I dare you to beat this ride

[andydreisch]

So I challenged the Missus to plot a ride for our weekend ride today. And she came up with a doozy -- have breakfast in Half Moon Bay and end up in Santa Cruz for a lunch. When I plotted it out at 50 miles she didn't blink an eye.

Awesome ... a 50-mile ride on the tandem (our longest to date) along the Pacific Coast Highway. Wow, she has really come along quickly.

Needless to say the coast is beautiful and the sun shimmering over the Pacific is awe inspiring. But a little bonus was the whale sightings we saw for about 10 miles en route.

I've done billions of rides in the Bay Area but it took the tandem to get me to do this ride.

Andy

[TandemGeek]

How about the whole enchilada... San Francisco to San Diego?

http://www.thetandemlink.com/california/catrip.html

Note: This was originally hosted on our "WeRLivingood" website that I've since taken down so the links in the banner bar don't work and will only take you to our other website, www.thetandemlink.com. There may also be a few other dead links but the majority of the text and photos are all still intact.

[ken cummings]

Now if you go north there is a B & B in Oleama (Point Reyes area) that gives a reduced rate to people who arrive on bikes. If you want to avoid Mt. Tam take Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Do an over-nighter (Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink).

[andydreisch]

Yup. Tours are great but this was a spontaneous Saturday (only) ride. I fully recognize we're not the first to have done this ride. But, oh, the weather was so nice!!!

A multi-day tour is not far off, though. The Missus has been inquiring.

Andy

[Hermes]

Nicely done. :beer:

See if you and the Missus are up for this one. Velodiva and I did it on our tandem last September. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=357722&highlight=coastal. Ride to the coast and back over Skyline. You go up Old La Honda and take 84 to the coast. You go along highway 1 and return via the climb up Tunitas Creek and descend Kings Mountain road. You can start from your house to get warmed up for OLH or drive to a nearby park and ride;)

[andydreisch]

Hey Hermes, cool ride. The way the Missus is coming along it won't be long.

The way I figure it, I'm pretty much at my peak having biked for a zillion years. I need to lose weight, that's all (hee hee).

Now the Missus is a novice but nevertheless strong cyclist who can only significantly stronger this year ... and she has already. I'm hoping she'll be up for the Strawberry Fields Forever century in May, which will put us in a position to knock off the ride you posted during the summer.

BUT ... I am not pushing it and, frankly, don't care if we do or don't. We're simply enjoying the rides.

Andy

[TandemGeek]

... but this was a spontaneous Saturday (only) ride...

My apologies. I missed that part of the challenge. :D

Seriously, though, that's simply awesome. I think the couples whom we know who have been doing the tandem thing the longest tend to be very good at planning just those sorts of outings and/or have a favorite route like that which they revisit on a regular basis just to keep the riding fresh. Most of our rides with local tandem teams will end with a social gathering for lunch, but very few have meals along the way. Well, and then there's the lack of that fantastic California Coast highway. I could easily do a week-long coast tour every year and never get tired of it: probably the only near canopy-of-tree-less ride that I really have absolutely loved.

Back in the day (pre-Georgia, pre-Debbie, and pre-tandem) one of my favorite weekend rides was the short hop over to Beaumont (I think it was Beaumont) from Redlands, California, where there was a great diner that served some awesome pancakes. We'd hit that around 8:00am, and then take the long way back home. Another was riding from Redlands down to Newport Beach for lunch, then hanging out and listening to the band at the bar next to the pier for a while before heading back with a massive tail wind along the Santa Ana River Trail until we jumped off and worked our way back through the orange groves in Riverside County.

Bottom Line: I wish we were anywhere with tandem-friendly weather today... It's 17° with residual snow fall from 2" that fell early yesterday and, yes, we're just 30 minutes from Atlanta, Georgia. I know of a few hearty teams who live up north and who ride in weather like this, but Debbie's a true Georgia Peach and Peaches and freezing temperatures just don't go together.

[bikeoutfit]

Andy,
I know the ride well and it is awesome. Another option is a 2 nighter using B&B or Youth Hostile. Start in Silicon Valley and ride to Half Moon Bay over 84 or 92 and stay in one of the many great B&B's in the area or the Youth Hostile in one of the Light Houses. Good dinner options in Half Moon Bay. Next day take your 50 mile route to Santa Cruz and again stay in one of those great B&B's and walk the Boardwalk and beach. Next day return home to Silicon Valley via Hiway 9 through the Rewood Country (use Graham Hill for the 1st part). Great redwood grove route. We do have some wonderful tandem rides in the Bay Area.

Dick Powell, www.OutfitterTours.com
Retired Founder of The Bicycle Outfitter of Los Altos, California

[Velodiva]

So I challenged the Missus to plot a ride for our weekend ride today. And she came up with a doozy -- have breakfast in Half Moon Bay and end up in Santa Cruz for a lunch. When I plotted it out at 50 miles she didn't blink an eye.

Awesome ... a 50-mile ride on the tandem (our longest to date) along the Pacific Coast Highway. Wow, she has really come along quickly.

Needless to say the coast is beautiful and the sun shimmering over the Pacific is awe inspiring. But a little bonus was the whale sightings we saw for about 10 miles en route.

I've done billions of rides in the Bay Area but it took the tandem to get me to do this ride.

Andy

Let's hear it for the Missus :beer: and for your enthusiatic support. Next time share some photos with us.

[twilkins9076]

Bottom Line: I wish we were anywhere with tandem-friendly weather today... It's 17° with residual snow fall from 2" that fell early yesterday and, yes, we're just 30 minutes from Atlanta, Georgia. I know of a few hearty teams who live up north and who ride in weather like this, but Debbie's a true Georgia Peach and Peaches and freezing temperatures just don't go together.

I'm also jealous of Californians who can ride all season...We've been out there a few times on business and vacation, but never had the opportunity to get on a bike. It would be so great!

Like you, we're stuck in the deep freeze here in the Ozarks. I'm not very happy riding below 40 degrees, and Pam must have some Georgia peach in her blood somewhere! I'm to the point where I've decided that the first time it clears freezing when I have a chance to get out that I'm going to bundle up and go, even it is on the single. The problem we've had here since the new year has been the combination of cold and wind on the weekends and darkness during the work week.

Until then, however, I'm gonna have to continue "riding vicariously" over the net.

[andydreisch]

twilkins9076, every day I'm appreciative of the weather out here and, every day, I feel for you folks that must deal with colder temps. Today we may hit 50 degrees for a high -- one of the coldest days of the year. Rough, huh?

Velodiva, we need to outfit the tandem with Bento boxes and the like. I'm also looking for a rack. This will allow us to carry a camera, etc.

bikeoutfit, Velodiva, Hermes, ken cummings, and others ... I look forward to seeing you fellow NorCal types on some of the rides you mention here. The way the Missus is coming along we'll easily knock off 84/OLH and some of the more strenuous rides. But we'll see. I don't want to overdo it.

Andy