# Mt. Tam and areas north?



## dave99ag (Jul 26, 2005)

My wife and I are doing a bike tour starting from San Francisco and travelling north in a few weeks. I asked them if we could climb Mt. Tam and one of the organizers seems game for that. What's Mt. Tam like? 

We're from pretty flat ground near Houston and haven't ever done any really long climbs. The Texas Hill Country is as close as we've done for hills. What kind of gearing? I'm not worried about myself with a 53/39 & 12-25, but my more for my wife. She's strong, but not so much on the steeper hills. She'll be running a 50/34 & 12-25 (9sp). I'm hoping the 34-25 combo will be sufficient.

This will be our first time to California, so we're anxious to see the area and get in some great riding. Feel free to look at our itenerary and give any suggestions of things to see in the towns we're visiting.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Mt Tam is long and rolling, with some steep sections (probably max of around 8%). So your wife may need to fight through those parts, but there's usually relief a couple hundred yards down the road with a flatter section (more around 3-4%). It would be a more fun route for the 2nd half of day 3 than what they currently have planned.

What kind of stuff are you interested in doing in SF? I can make some recommendations if you'd like,

Silas


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## singlespeed.org (Feb 14, 2006)

The tour itinerary has you going on the bay side of Mt. Tam up to Point Reyes (through Mill Valley, Larkspur, and Fairfax). If they do take this route, adding Tam would add a reasonable climb and some miles. Tam is about 2600 feet tall, and you will be approaching it from pretty much sea level. The road to the top is relatively mellow - not too steep. But it is probably a 20 mile detour (depending on how they do it) to get to the peak.

Until I looked at the itinerary, I had expected that the route would take you over to Stinson Beach and then north on 1 to Point Reyes (this route has much less traffic and way fewer intersections than the route you are doing). If you did this route, you would have climbed up part of Tam to get there (making a added ride to the top much easier).


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## dave99ag (Jul 26, 2005)

I'm still not sure if they'll agree to doing Mt. Tam. I think it depends on if we can get a group to go with us. The climbing doesn't sound too bad compared to some of the other climbs in the area. I'm glad to hear that there are some flatter portions to recover on.

Since we have two days to explore SF, I'm not sure how much we can see. My wife is big into nature and gardening, so any cool parks or gardens would be fun to see. Maybe check out Alcatraz. We won't have a car, so public transporation will be how we get around.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Take the N-Judah from one of the downtown Muni stations out to 9th and Irving St. Walk towards Golden Gate park, then look to your left to see the botanical gardens. Neat plants from all around the world. From the back entrance you can hop on tea garden dr. and go to the Japanese Tea Garden and the De Young Museum. Hit the Flower Conservatory on your way out of the park (heading east now).

Here's a map: https://www.inetours.com/images/Maps/GGP_Map.gif


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## dave99ag (Jul 26, 2005)

Thanks for the ideas! All of that sounds right down her alley.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

You'll probably be hungry after that. There are a ton of places on haight street to get some lunch. Check out Cha cha cha, Citrus Club, Alembic, or if you're up for it, get some Ethiopian cuisine at Massawa.

The touristy stuff at Fisherman's wharf is ok, and Alcatraz is a pretty fun trip. Have a great time!


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## Rushfan (Apr 20, 2003)

Looks like a great trip. I stayed at the Point Reyes hostel two months ago with the boy scouts. If you ride in to the hostel, the road to the hostel is great, with some really steep sections-if I remember correctly, a short section at 17%. I was kicking myself for not bringing my bike.

The route from Napa Valley to Davis will have a decent climb up to Angwin (maybe 5%, with a couple of steep spots, with some breaks along flats), a good descent to Pope Valley, and a climb near Lake Berryessa at 5% continuous over 1.6 miles that I've ridden several times (not too bad a climb).

In Davis, the university features an arboretum. 

http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/

For food in Davis, we like Little Prague, a Czech restaurant. Sudwerks has good beer. There's also 4 bike shops in downtown, with Wheelworks my favorite.


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