Tag: East Bay

I enjoy mixing some gravel and dirt into my road rides, though I don’t have a specific “mountain” or “gravel” bike– just my all-around bike with 38mm tires. A local example I’ve enjoyed several times in the past few years is Wildcat Creek Trail, which takes you from Wildcat Canyon Park in Richmond up to Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills. It’s a good local introduction to gravel roads (and nice and wide compared to a typical multi-use trail, avoiding conflict with walkers and dogs), and I’ve brought along friends on road bikes and they’ve been able to handle it: ...

Last weekend I organized a ride up to Point San Pablo, about 40 miles of scenic, mostly-flat* riding, with the majority of it on paved separated bike paths (the Bay Trail, on-street bike paths in Richmond, the Richmond Greenway, and the Ohlone Greenway). We had a good group of seven, some who I’ve been riding with off and on for years and some new folks. And the remarkable exchange between two people of: ...

Morgan Territory Road was one of my favorite Bay Area roads four years ago (see that post for more details), and a few weeks ago a group of us finally made it back. The ascent and descent on windy one-lane roads with minimal traffic were even better than I remembered (riding on a cool day helped): This time, for variety, I charted a new route (44mi, 2800’ climbing) with a more roundabout intro/outro, picking up a range of paved and gravel trails through various parks, to take us off the busy + boring suburban roads. This probably added at least an extra hour (partly due to riding slow on multi-use trails with more pedestrians and dogs) but I felt they were a great addition. A few examples: ...

I’ve done variants on a 30-mile vineyard and trails loop in Livermore a few times over the years. One of those years we biked past Wente and up to the South end of Arroyo Road, and could see gravel trails stretching off along Lake Del Valle– but the gravel was too steep and loose and we turned around. I’ve always wanted to go back with some wider tires and see how practical (and fun) it is to ride gravel along Del Valle, connecting Arroyo road to Mines road… ...

Alas, Cleophus Quealy Brewing has closed, so we can no longer repeat our annual group ride there. But as breweries opened back up for limited social-distanced outdoor dining in mid-2020, I restarted an occasional ride from Oakland through the mosaics and murals of Jingletown… Along MLK Jr Shoreline Park: ...

Morgan Territory Road definitely makes it into my top tier of best rides in the Bay Area. Miles of paved single-lane road twisting up through a forest and then swooping down through hilly countryside (which is actually green at this time of year!)… all with no cross roads and not much traffic: Five of us rode it Sunday via this 42-mile route from Pleasant Hill BART -> Clayton (a town with oddly Old-Western-themed street signs) -> Morgan Territory (quail, red-winged blackbirds, frogs, the trickling of streams, some wildflowers), with a break for lunch and to refill water near the top -> the suburbs of Livermore -> Dublin BART. ...

Through the woods, a 26-mile loop on a perfect, sunny, mid-60s day (scenic Pinehurst Rd in Oakland)

40-mile flat ride from Lake Merritt to Fremont, joining about 30 people I didn’t know on the Bike East Bay “Spring Ride Series”. A nice route, especially all the paved car-free paths along various wetlands (with many birds on a misty morning)– and nice for variety to be following without having to plan a route or look at my phone.

Fun 30-mile ride during Beer Week along many off-road paths and canals, MLK Jr Shoreline Park, the mosaic murals of Jingletown, and along the shoreline in Alameda… with a stop at Cleophus Quealy for tacos and good beer.

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