foo

Hello!

I followed a link here from a general community board I've been using. I realized instantly that this forum was a good place for me to be. I live in San Bruno, CA. 10 miles south of San Francisco.

Been a biker all my life, don't recall a moment I didn't belong on a bike. About 6 weeks ago I decided I've had enough of driving altogether, for the obvious reasons: health, enviroment, oil dependence, etc. I've given up driving whenever possible. Based on monthly averages, I've already shaved 1600 miles off my car!

I'm riding a C-dale Super V500 dualie that I've converted to a commuter. My previous C-dale was a stiffy that I rode for 14 years.

There are some nice routes/trails in this area, but for commuting, it is definitely a challenge. An urban sprawl with few bike lanes, and drivers that do not appreciate cyclists. Heck, even driver-to-driver interaction here is insane. All-you-can-eat-road-rage-buffet. I found though, given all that, being on my bike is a whole lot less stressful than driving with everyone else. My patience has skyrocketted.... I'll get there when I get there. No hurry.

Thats me in a nutshell.

foo.

SteveE

Welcome to BikeForums, foo!

There are a number of folks from the Bay Area here. It's certainly a great place to ride. The furthest north I have been (I live in the So. Bay) on my bike is up to Crystal Springs Reservoir.

You'll find lots of nice people here and lots of useful information.

SteveE

foo

Hi SteveE,

Thanks for the welcome. Yea, Crystal Springs is a nice casual ride, safe and no cars. That's probably the best thing I like about San Bruno, the trailhead begins there. Caņada Road is great too.

The furthest south I've been is mtn biking the Stevens Creek area. Beautiful!

foo

Chi

Hey, San Mateo here! Beginning mountain biker, and I'm looking for something to replace my old Magna. Like you foo I commute using my bike, as I've gotten sick of driving in the area. It's getting as bad as LA, where I used to live a while ago. A friend of mine's shown me a few trails in the South Bay and I love riding out where there are no cars and few people.

I love the silence in the green hills.....

Sailguy

The forums is getting a rather large bay area contingent now. Welcome all!

foo

Cool. We should consolidate into one big, bay area thread.

Here's a pic I took today of my commute home(I wanted to test uploading pics). Nice huh? Well it's trick photography! My commute is mostly urban/industrial nightmare.

It hailed today around 3:30, was kinda disappointed it wasnt actually raining on the ride home. I used to think rain would be such a big hassle on a bike, until I tried it, and what a blast!

When it rained today the people at work were all whinning cuz they didn't have umbrellas with them to walk out to their... car.

Funny enough, they're the ones who think we're crazy.

foo.

Sailguy

For the life of me I cannot place where the shot was taken. Looks like the marshland by the bay.. Has the feel of redwood city/shores.


Be sure to post in the "How Was Your Commute Today" thread in the commuting section

foo

Hi Sailguy,

Yes, definitely marshland, but further north, just up from SFO. Here's a better angle, looking south.

I saw the How Was Your Commute thread and thought about jumping right on, but I wanted to get a "feel" for this forum first. Wanted to make sure I dont do something too noob, figured I can't go wrong in the Introduction section!

I just came from a board that was really hostile. So my guard is up, way up. But I've been poking around now for a few hours and I've yet to find anything really abusive.

So far so good.

foo

cranky

foo is dead! i thought of a better username, i'll be deleting that acct.

u likey?

UncaStuart

Another Bay Area guy checking in to say welcome, albeit late.

We need to entice SteveE (and anybody else) farther north than Sawyer Camp. For the San Bruno connection, there's always Sweeney Ridge:

cranky

Hi UncaStuart,

Thanks for the welcome. I think I recognize the loc on that pic, it's right where it gets really steep!

Sweeny Ridge is awesome. I think Crystal Springs is the great too. I rode from SB to RWC on it yesterday to do some shopping at REI. I had came back through massivie headwinds. The reservoir was whitecapping.

UncaStuart

Yep, that's the place!

And I know what you mean about whitecaps on the reservoir. Sometimes, if I get out early enough, there will be no wind and a glassy surface. Here's a shot taken at the dam at 8am a few weeks ago:

Guest

Welcome to the forums!

I was posting on another thread when I saw yours. What a coincidence that the other thread I was posting on had to do with SF.

I noticed you said you got this link from a community board. Is there a chance you could pass on this link about someone who stole Ivana's bike when she was in the SF area recently and post it on your community board so people can keep an eye out for her bike? She's from the Netherlands, and a few hours before she left, someone stole a high end bike from her outside an REI store. Here's the link: https://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24309.

It would be great if you can take this back to your community board in SF so that there are more people out there that can keep an eye out for her.

Thanks for your help and again, welcome to bikeforums!

Koffee Brown

cranky

Very nice pic!

Reminds me of the video game, Myst.

Thats whats great about that place, lotsa neat stuff goin on. Zillions of migratory birds. The fog pouring in over the hill can be awesome too.

I'm partially biased against that though cuz I used to live on Skyline. Fog is nice, but from afar.

Heheh.

cranky

Hi Koffee,

I read that thread before and it was heart breaking!

Thats a very unique bike, I'd keep my eye on ebay for it. I heard of someone getting their Litespeed back that way.

The community board I found this forum from is Craigslist. It's a public board, so you/her can post there and monitor it. Beware though that it is essentially unmoderated and there are a lot of trolls there. However, it does have a very large audience.

Main page:
https://www.craigslist.org/

The most appropriate place to post this would be here:
https://www.craigslist.org/sfo/bik/

and here:
https://forums.craigslist.org/?forumID=5

Don't be surprised if you get flamed, just ignore it.

Best of luck!

cranky

Hmm.. I guess I feel bad for pawning that back on you, I'll post it

I hate posting there. Gah!

Cover me, I'm goin' in.

Guest

I got ya covered.... bob and weave, baby! Bob and weave!!!!!

Go, go, go!!!!



Thanks for posting, man. It's a good idea to keep an eye out on ebay. I'm going to start trolling ebay too.

You're a good one, cranky!

Koffee

Chi

Where's Sweeney Ridge?

cranky

The Sweeny Ridge trailhead starts at the top of Sneath Lane in San Bruno. If you follow the Sawyer Camp trail north to the end, continue along Skyline Avenue one block and make the first left, this should be Sneath. Drop down to your lowest gear, cuz you're in for a loooong climb. Really nice views of the ocean and bay at the top, unless it's foggy. On clear days you can see as far as Pt Reyes. Can be very windy too.

Chi

I'm looking at a map on mapquest ... is Sneath Ln the street that goes around Portola Highlands Park?

cranky

Yes thats correct. I had to look it up though because it doesn't sound familiar. I guess I never noticed a park, perhaps I was too busy sucking air. The most distinct landmark is probably the Church of the Highlands right on the corner of Sneath and Skyline.

Chi

Sweet! Thanks for the directions ... one last Q: is the trail a paved or dirt path? The pic posted looks like a paved one ... my GF's not into dirt paths, so I don't want to take her somewhere she doesn't wanna ride. We're going today!!

cranky

It's paved and smooth on the Sneath side all the way up to the top. On the coastside going down, there are several dirt paths leading to Pacifica. It's pretty steep, you need nobby tires to do that.

Here's a tip. If you ever ride down to the beach and don't feel like riding back up, the #40 bus at the Pacific Manor shopping center will bring you back up for $1.25. It's like a ski lift!

Chi

SWEEEET!! Gotta love the $1.25 ski lifts ....