# Marin, Contra Costa or the Peninsula?



## NextTime (Oct 13, 2007)

I may be moving to the Bay Area soon for a job in S.F.

Where would you choose to live if the most important criteria was to live in an area that was most suitable and desirable for riding your road bike?

During the summer, I like to do early morning rides before work. I'll do longer rides throughout the year on weekends.

I'll be looking in Marin, Contra Costa and the Peninsula - and not in the City itself. I have school aged kids so of course I will factor in quality of schools, commute, etc., but on this forum, I want to hear about where you all do your rides.

Scenic rides and hills would be fun. Where is the best open space?

Thanks for your input!


----------



## mytorelli (Dec 19, 2004)

I live by the Alameda county/ contra costa county border. I rid in contra costa a good amount though. I like it, its pretty nice compared to other places.

Ive also ridden in Marin a lot and like that a lot more. There is a greater variety of places to ride. You can go on a flat ride to tiburon from golden gate bridge, or you can go up into the hills and if you want more hills you can do Mt Tam which has 4 ways of getting up it.

I'd choose marin if i was you.


----------



## johnny99 (Apr 2, 2004)

There are lots of scenic hills on the peninsula, especially out by the ocean. The bay shore are is more congested.

If you're going to be working in the city, I would look for a town a BART or Caltrain station. Weekday traffic and parking in the city is terrible.


----------



## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

My boss lives in Sausalito and commutes by bike to SF everyday. It's a nice 10 mile ride each way, just about perfect commuting distance. The riding there is also very nice.

If you live in the peninsula or east bay, then bike commuting to work is pretty much out the window (although you can still do mixed bike-rail).

Home prices will probably go East Bay - Peninsula - Marin from lowest to highest.

Marin would be my choice.


----------



## Undecided (Apr 2, 2007)

*Hard to go wrong*

That's a good set of choices. You'd be hard pressed to do better than some of the best spots on the peninsula (e.g., Palo Alto, Woodside, Menlo Park), but some of the towns that are farther from the foothills or farther north suit me less. Of course, the downside is that those are the areas that are most expensive. A general note, too, that Marin and the peninsula have a fairly broad range of housing prices depending on where, specifically, you're talking about.


----------



## tron (Jul 18, 2004)

there are a lot of variables. I live on the peninsula. I like it and its great for road and mountain biking. If it were me I would say peninsula then Marin. East Bay is not my style but you might like it.


----------



## ucancallmejoe (May 17, 2006)

A few more facts to consider:

Mountain biking in the East Bay is impossible in winter. The trails turn to mucky soup after the first few rains. The trails in Marin are almost year round since they drain so well. 

As for road riding: Marin in the summer is unbeatable. Every micro climate and type of road ride is at your front door. Used to live in Sausalito. But in winter, the East Bay is the place (my current domecile) since it gets about 25% of the winter rains that Marin gets. 

In summer, the reverse is true. Many of the East Bay's best rides are fog bound while Marin is toasty and sunny. 

I of course, live in Berkeley and work in Marin. The logical solution. 

My one cent.


----------



## lanierb (Dec 6, 2004)

NextTime said:


> I may be moving to the Bay Area soon for a job in S.F.
> 
> Where would you choose to live if the most important criteria was to live in an area that was most suitable and desirable for riding your road bike?
> 
> ...


I'd rank them: (1) Peninsula, (2) Marin, (3) Contra Costa. The Peninsula (specifically, anywhere from Woodside or so to Cupertino or so) can't be beat for sheer variety/number of great rides and number or rides without any "**** miles". There are also more organized rides there than anywhere else. Of course, if that means a long commute by car every day you might be better going elsewhere, but if you have job flexibility I think it's clear.


----------



## NextTime (Oct 13, 2007)

*Everybody - thanks for responding*

Thanks to everyone who responded. I really appreciate it!

NextTime


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

You have to consider the climate you want to live in, too. I live in Daly City, just south of San Francisco, and, being close to the ocean, it gets foggy here quite a few days out of the year. On the positive side, it doesn't get all that cold here in the winter and, on the hottest days everywhere else, temperatures are moderate here. Air conditioning is un-needed as we may get 3 to 6 days out of the year where temperatures outside will go over 80 degrees. I can ride into SF or south into San Mateo along the hills easily. I do not ride all the way to work but I do ride my bike to the BART station (Bay Area Rapid Transit - the subway system here) then take a train downtown before riding my bike into the office. I reverse this to get home, though, one of these days I will try riding all the way home from work.

