Long on Velodromedary

And… here I am, riding my bike in the heat and humidity of Kerala, India. I’ve posted a few updates across fragmented islands of...

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 13:43:17 +0000

And… here I am, riding my bike in the heat and humidity of Kerala, India.

I’ve posted a few updates across fragmented islands of social media like Instagram / Strava, or group texts… but plenty of folks I know don’t use those sites. So I’m looking into posting updates here to link back to (though it’s not quite as easy on my phone while traveling). I’ll at least post a summary here later, after the tour, as usual.

Cycling South Korea, 2023

Wed, 17 May 2023 01:50:00 +0000

(This is a placeholder writeup with a few photos, perhaps I’ll come back some day and flesh it out…)

I spent a week cycling the length of Korea (~400 miles from Seoul to Busan), as a fully supported** ride with an organized tour group and about 20 strangers (though a few I’d met on a bike tour in Vietnam the previous year). By the end I felt exhilarated, challenged, stimulated, and full of great food.

Cycling Vietnam + Cambodia, 2022 (teaser)

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 18:58:00 +0000

(a brief recap, perhaps to come back to with more detail some day)

I’ve wanted to push myself farther out of my bike touring comfort zone, in terms of traveling in a culture very different from home, and for long enough and at a slow enough pace that I start to pick up on the rhythms on daily life. I dove in to a four-week tour through Vietnam and Cambodia…

Biking SF -> the Russian River

Mon, 09 May 2016 03:34:23 +0000

Something I’ve always wanted to do– ride from SF up to the Healdsburg / Russian River / wine country area (88.8 miles via the scenic route a friend and I took this weekend).

Lush green hills, a few hours of rain and wet socks (hey, at least it wasn’t 103-108 degrees like a few summers ago), two cheese tastings (Nicasio Valley Cheese Company and Marin French Cheese Company), wildflowers, a stop for a burger and salty snacks at Lagunitas Brewing, coffee and cocoa in Santa Rosa to fight the chill, and then expanding my personal biking map (Santa Rosa having been my previous farthest-North-from-SF ride) and plugging along the final 20-odd miles to a campground in Alexander Valley.

76-mile ride in the CA and NV hills around Lake Tahoe

Sun, 17 May 2015 18:10:19 +0000

76-mile ride in the CA and NV hills around Lake Tahoe

Biking, Sonoma County

Mon, 25 Aug 2014 06:10:29 +0000

Riding, solo, SF -> Fairfax -> Point Reyes -> Tomales Bay -> Sebastapol -> Santa Rosa.

Tomales Bay Oyster Farm:

Hwy 1 North:

Wild Flour Bakery

I Point My Wheels To The North

Sun, 27 Apr 2014 17:57:00 +0000

I was itching to get out of the city and just ride. So a small group of us headed North to Mill Valley, Panoramic, Pan Toll / Mt Tam, Ridgecrest, Bolinas-Fairfax, Alpine Dam, Fairfax… and back home. About 65 miles, very hilly, and took us all day (with the requisite stops for Sol Food limeade, looking at the ocean, burgers, and beer).

Sunrise to Sunset: Lagunitas Brewery Ride

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 06:47:00 +0000

Just for fun.

Up at 5:30:

Long early-morning shadows in Sausalito:

Nicasio reservoir:

Canalside paths behind Petaluma:

Lagunitas Brewing for lunch: taproom, patio, friendly people, space to stash bikes:

We started to ride back.

85-mile Marin Ride

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 03:51:39 +0000

I went on a long, faster-than-usual ride (sustained 20+mph drives on long flat sections) with L and R on a sunny day, including two loops on paved car-free paths in Samuel P Taylor park.

North Sea Cycle Route: some day

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:38:01 +0000

North Sea Cycle Route: some day

Bike Camping, Point Reyes

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 05:47:28 +0000

My second year bike camping for a three-day weekend in Point Reyes: eight of us rode up lugging camping gear, braving the hilly Four Corners / Panoramic / Highway 1 route, and admiring the views.

The blackberries were out in full force. We filled up a whole container for breakfast the next morning:

Oyster break in Olema:

100-mile BBQ Oyster Ride

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 03:26:00 +0000

This is one of the more ridiculous impulsive rides I’ve done.

