Northern California - Advice: Mt. Tam or Mt. Diablo?

I haven't made it to either one yet, so I'm just going to take advantage of time off and do one on Wednesday. I'll be leaving from Sunnyvale at 9:15am. Any advice on which one would be better to do this time of year, where to park, good lunch stops, etc.? Thanks in advance!

I know at some point soon, the top of Tam will not be fog or rain free until next year.

If I was lucky enough to have the time off I'd do Mt. Tam. It's not as high of a climb but I like riding in the surrounding area more than around Diablo. Also the roads around Mt. Tam seem to get crowded on the weekends (I always get stuck behind a slow car on the descent) whereas Diablo has had very little auto traffic whenever I've been there on the weekend. So you'd be able to capitalize on your mid-week time off better by hitting Tam.

Start at SF Sports Basement. This way you don't have to pay to cross the Golden Gate bridge

If I was lucky enough to have the time off I'd do Mt. Tam. It's not as high of a climb but I like riding in the surrounding area more than around Diablo. Also the roads around Mt. Tam seem to get crowded on the weekends (I always get stuck behind a slow car on the descent) whereas Diablo has had very little auto traffic whenever I've been there on the weekend. So you'd be able to capitalize on your mid-week time off better by hitting Tam.

Start at SF Sports Basement. This way you don't have to pay to cross the Golden Gate bridge

+1

Or you could park in Fairfax and take Bolinas-Fairfax Road.

Neither climb is real long. Most people do the ride non-stop and have a snack at the top.

Hey Journey.
Want to do Mt. Diablo on Saturday by any chance? We can make a loop out of it from Berkeley.

UD

Thanks for the tips! Mt. Tam it is, then. I take it Sports Basement has a free parking lot?

Oh, if anybody would like to join me, I'd welcome the company.

Hey Journey.
Want to do Mt. Diablo on Saturday by any chance? We can make a loop out of it from Berkeley.

UD

Hmm, how many hours would that Diable loop be?

Care to join me on Wed for Mt. Tam?

Hmm, how many hours would that Diable loop be?

Care to join me on Wed for Mt. Tam?

Hmm according to this (http://www.2008.calcycling.org/?q=node/198) around 5 hours.
I wish I could, but I don't think interns get any days off. lol Plus big meeting, me presenting.... :twitchy:

Is Mt. Tam similar to Mt. Hamilton in that there's just one peak and one route that goes up to and over the peak? If somebody has a route sheet from SF that they like and could point me to, I would greatly appreciate it!

Hey Jeff,

I've got Wed. off and was planning on doing a longish (but easy) ride so I'd be happy to go with you up there. There are a several different ways of getting to the peak (Mill Valley, BoFax Rd. from Bolinas, Alpine Dam from Fairfax) and from SF the ride could take anywhere from 2.5 to 5 hours depending on how hard you're going at this time of year. Traffic shouldn't be too much of an issue on a weekday.

Hey Jeff,

I've got Wed. off and was planning on doing a longish (but easy) ride so I'd be happy to go with you up there. There are a several different ways of getting to the peak (Mill Valley, BoFax Rd. from Bolinas, Alpine Dam from Fairfax) and from SF the ride could take anywhere from 2.5 to 5 hours depending on how hard you're going at this time of year. Traffic shouldn't be too much of an issue on a weekday.

Hey Tim, that would be great! I'll send you a pm.

Jeff,
How was the ride??

+1

Or you could park in Fairfax and take Bolinas-Fairfax Road.

I may have time to do Mt. Tam on Saturday (my wife will be in a conference all day in San Rafael). I'm thinking of bringing my CX bike because I understand there are some good fire roads up Mt. Tam.

The thing is that we're meeting some friends for dinner in the evening and I'll need a place to wash up and change. I don't need anything fancy. A park bathroom would be fine. Any recommendations?

Jeff,
How was the ride??

Hey Mike, the ride was awesome! Bottlerocket is a great tour guide. I can't remember all the road names, but we did some climbing before descending down to Stinson Beach, then went up along the coast before doing more climbing. I know the route included the 7 sisters, west peak and east peak. We had sunny skies in SF, but over on Tam it was colder and clouded over. There were still some good views from time to time, though. Practically zero traffic. Definitely worth the trip up to the city.

there is a gravel parking lot just east of the bridge...pretty much built for all the runners and cyclist. the thing about tam is that there are so many homes on the mountain, so there will be cars on the road. if you're going to climb from mill valley, be sure to go into downtown. from the bike path, exit at the circle and cross camino alto and turn right on miller avenue. turn left around the square, and left on throckmortan and left into oak park. this goes through tree covered homes and turn left on marion and start climbing. turn right at the main road and this will get you to 4 corners and then continue up the mountain. if you go through tam junction, you will be with all the cars with no shoulder.

I may have time to do Mt. Tam on Saturday (my wife will be in a conference all day in San Rafael). I'm thinking of bringing my CX bike because I understand there are some good fire roads up Mt. Tam.

The thing is that we're meeting some friends for dinner in the evening and I'll need a place to wash up and change. I don't need anything fancy. A park bathroom would be fine. Any recommendations?

hey, caloso, did you mean this past saturday, or upcoming?

If it's the latter, Tam does have fun fire roads where a CX bike will work perfectly. As for bathrooms, there's one at Pantoll Station and another at East Peak. These are both relatively high up on the mountain -- East Peak is the top -- but if you have a car, you could drive up, start your ride high, descend, climb back up, and clean up at these locations. There may be a fee to park your car in the lots; I've never actually been up there except when on my bike.

There's also a Peet's Coffee in Mill Valley where a lot of cyclists congregate that's fairly nearly the main trailhead that goes up Mt. Tam -- it's called Railroad Grade -- where you could probably use the restroom to change if you wanted a ride starting at the bottom rather than the top.

i can give you more specific info on routes if you like if in fact it's this coming saturday that you'll be in the area.

Thanks, ConstantRider. I meant this past Saturday, but as it turned out, I wasn't able to get out of Sac until midafternoon and so wasn't able to do the ride. But thanks for the tip. I'll hope to use your suggestion sometime soon.

We did have a great dinner at the Buckeye Grill, though! :)