Tiburon to Half Moon Bay

It is fall and Halloween time. That can mean only one thing -- the Pumpkin Patch kid trap at Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay. This place has monster locally grown pumpkins, pony rides, jumpy houses, a haunted train ride, unhealthy snacks, etc. etc. In short, everything you could want when you have two rambunctious kids. Always looking for an excuse to ride the bike (especially on a new route), I meekly suggested to Dana that I could meet her and kids down there. It is only about 45 miles from our house in Tiburon to Lemos Farm, and all of it along the mighty Pacific. Sounded like a good ride. It was. Apart from a scary ride along Devil's Slide -- where I thought the winds were going to hurtle me into the abyss -- it was a good, fast ride. I even got there before the family.

Sunrise over SF Bay from the Sausalito waterfront

Racing a container ship to the Golden Gate (I won)

The bridge from Vista Point

Looking out over Seacliff from Lincoln Blvd in the Presidio. Hard to believe that everything you see here is completely within the 7x7 city limits of San Francisco. What a city.

The Cliff House

Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Marin Headlands in the distance.

Boardwalk at Ocean Beach along the Great Highway

The ride gets interesting at the end of Great Highway. After winding over to Skyline Blvd (Hwy 35), you are best getting off where it turns into a freeway (at Westmoor) and doing the VERY steep climb on the parallel street called Skyline Dr. This then drops equally steeply down into Pacifica. You pick up Palmetto and ride all the way to the end and pick your way across, parallel to the freeway along Francisco, Bradford and Morris Point. From here you are on the highway, which ultimately narrows as it begins its climb up to Devil's Slide. This part is not that fun, as the climb is steep and the road somewhat scary. The upside is that it is only about 2 miles until you are back on a big shoulder.

Looking down at Devil's Slide from the top of the climb (where the new bypass tunnel is being built). You can just see a sliver of the roadway below. That is the scary part.

View down from the slide. Holy crap! Don't slip. It was very windy around this corner, so I just took the whole lane and prayed that the cars behind me had patient drivers.

Then you get down to Montara Beach. Nice! From here it is big ring, wide shoulder riding all the way to Half Moon Bay (and Santa Cruz beyond).

From the Beach to Work

We're at the beach for the July 4 week, but had to go to work today. So today's ride was even more spectacular than the everyday "mundane" commute.

The Ride:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/san-francisco/553106804

Some photos (not taken by me, but show some of the highlights of the route).

Stinson Beach. The pad we are staying in is beachside right in the clump of trees near the point. The ride goes along the beach,then up the big cliffs towards SF, about 28 miles to the office.


6 miles of righteous coastline later: Muir Beach and Overlook.




A long twisty descent into Mill Valley where I picked up the"regular" commute into Sausalito and over the bridge. A gorgeous day in Marin, but the fog was firing (pretty gray in SF today...)

I live in the greatest place on earth!!!

The Bike-to-Work Commute

May is Bike-to-Work month, so I figured I would post my commute. Depending on weather and season, I generally do this a few times a week, and sometimes I also add in a return trip on the ferry if time is tight or I'm just not feeling up to the ride.

Route Map: http://www.mapmyride.com/view_route?r=450c177e4a8a7d1bc7bdbf10e76ee0fc

Coming down the hill from the house. Objective in sight, 18.9 miles away. The ride goes way back out of picture right, over the GG bridge and into the city.

Early morning cruise along the bike path. The bridge is visible over Richardson Bay. A quick ride into Mill Valley, where the local wildlife is out in force on the bike path, if you know what I mean. The scenery is pretty good on this ride.

Gets even better as you get into Sausalito on the waterfront.

A quick but stout climb up Fort Baker makes the kid break a sweat.

Some orange bridge I gotta cross

Then into the city, where the buildings look funny.

Past the cruise ships and tourists.

Along the Embarcadero, past the SF Ferry building (where I can catch the boat home if I'm bailing out on the return trip). Nice view of the Bay Bridge along the way.

And then I arrive at the office, almost exactly an hour after I start pedaling.

In the afternoon, I reverse the ride on the way home. The ride back to the the bridge is generally very windy, with the afternoon gales blowing into the Golden Gate. The famous San Francisco fog is never too far away and always seems to come back in after being away for only a couple of hot days. Sure enough on this day, by the time I got back up to the house, she was coming back in to say hello.