I’ve always loved the BBQ-your-own-oysters-fresh-from-a-few-hundred-feet-away at Tomales Bay Oyster Farm, and last year a group of us did a 30-mile day trip from Point Reyes to there.

But I’ve wondered– how reasonable would it be to ride up from SF, have a leisurely lunch of BBQ oysters (because what’s the point if you’re in a hurry?), then ride back, all in the same day? It’s about 100-110 miles and a moderate amount of climbing (4000’-8000’, depending on the route). I managed to convince someone to join me, and off we went:

Chicago <-> Wisconsin ride recap

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:55:00 +0000

Thanks to Jason and Erica and Cat, I got to go on an interesting 120-mile bike tour up to Wisconsin and back while I was visiting Chicago, and I didn’t have to do any of the planning.

(rhetorical question: who rides 120 miles to a Super 8 motel at the edge of a cluster of strip malls, just for fun?)

I was less interested in any specific destination than I was in checking out a variety of towns, environments, and regional cycling infrastructure (impressive!), and this ride certainly delivered.

ice cream stop at mile 100

Sun, 13 May 2012 19:07:43 +0000

ice cream stop at mile 100

Peninsula Hills, Woods, Farmland

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:36:00 +0000

Yesterday a friend organized a ride from San Mateo to San Gregario (via Kings Mountain road, which I’d never biked), through La Honda (past Alice’s Restaurant), and back up Tunitas Creek (which I’d been on once before). And just for the heck of it, I decided to add on an early morning ride from San Francisco to San Mateo rather than take the Caltrain down.

The forecast for 40% chance of afternoon rain fell our way– just 10 minutes of freezing rain and misery on our way into Woodside on Skyline, but otherwise clear, sunny, and cool– great biking weather.

Adventure Rides this spring / summer

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:52:22 +0000

Here are a few other 1-day or weekend rides I’ve been kicking around, to do this spring or summer… including a few repeats of good rides from last year, since that makes the planning easy.

None of them have dates yet, just giving people a heads-up… and if you’re especially interested in certain ones, let me know and it will be more likely to happen…

From shortest to longest:

A ride to San Bruno Mtn (8 miles each way from the Mission) combined with a few-hour hike and a picnic
A casual “Tour De Dumplings” 15-20 mile ride around SF or the east bay, stopping at various dumpling shops, in the spirit of the Fiets & Frites ride (http://fietsandfrites.wordpress.com/)
A casual 25ish-mile afternoon bike ride around some vineyards in Livermore (similar to a ride from last year, but different vineyards: [/post/photos-from-our-recent-7-person-livermore-wine/])
A bike+hike to the Tourist Club in Mill Valley for one of their weekend beer-and-sausage-and-German-music festivals (May or July). Basically a copy of this ride
A mysterious, medium-hilly 40-50 mile ride in a remote part of the East Bay that I bet most people have never biked in (even I haven’t). I like the idea of keeping the details secret and just telling people to meet at a certain BART stop at a certain time
An overnight bike camping trip to Point Reyes, with oysters (50ish miles each way, similar to what a group of us did last year though at a different camp site for variety), maybe as a three-day weekend
Taking Amtrak to Sacramento and doing some riding around the American River Valley

Recap: Russian River Brewery overnight ride

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:03:06 +0000

120+ miles, a group of 15 great people, sunny weather, lush farmland and shady redwood forests, a few exciting hills, the kindness of strangers, good beer, and an action-movie just-in-time finish… easily one of my favorites. Read on for a longer than usual writeup in story form, with photos and details…

Back in December I’d floated the idea of an overnight ride up to Russian River Brewing Co during the two-weeks-a-year Pliny the Younger release. Interest blossomed, we hashed out logistics, and by the day of the ride we were a group of 15(!): people I’d done long rides with as well as new friends-of-friends, on loaded touring bikes and sporty road bikes, people who’ve ridden centuries and people who’ve rarely biked more than 40 miles… and even someone who hadn’t biked more than 7 or 8 miles in a stretch (I’ll admit, I was a little worried, but he was a natural).

