# San Francisco Shout Out...



## daethon (Sep 1, 2011)

Hello all

I've moved back to San Francisco and am a reconverted biker. Any suggestions for favorite rides around the city, the headlands, etc. Basically where do you go if you want a 40 mile bike ride without jumping in a car.

Thanks guys


----------



## Dagger9903 (Apr 21, 2011)

Welcome back to the mecca of road riding. Start with a Paradise Loop. Throw in a Hawk Hill. Build to a Mt Tam., then an Alpine Dam. Enjoy a ride to Pt. Reyes with or without a trip to Tam.

Once you've done all those, realize you've only hit up the north bay 

Google any of those rides; you can find details on numerous sites. None of them require a car from the city (or even a BART ride) and range from 20 - 80+ miles and anywhere from 1500ft to 6000+ft of vertical.


----------



## slow.climber (Nov 25, 2010)

I think that you'll like some of these,
SF Bay Area routes (plus a few others) on Bikely.com


----------



## Rhymenocerus (Jul 17, 2010)

A little bit of Thread jacking here but...

How does Mt Tam compare to Diablo? Ive been riding for many years and never bothered to ride Tam.


----------



## Dagger9903 (Apr 21, 2011)

I do both pretty regularly, Diablo is more direct and harder overall with one natural stopping point at the junction. Tam requires a more complicated approach (up 1 or through Mill Valley) and there are 2 natural stopping points (the recessed parking area and the junction - sorry, don't know better names for them). The views are spectacular from both but I think Tam is a bit better (when it's not foggy). Weather wise, Tam is generally cooler but can be wet/foggy. Diablo can be 100 degrees and hot/sunny; which is equally terrible. 

Tam can be combo'd with 2 fantastic rides though - Alpine Dam and the descent to Stinson. I love both of these rides and they really add to the overall experience of Tam. 

Sorry if that was a bit disjointed, but if you've never done Tam I highly recommend you give it a go with either of the combos above!


----------



## Rhymenocerus (Jul 17, 2010)

Dagger9903 said:


> I do both pretty regularly, Diablo is more direct and harder overall with one natural stopping point at the junction. Tam requires a more complicated approach (up 1 or through Mill Valley) and there are 2 natural stopping points (the recessed parking area and the junction - sorry, don't know better names for them). The views are spectacular from both but I think Tam is a bit better (when it's not foggy). Weather wise, Tam is generally cooler but can be wet/foggy. Diablo can be 100 degrees and hot/sunny; which is equally terrible.
> 
> Tam can be combo'd with 2 fantastic rides though - Alpine Dam and the descent to Stinson. I love both of these rides and they really add to the overall experience of Tam.
> 
> Sorry if that was a bit disjointed, but if you've never done Tam I highly recommend you give it a go with either of the combos above!


Im gonna have a lot of time this summer, I need to grab a riding buddy and go check it out, thanks for the input.


----------



## daethon (Sep 1, 2011)

Awesome! Thank you both. That's a great start! I look forward to seeing how the rides turn out. I travel 5 days a week, so building back up to a 40+ mile ride will take a little while, but I'm looking forward to it and thankfully in the bay area there's only 1 month a year where riding isn't pleasant =)


----------



## tahoespecm4 (May 13, 2012)

Are there any good web sites that list and map good rides in the bay area??


----------



## genux (Jun 18, 2012)

I've been using this site a lot: bayarearides DOT com (sorry, don't have enough posts to include hyperlinks). I just got into road biking so I've been looking for beginners trails and then building up stamina and endurance onto more demanding routes.


----------



## flyrunride (May 2, 2012)

+1 on the thread, I just moved back too and new to cycling. I'll try out the routes posted here. I did a sausalito back to city and hawk hill back to city already, just this weekend did a mt. diablo climb and probably this coming weekend will do a hawk hill + sausalito ride. I'm enjoying cycling and planning to get an MTB in the future and hit the trails too....


----------



## Roarau (Jul 3, 2012)

I am relatively new to the area, but pretty much brand new at cycling. Although I am diving right into it and am already addicted!

I am an active 26 year old male, looking possibly to make friends/riding buddies with anyone that might be interested in improving together (or just riding with a newb).