San Francisco weather is similar to Daly City weather, for the most part. As you go south and east along the peninsula it gets warmer. If you are on the coast it's going to be a lot cooler during the summer and moderate in the winter. You can probably say that the lower Marin county will be very similar to this and the further north and east you go the warmer it gets in the summer.

The East Bay, however, especially in Contra Costa County, gets a whole lot warmer in the summer (on any given summer day, 90+ in Concord, 80+ in Oakland, 70+ in San Francisco, about 65 at my house!). In the winter, it's about the opposite, where it is really cold in the winter (just above freezing to about 45 degrees).

Something else to consider about the SFBA: from about the end of April to about Halloween, it is very rare for there to be any rain in the area. Between November to April, it can rain almost every day or only a few days a month in drought years. This gives you the ability to ride year-round. Also, during the winter months, like ucancallmejoe says, the peninsula is a mud bog, for the most part so it's pretty much only road riding over the winter. Most mountain biking areas are only open during daylight hours, too, so the shorter winter days may mean playing hookie from work or riding on the weekends.


----------



## tron (Jul 18, 2004)

Squidward said:


> I do not ride all the way to work but I do ride my bike to the BART station (Bay Area Rapid Transit - the subway system here) then take a train downtown before riding my bike into the office. I reverse this to get home, though, one of these days I will try riding all the way home from work.
> 
> I thought no bikes were allowed on BART


----------



## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

lanierb said:


> I'd rank them: (1) Peninsula, (2) Marin, (3) Contra Costa. The Peninsula (specifically, anywhere from Woodside or so to Cupertino or so) can't be beat for sheer variety/number of great rides and number or rides without any "**** miles". There are also more organized rides there than anywhere else. Of course, if that means a long commute by car every day you might be better going elsewhere, but if you have job flexibility I think it's clear.


Me too. (1) Peninsula, (2) Marin, (3) Contra Costa


----------



## johnny99 (Apr 2, 2004)

tron said:


> I thought no bikes were allowed on BART


See http://www.bart.gov/guide/bikes/bikeRules.asp

Caltrain is better, but at least BART tries.


----------



## CoLiKe20 (Jan 30, 2006)

peninsula is pretty good. hard to beat for the variety of rides (flat, hills, oceans, etc).


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

johnny99 said:


> See http://www.bart.gov/guide/bikes/bikeRules.asp
> 
> Caltrain is better, but at least BART tries.


I was going to post a link to that page. Thanks, johnny99 for doing so!

Two things to remember about BART and bikes: know when you are NOT allowed on the system and avoid those times; "crowded trains", "use your better judgement", that is pretty vague. I've had occasions where I got on a train with my bike and there were plenty of seats available at the time. After two stops, it's SRO, and, technically, I'm not supposed to be there with my bike. The problem is that, before you know it, the train is crowded and getting off the train would be difficult and, if you are close to the peak commute hours, may put you in a situation where you are not supposed to be there with your bike so the best thing to do is to stay on the train to your destination. It's not a perfect system but it's not bad. I work for a company that has NYSE market hours so I'm catching the trains before the blackout periods. On the days that I ride to work I cannot work any overtime or else it will put me into the "no bikes" zone, meaning that I will be riding all the way home.

Unfortunately for me, I'm nowhere near Caltrain and I have a $45/month MUNI Fast Pass that allows me to ride BART within San Francisco city limits as well as buses, trolleys, streetcars, and cable cars as long as they are part of the MUNI system, without having to do anything more than to flash the Fast Pass at the driver or run it through a reader. Works great for me!


----------



## ilium (Aug 15, 2006)

I'm from Palo Alto, and I definitely vote for Peninsula if you can afford it (that's a big if). The Palo Alto school system is AMAZING (having graduated from it a few years ago). Henry M Gunn is slightly better academically than PALY (Palo Alto High School), but they're both excellent. Gunn ranked in the top 50 (maybe 100) high schools in the nation the past few years, with PALY close behind. The riding is amazing too with group rides nearly anytime you want them. On Sat/Sun mornings if you stay on the popular cycling routes you'll almost always be in sight of other cyclists.


----------