Pliny the Younger, after 11 hours of biking + standing-in-line

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:19:00 +0000

Pliny the Younger, after 11 hours of biking + standing-in-line

55 miles in, sunny

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:59:00 +0000

55 miles in, sunny

Cheese Factory stop

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:34:00 +0000

Cheese Factory stop

Pescadero ride recap

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 06:30:00 +0000

Four of us biked a loop from Menlo Park to Pescadero, mostly on low-traffic back roads, through redwood and eucalyptus groves. The 63 miles and 7000’ of elevation gain (most of it in two major hills) made it a bit of a challenge as well.

SF -> Sonoma bike camping & barn dance

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:45:00 +0000

18 Reasons threw a Full Moon Barn Dance party at Circle JR Ranch in Sonoma recently. Eating, drinking (Linden St beer and Sodacraft soda), horseshoes, tours of a Bi-Rite garden, lasso lessons, dancing… I could have driven up with a friend, but I figured– why not bike?

The most direct route would have been through San Rafael and up on the 37 to the 121, but after looking at the excellent Marin Country Bike Coalition map’s warnings of missing shoulders and reading a few online posts about those road segments, I decided I was willing to add 9 extra miles and some hills to ride via Fairfax / Nicasio / Petaluma:

Circle JR Ranch, Sonoma

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 21:06:00 +0000

Circle JR Ranch, Sonoma

Three weeks of solo bike touring and camping, across 600+ miles of The Netherlands and Belgium. Riding over massive man-made...

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 02:47:00 +0000

Three weeks of solo bike touring and camping, across 600+ miles of The Netherlands and Belgium. Riding over massive man-made dikes, on paved bike paths cutting through dark forests and rural farm fields (where I might not see another person for hours), to Trappist breweries and old towns, along canals, on muddy back roads and unsigned border crossings, and to a bonfire with a band playing under a rusted crane.

100 miles to nowhere: recap

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:38:00 +0000

It started over a drink with JF, who mentioned The Fat Cyclist’s “100 Miles to Nowhere” (which in 2008 was a crazy decision to ride 100 miles on rollers indoors with snacks and TV, and is now a distributed challenge/excuse to ride 100 miles on a short loop course near your house and also raise some money for Livestrong). We decided to do it.

Why?

Well, why not?

This is exactly the kind of arbitrary structure and Just-Because event I like, and I’m less interested in heavily-organized bike events or races (RAGBRAI excepted). And since I’d be out of town on the official date, we did it last Saturday, joined by KE.

"100 Miles To Nowhere": 14-lap photo collage

Mon, 30 May 2011 20:46:00 +0000

“100 Miles To Nowhere”: 14-lap photo collage

Point Reyes Bike Camping recap

Wed, 18 May 2011 03:54:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I did something I’ve wanted to do for years– a bike camping trip to Point Reyes, self-supported (carrying everything, no car support).

I wanted to camp in Point Reyes National Seashore itself rather than nearby in Samuel P Taylor, to be somewhere more remote that wasn’t drive-in. I picked Sky Camp (based partly on this SFgate article), managed to get two nights reserved, and we ended up with a hardy group of 11 (friends, friends of friends, riders from last year’s SF RAGBRAI contingent).

Joining others for a 65-mile hilly Alpine Dam(n) ride.

Sun, 08 May 2011 22:48:00 +0000

Joining others for a 65-mile hilly Alpine Dam(n) ride.

Point Reyes bike camping: view from Sky Camp (a rare fog-free evening)

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 04:43:00 +0000

Point Reyes bike camping: view from Sky Camp (a rare fog-free evening)

Point Reyes bike camping: through the woods

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 04:41:07 +0000

Point Reyes bike camping: through the woods

bike many loops around the park 5/28?

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 04:17:00 +0000

Call me crazy– want to ride 8, 16, 24, 32, … or 100 miles on Saturday May 28th, in 6-8 mile loops?

I had The Fat Cyclist’s “100 Miles To Nowhere” mentioned to me recently. His idea is: chip in $80 towards Livestrong, and ride your own century indoors, or on some short course. Just because.

That lines up with my interest in riding a century at some point but my general ambivalence towards Organized Rides or anything that smacks of racing. For a while, I’ve thought it would be interesting to ride loop after loop around Golden Gate Park, with friends and strangers joining for as many loops as they want.

