. You folks probably have jobs and such during the week, but I'm free Monday-Friday too if anyone wants to ride.

Sesamecrunch: I've got my bike all packed up and am planning to fly it out there with me. If something goes wrong I'd definitely love to borrow your Lemond.