Suggestions for Bay Area rides?

[miffy'sFuji]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could suggest any rides around the bay area that they especially like. I live in San Francisco, but anything up to about 1 hr drive away is okay. Preferably the ride would be a semi-dedicated bike path (no cars), but if you have a suggestion for a route with relatively few cars that would be great too.

I have ridden the coyote creek trail from helleyer to morgan hill and back, the steven's ck. trail from near el camino to the bay trail in redwood city, the bay trail from the airport to the foster city bridge (kind of congested on weekends with pedestrians), the alameda creek trail (had an unfortunate first time run-in with goathead thorns! Being a native San Franciscan, I had never seen or heard of these before).

We've been staying off of dirt trails since we've had so much rain.

There are three of us that go out together, two on mntn bikes, so that slows them down a bit. As you can see, the rides have been easy elevation wise. That's not a prerequisite, but the three of us aren't at the same fitness levels, so we've kept it on the easier side.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
-laura

[maillotpois]

Marin!!!

Not that I am biased!

The Tiburon loop (Paradise drive around the peninsula of Tiburon) is a classic relatively easy ride.

Also Riding in the Nicasio/Western Marin area is great. If you drive to Nicasio, you can do a relatively easy ride out to Pt. Reyes Station and back, avoiding most hills if you go Platform Bridge Rd.

Get a Krebs map of N. SF Bay area and explore.

There's planety of great riding in Marin that may be a little tougher than what it sounds like you are looking for, but those suggestions are good places to start and work your way up.

[miffy'sFuji]

Thanks!
We haven't been biking in Marin yet, so I bet there are a ton of places to explore!

[snapdragen]

Marin is great, there are lots of places in the Morgan Hill/Gilroy area, or Santa Cruz too. Get yourself some Krebs maps.

[miffy'sFuji]

I'm checking out their webpage now. I hadn't heard of them before, so this is great. Thank you!

[maillotpois]

The Krebs map on the slightly heavier water-resistant paper is well worth it.

[IndyGal]

If you want to drive just a bit farther out to my neck of the woods, (Sacramento) there's the beautiful American River Bike Trail. It would make a nice day trip.

See these sites for more info:

http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.asp?trailid=BGS057-026

http://www.saccycle.com/bikewaymaps/map6.htm

[Bike Goddess]

If you come out towards Vallejo/Benicia we have lots of rides as well.
Also, I'd suggest you sign up for some organized rides- Santa Rosa has one in May, Napa has many- especially one in August, Marin, Fremont, Many other towns put on organized rides.

Check out BikeCal.com. They have rides listed all over the place!

[bikerz]

I'm a big fan of the Bay Trail stretch from Emeryville to Richmond Marina and back (or vice versa) - about 20 totally flat miles with one small hill behind the race track - it's a multi-use trail - no cars unless you add little excursions. Much of it is smack on the edge of the bay itself - very pretty. Sometimes can be windy but since it is an up-and-back, you should get the benefit as well as the hit (although isn't it odd how often it seems to be a head wind both ways?).

By looping down and around the Berkeley marina at Cesar Chavez park (I think that's what it's called) you can get another 2.5 miles in. Sometimes it's a little crowded on prime weekend days (the usual hazards of rollerbladers and little kamikaze kids), but not bad first thing in the am or in the evening, and doubly beautiful then. I like it becase there are really only a couple of stop signs - you can actually ride without putting a foot down for a while. And there are a couple of long stretches with good visibility which are fun for sprinting.

And you go past one of the coolest dog parks in the area - Point Isabel - there's nothing to lift the heart like the sight of hundreds of cavorting dogs!

I used to park in the parking lots over behind Chevy's in Emeryville, and more recently, to add a little more mileage, I have been driving out to the end of Point Emery - there's lots of free parking, and leaving from there.

[miffy'sFuji]

Thank you everyone, I've gotten some really useful information!
:) :)

[BikerDar]

If you decide to go up to Sacramento to ride the American River Trail, you might consider taking Amtrak up there. They have bike racks on the train and the station in Sac is right by the trail. You can even bring a bag and check it at the station, so that after your ride you can, check your bike, take a little *****'s bath in the washroom, change clothes, and hunt down something yummy in Old Town Sacramento.
Nice way to spend a Saturday or Sunday!! And it's usually warmer there than down here.

No cars for 25 miles!!