Bay Area question

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gerryc89
Posts: 159
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 10:37 am

by gerryc89

Bay Area weenies - how do you get across the bay on a bike?!

I'm staying in Berkeley but would like to do a ride around Marin. As I understand it, you can only cycle part of the bay bridge. Otherwise you can take Bart or the ferry. Truthfully I'm not sure I'm happy on Bart with my bike.

My current plan is to ride to Oakland take the ferry to SF then ride across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. From there I'll head through muir woods. Is this a good idea?

Any local advice welcome


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by Weenie


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duende
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:07 am

by duende

Bart is great for bikes. Just can't use the first car.

Get off at Embarcadero... Ride along the water, by Crissy field, cross GG, then up Hawk Hill, down the back side to Bunker road. Through the tunnel, down to Sausilito, then do the Tiburon Loop and back.

About a 50 mile ride... Tons of maps to be found..


Only thing is, you probably want to stay far away from Crissy field this weekend. Big scumbag rally happening there, and it's probably not going to be safe.

https://www.strava.com/local/us/san-fra ... 0?hl=en-US

http://www.7x7.com/the-ultimate-sunday- ... 53000.html

http://www.7x7.com/hawk-hill-challenge- ... 20298.html

AJS914
Posts: 5392
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

You could rent a car and do all your riding in Marin.

Are you on a road bike? Bart can be hard to navigate with just road bike shoes. It would be a lot of click, click, click on smooth cement. There are also lots of stairs in and out of the stations. I guess there are elevators but it's probably a lot of walking to find them. Unless you have walkable SPD shoes, I'd want some kind of shoe with me. Also, taking BART during peak commute hours might suck.

The Ferry might be enjoyable just to be on the water though BART would probably be faster.

uraqt
Posts: 1108
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:53 am

by uraqt

I've done the ferry it was ok...not bad not good : )

You could just ride from Berkeley, never done this but sure a few people have..

http://www.mapmyride.com/us/berkeley-ca ... -144126387

AJS914
Posts: 5392
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

Yes, tons of great riding in the hills above Berkeley.

gerryc89
Posts: 159
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 10:37 am

by gerryc89

Thanks all! So I ended up taking Bart and was pleasantly surprised - sure, it was a lot of cleat ice skating but it was quick and I didn't feel particularly weird in full lycra.

@AJS914 - Can you make some suggestions on rides around the Berkeley hills? Tomorrow... :))

Thanks all!

p.s Crissy was thankfully very quiet, I read before it was cancelled.

AJS914
Posts: 5392
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

How far do you want to go? How much climbing?

The best rides out of Berkeley start up Spruce towards Grizzly Peak. From there you could go into Tilden Park on to Wildcat Canyon Road. You could head out towards Moraga and Canyon and get back up to Grizzly Peak via Pinehurst Rd.

An alternative is to turn left at the top of Spruce and continue all the way up Grizzly Peak. It's a great ride. Nice climbs, fantastic views.

If you wanted to do an epic 100 miles, you do either of those rides from Berkeley but then from Moraga head towards Walnut Creek and then Clayton and ride around Mt Diablo. (Morgan Territory Road)

You could also head that direction and climb Mt. Diablo which is great. If you didn't want to do so many miles you could BART to Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek and start from there.

I rode all my life there. There are so many great rides. Feel free to email me if you need details.

Found some links for you:

http://bestrides.org/morgan-territory-road/

Diablo:

http://bestrides.org/mt-diablo/

You can go up the south side from Danville and then come down the north side into Walnut Creek. (Close to BART if you are burnt out by then.)

AJS914
Posts: 5392
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

According to this link, there is a 10am Sunday group ride starting at Mike's Bikes:

http://norcalcyclingnews.com/norcal-group-rides/

gerryc89
Posts: 159
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 10:37 am

by gerryc89

This is amazing AJS914 - thank you so much for your time.

I think something around ~50miles would be reasonable for my fitness and time constraints. So perhaps Spruce - Grizzly Peak - Canyon - Moraga - Lafayette - Orinda Village - through Tilden and down into Kenisngton. This is around 35 miles - could you suggest a slight detour of this to the North or the South? I'm wary of Walnut Creek as I guess it'll be more busy/traffic but perhaps that's not the case on a Sunday morning?

Big thanks again

AJS914 wrote:How far do you want to go? How much climbing?

The best rides out of Berkeley start up Spruce towards Grizzly Peak. From there you could go into Tilden Park on to Wildcat Canyon Road. You could head out towards Moraga and Canyon and get back up to Grizzly Peak via Pinehurst Rd.

An alternative is to turn left at the top of Spruce and continue all the way up Grizzly Peak. It's a great ride. Nice climbs, fantastic views.

If you wanted to do an epic 100 miles, you do either of those rides from Berkeley but then from Moraga head towards Walnut Creek and then Clayton and ride around Mt Diablo. (Morgan Territory Road)

You could also head that direction and climb Mt. Diablo which is great. If you didn't want to do so many miles you could BART to Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek and start from there.

I rode all my life there. There are so many great rides. Feel free to email me if you need details.

Found some links for you:

http://bestrides.org/morgan-territory-road/

Diablo:

http://bestrides.org/mt-diablo/

You can go up the south side from Danville and then come down the north side into Walnut Creek. (Close to BART if you are burnt out by then.)

tonytourist
Posts: 1426
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:13 am
Location: 90039

by tonytourist

Not a local but I ride there when I'm visiting friends.
From Berkeley you can do the GPC ride on Tuesday or Thursday, Wednesday there is a Wrench Science shop ride.
I've had good luck riding with Rapha on the Stammtisch ride or their weekend rides. There are almost too many options when you get in Marin but Alpine Dam is always a good one too. How long are you around? I just did the HOP ride from Danville today (first time going) and it was pretty fun!

AJS914
Posts: 5392
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

You could tack on a bit more by going all the way to the end of Grizzley Peak, then left on Skyline (go past Pinehurst which would bring you to Canyon) and then Left on Redwood Road. Down Redwood and turn left at the other end of Pinehurst. This map shows most of it.

http://www.mapmyride.com/us/piedmont-ca ... ute-869350

Another option is the classic east bay ride "the three bears". It's a 23 mile which could be tacked on to the 35 miles you have there. It's a lot of climbing. It wouldn't be an easy 55-60 miles but it's beautiful and there isn't too much traffic around the reservoirs.

http://bayarearides.com/rides/threebears/

claus
Posts: 399
Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 10:04 pm

by claus

Note:
you can't do
- the 3 Bears loop
- the Moraga - Pinehurst part
because of the fantastic infrastructure and the timely repair of broken roads/bridges.

That is, both are "currently" closed (just like Redwood at the top), see also
https://bikeeastbay.org/classic-east-ba ... nter-rains

by Weenie


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Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

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