San Francisco Ride on Labor day?

Hi everyone-
If you have any advice or are up for a ride on labor day monday I'd love to hear from you- please send me a pm.

I am a michigander who is SUPER EXCITED :D to have the chance to ride in San Francisco this coming Labor day monday-

I'll be in town to speak at and attend a food conference put on by slow food http://slowfoodnation.org/
and I am staying an extra day to go exploring by bike-

I'm renting a bike (at bike & roll- they had the best online reviews) and am hoping to get a good 4-5 hours in on the bike and break it up with a rest at a cool scenic spot with some snacks or lunch and see some great sights. I am planning on heading out around 9:00 a.m. (back home in michigan 4-5 hours would mean about 70 miles but I have no idea how the terrain in san francisco will effect my ride- we only have big rolling hills here, and i've never ridden anywhere else).

As you can tell by my user name I often ride alone, but I've been going on group rides once a week over this past summer to get used to riding with others and see how I stack up against the local riders. I'd describe my cycling ability as above average, but not race level- I find our local "touring group" has an easy pace, but they like to take too frequent breaks and sit for a long time for my tastes (a 50 mile ride took us 6 hours one week), and I struggle to keep up with the racer boys, but I can do it on their "recovery" ride. I'm right smack in the middle of our local groups- I like to stop and see the sights once or twice- but also like to go after some speed aggressively too-

Thanks to anyone who sends advice, links to maps of their favorite rides, or wants to share a ride monday- I can't wait to check out the sights!

solorider

after doing some searching- here's what I am thinking of riding-
anyone want to join along monday morning?

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/LRLR-1st-45-miles

This route looks like a mix of paved roads, dirt roads and ??? (possibly some single track on Coastal, but who knows). Was that what you were looking for?? I really didn't think so based on your post. ("FR" or "Fire road" on the cue sheet is a varying condition dirt road here in Marin County. We have lots of them, and they're great for mountain biking!)

I can probably get you a couple of suggestions in Marin (the area you were looking at) if you want a paved route.

That route includes a fair amount of dirt-- fire roads and single track. Were you looking for a road route or was this what you had in mind? I think this would be tough on a road bike unless you have a lot of experience on dirt. But perhaps you are renting a mountain bike....

If you are looking for a road route, check out the velogirls.com route sheets, there are many routes there going out from near the golden gate bridge into marin. Some routes I like:
Paradise Loop-- about 38 miles from Presidio Sports Basement. Rolling, no significant climbs, really really pretty ride

Alpine Dam-- a really fantastic ride up Mt Tam, about 50 miles from PSB. Great views if it is clear. Has sustained climbs (VG route sheet says around 4000 feet of climbing for the trip, I think it's a bit less but still several sustained climbs then a nasty set of "rollers" called the seven sisters)

Cheese Factory/Nicasio/Pt Reyes Station-- there are a series of marin farmland routes, several of which go out to the coast. These tend to lack sustained climbs, but there is definitelly rolling california terrain.

Also fun, but possibly not what you had in mind is the 49 mile scenic drive around the streets of san francisco (but try and take the SF bike coalition alternative route, which bypasses some of the more gnarly less scenic bits). You go down twisty lombard street, out the marina, through presidio, to ocean beach, up twin peaks-- basically loop the city on roads considered to be the prettiest or most interesting.
Good luck

also, if you are looking for a group ride to join, there are many local touring clubs that will be riding on monday. check out grizzly peak cyclists and marin cyclists sites or search the web. They may be running a ride that you could join if you wanted

Too bad the Velo Girls Northern Exposure ride is on Sunday. If there's a way you can take off then? You get to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. I think the route goes into Marin coastal area from there.

www.velogirls.com/calendar.php

Northern Exposure's Tiburon Loop = Paradise Loop (see my note above). It's a great ride, great views, you go over the GG bridge, etc.

Another thought- you could post on the velogirls yahoo group to see whether any one is riding out on monday, informally