Two rides this weekend

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:47:00 +0000

Two “probably” rides (as usual, let me know if you’re interested, in case details change, or check the blog the night before).

Saturday: fun headlands loop / luggage test ride

A roughly 22-mile scenic Headlands ride (see photos from a past ride). For variety, let’s meet at Mojo Bicycle Cafe at 10AM.

Casual, friendly pace, and also intended to be a “luggage test ride” – anyone who’s been interested in bike camping (or is coming camping in Point Reyes in a few weeks): this is your excuse to put on a rack, pump up your tires, strap on your bags and camping gear, and get comfortable with how your bike handles on some flat roads, a steep uphill, and a steep downhill, without worrying about pace or being too far from the city. And to stretch your biking legs after the rain if you haven’t already.

This Saturday: 53-mile East Bay ride

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:42:36 +0000

The rain has fled. Time for the twice-postponed hilly 53-mile East Bay ride this Saturday. Tentative plan is to meet outside the Berkeley BART at 9AM.

I’m a little sluggish due to less recent riding, and it’s no-rider-left-behind enjoy-the-scenery as always, but I’d also like to do it without too many stops (maybe Port Costa, maybe not), to see how feasible it is to do in a half-day (in preparation for a potential Grizzly Peak Century in May). Bring some food, a spare tube, etc– it’s unclear how “civilized” the route will be.

Rides this week

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:38:00 +0000

Two social rides organized by others this week:

Wednesday: Butterlap (7pm at the Ferry Building, a friendly 17 miles around the city with a few dozen people, mostly flat but two notable hills, Bender’s afterwards for a bit). [edit: was raining at 6pm, didn’t go]
Friday: SF Bike Party (12-mile ultra-casual bike party with music, a few stops, and 400+ cyclists). This month, in Potrero/Dogpatch/Bayshore.

And this weekend, something more ambitious I’ve talked to a few of you about:

Grizzly Peak century? practice rides?

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:18:50 +0000

May 1st is the Grizzly Peak Century. Here’s my map of the 109-mile route (drawn quickly based on their map, may not be 100% turn-for-turn correct). I’m thinking about doing it.

For now, here are two 53-mile BART-to-BART rides I’ve sketched out that together cover most of the route (North ride, South ride). I plan to ride them some time in the next month and a half (as practice, and because they look like interesting rides– I’m not a biking-as-outdoor-spinning-just-for-the-sake-of-exercise guy)– anyone else interested?

Instead of TV: 60 hilly miles

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:00:07 +0000

Four of us rode the 60ish mile Alpine Dam Loop on Sunday at a somewhat leisurely pace. It’s still my favorite Bay Area ride – some long, merciless uphills combined with incredible views in every direction. And it gets easier every time (funny how that works).

A mid-morning start at Velo Rouge:

There were almost no pedestrians or cyclists on the Golden Gate Bridge (Superbowl Sunday effect?)

Three upcoming February rides

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:30:00 +0000

If it’s not rainy:

Friday 2/4: joining the SF Bike Party, a slow-rolling evening with hundreds of cyclists and several big bike-mounted stereos (photos of the last one). Just 9 miles. 7:30pm meetup at Civic Center.

Sunday 2/6: Alpine Dam. A beautiful and hilly 50-60 mile ride, meeting 9:30AM at Velo Rouge Cafe. No rider left behind, probably a stop in Fairfax for some food afterwards, no commitment to making it back in time to watch That Sporting Event (hey, at least the roads should be empty…).

RAGBRAI 2011 route announced. Not sure if I'll go this year, but it's a great time.

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:00:10 +0000

RAGBRAI 2011 route announced. Not sure if I’ll go this year, but it’s a great time.

Biking in Saratoga & Los Gatos

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:04:51 +0000

For variety, on Saturday I joined some people I know who were going on one of the AIDS LifeCycle training rides in the South Bay– a 46-mile loop, taking us from Mountain View (near the Caltrain station) through Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos, and some towns I’d never heard of (Monte Sereno).