I've done some causal longer rides up in the north bay, would love to find someone to get a little more serious with.

Feel free to respond here or shoot me a PM .


----------



## Dagger9903 (Apr 21, 2011)

For people interested in casual / semi-serious groups that set up rides in the bay area, these two groups might be of interest:

Bay Area Cycling (San Francisco, CA) - Meetup
The Berkeley Bicycling Meetup Group (Berkeley, CA) - Meetup

I've actually never gone on a ride with either (a little too casual for my taste) but just wanted to introduce the option to people.


----------



## Roarau (Jul 3, 2012)

Thanks Dagger! I'll check the SF meet up group out. Hopefully this will be a good way to find a cycling partner .


----------



## daethon (Sep 1, 2011)

Dagger: Thanks

Roarau: I'm up for a ride sometime. I'm a little slow at 11-14 mph average though I have been biking for a few years. 

flyunride: if you want to get into MTB you can even do it without leaving the city...GGP has miles and miles of trails to ride!


----------



## Roarau (Jul 3, 2012)

daethon said:


> Dagger: Thanks
> 
> Roarau: I'm up for a ride sometime. I'm a little slow at 11-14 mph average though I have been biking for a few years.


Hey Deathon,

That isn't much slower than me. I like taking my time sometimes .

I can't send PMs on the forum yet (not enough posts), but if you could PM me or post your email address I'll shoot you a message to discuss details! Would be great to have a few more riding buddies :thumbsup:


----------



## WalterMcDalter (Aug 10, 2012)

daethon said:


> Hello all
> 
> I've moved back to San Francisco and am a reconverted biker. Any suggestions for favorite rides around the city, the headlands, etc. Basically where do you go if you want a 40 mile bike ride without jumping in a car.
> 
> Thanks guys


There's a good "deck" of rides made by Chronicle Books. It's nice because you can take only the ride info you need for that day, instead of a whole book. It's good for newbies (like me) mostly.


----------



## wblas3271 (May 12, 2012)

SF to Half Moon bay and back along Hwy 1 is an excellent ride.


----------



## Art853 (May 30, 2003)

Mt Tam area is amazing, especially cycling through redwoods and views of the coast and bay. Mt Hamilton (Fremont bart to Pleasanton bart) is a great century ride.


----------



## Roarau (Jul 3, 2012)

WalterMcDalter said:


> There's a good "deck" of rides made by Chronicle Books. It's nice because you can take only the ride info you need for that day, instead of a whole book. It's good for newbies (like me) mostly.


I've got this deck, still not as useful as the internets for this type of stuff.

@Deathon, shoot me a PM if you want to go for a ride sometime. I'll even bring the deck for you to look over


----------



## howdoesseanroll (Mar 27, 2012)

Roarau said:


> I've got this deck, still not as useful as the internets for this type of stuff.
> 
> @Deathon, shoot me a PM if you want to go for a ride sometime. I'll even bring the deck for you to look over


+1 me for a ride if you guys set something up - I work in the city and love doing the headlands or tiburon after work.


----------



## Roarau (Jul 3, 2012)

howdoesseanroll said:


> +1 me for a ride if you guys set something up - I work in the city and love doing the headlands or tiburon after work.


We could always ride without Daethon (not trying to exclude him, but not everyone checks the forums everyday)! 

I was planning on doing 75 tomorrow and another 75 on Sunday .


----------



## howdoesseanroll (Mar 27, 2012)

Roarau said:


> We could always ride without Daethon (not trying to exclude him, but not everyone checks the forums everyday)!
> 
> I was planning on doing 75 tomorrow and another 75 on Sunday .


and you do that at 11-14 MPH? No wonder! I'd probably be riding at 5MPH avg if I did 150 miles in a weekend, jebus!!


----------



## Roarau (Jul 3, 2012)

howdoesseanroll said:


> and you do that at 11-14 MPH? No wonder! I'd probably be riding at 5MPH avg if I did 150 miles in a weekend, jebus!!


Check your PMs, but I'd be down to cut it down a little bit, or figure out a piece of my route that we could ride together .


----------

