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I rode onto the span yesterday, Saturday, 9/7. I started in Moraga. My route went like this: Pinehurst to Skyline to Tunnel to Domingo, and then almost all the way down Russell which is a Berkeley "bike boulevard". Then some side streets right and left on Acton, 66th, Idaho, 65th, and then a left on Shellmound where there is a narrow bike lane past all the commercial shopping development and then a right onto the start of the past across the street from the Ikea store.

What do people think about it.

Other than the fact that it doesn't go anywhere, I think it's a good start. I think the big issue that will hinder the path from becoming popular is accessibility both for pedestrians and cyclists. For pedestrians, you have to walk over 2 miles from the start of the path just to get to the bridge. That, plus a mile or 2 walk out onto the span and the walk back and you're talking about a 6-8 mile hike. That's beyond the capability of your casual sightseer so I think that will limit the subset of people checking it out. For cyclists, you need to plan your route to the start carefully as the start is in the middle of "the maze" and surrounded by urban hell with no direct route from anywhere to the start. I used Google maps bike directions and it correctly took me onto Russell and some quiet side roads. I still needed to use all my urban riding skills as the route I took was probably not appropriate for your family bike ride with the kids.

How long did it take you.

For me it was a 41-mile round-trip and it took me 3 and a half hours ride time. Much of that was going very slow on the path and walking the bike a few times.

Path conditions.

The 2 mile path leading up to the bridge is freshly paved with a center stripe and has some nice landscaping of mostly wood chips and a some plants with resting benches every once in a while. The scenery is less than stellar as you're basically riding under or alongside freeways the entire time. Either that or next to the waste-processing plant or the Port of Oakland container yards. There are no fixed restrooms but there were some porta-potties at various points. There is a dirt portion on the side where the pedestrians are supposed to walk. They don't know that yet so they were all over the place. Once on the bridge, the pedestrians are supposed to stay on the section closest to the water and the bikes have 2 lanes closest to the traffic. Again, the pedestrians haven't got the memo yet so they were all over the place.

Anything to look out for.

Yes, watch out for clueless pedestrians, kids on bikes, joggers, or any of the aforementioned who might be stopped in your lane. On Saturday when I went, it was hot everywhere in the bay area and it was the first weekend day the path was open so I'm guessing the crowd was about as large as it's ever going to be. The speed limit is 15 MPH for bikes but I was rarely able to achieve that speed, nor would I want to as you may find your lane suddenly occupied by someone stepping back to get a better angle on the group shot of their entire family standing by the rail.


Any suggestions on where to park or start would also be helpful.

From what I was seeing, it seemed a lot of people were parking in the parking lot at the big Ikea store and then walking across the street to where the path starts. I don't think there is any special parking just for the path anywhere. I suppose if too many people start parking at the Ikea lot, then Ikea might do something to dissuade people from parking in their lot and not buying a piece of crap furniture or something. There is another entrance to the path from the Port of Oakland and it gets you maybe 1/2 mile closer to the bridge but I'm not sure there is any public parking on port property.