It was a good workout and way to spend a chunk of the day, with one significant hill and a lot of fairly straight rolling-hill sections where you could get momentum going (while nominally a 10-12mph pace, the pack I was riding with made some solid 20-25mph pulls on the long flat stretches and the road flew by). However, the scenery was nothing special– lots of suburbs, strip malls, cars, and Starbucks. Given that and how slow Caltrain is, I’ll probably stick with mostly SF/Marin/East Bay rides in the future, or try some of the more woodsy (and hilly) peninsula rides.

Alpine Dam and Sausages & Beer next Sunday?

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 06:25:00 +0000

[ edit: cancelled due to early-morning rain, though it ended up clearing up– oh well ]

Tentative plan: an Alpine Dam loop ride next Sunday (1/30), about 50 miles round trip from the Golden Gate Bridge (map), with some substantial but satisfying hills.

Stopping in Fairfax at Gestalt Haus (run by the people behind the original SF Gestalt Haus before it changed ownership?) for some sausages & beer before heading home.

Departure time TBD in the morning (early? mid-?) and a no-rider-left-behind pace as usual, though I definitely want to get back in the afternoon, before it starts to get dark and cold on the bridge.

Overnight bike trip: SF -> Montara

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 07:51:00 +0000

Well, that was a great weekend.

A group of 10 of us biked from SF to Montara (on the coast, between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, about 30 miles), stayed overnight in the Montara Lighthouse Hostel ($28/night, includes linens, fully booked most Saturday nights months ahead of time but the web site availability is often incorrect– you can call them directly to make reservations, and should if you’re going with a group), and biked back the next day.

Overnight ride to Montara 1/15 (& stay in lighthouse hostel)

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 01:46:00 +0000

I’m planning a ride to Montara (near Half Moon Bay), leaving Saturday morning 1/15, staying overnight in the Montara Lighthouse(!) Hostel, and coming back Sunday morning.

About 25 miles each way, some hills and deserted/derelict highways (see below), and about $30/person for the hostel. If you’re interested in joining, let me know ASAP– I got tentative confirmation of some space at the hostel but need to call back in the next few days to confirm and put down a deposit. [edit: whoa, 10 people interested so far!] [edit edit: up to 12-14]

Big Rides in 2011?

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 17:00:00 +0000

The rainy season has some time for rides, and some time for dreaming about rides to do next summer. Here are nine ideas for Big Rides (I’ll try to actually do 3 or 4 of them):

January: Overnight bike trip down the coast to Montara via Old San Pedro (“Planet of the Apes”) road. [edit: did it, a great weekend]

April: Bike to Point Reyes during wildflower season for a three-day weekend. Carry gear and camp overnight, have a day to bike/hike and enjoy Point Reyes, then bike back. About 43 miles each way. [ edit: did it, awesome ]

Halfway from SF to Mt View, stopping for water as the sun rises. (from last week)

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:16:39 +0000

Halfway from SF to Mt View, stopping for water as the sun rises. (from last week)

Commuting SF -> Mountain View

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 00:10:00 +0000

I tried commuting from SF to Mountain View by bike a month ago– it’s doable, and actually quite beautiful (morning fog, birds, marshy swamps along the bay) but involves getting up early (a 3 hour ride at a casual pace = leave home around 6AM).

Here’s a GPS track of most of the route:

Napa Valley Bike Camping Summary

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 07:12:00 +0000

*July 2022 Note: This post is from 2010. I took another camping trip up here recently with some folks with a slightly different route for the American Canyon->Napa part of the ride (less time on the main roads: there are some new bike paths since 2010, and we found some unconventional shortcuts). Possible new route based on that ride is here, but use your own judgment: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52755794.

As a rare long post: Bike camping in Napa Valley was a great weekend– it felt like a vacation even though it was only two days long. The debrief:

Bike camping weekend of 9/11

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:21:06 +0000

I’m planning on going self-supported bike camping for the first time the weekend of 9/11. I’ve had about 5 people say they might be interested, so probably at least a few of us will end up doing it.

The rough plan is to take the ferry from SF to Vallejo Saturday morning, go on a 40ish mile ride through Napa Valley (Napa / Yountville / St Helena / Calistoga) at a steady but non-racing, no-one-left-behind pace (we’ll be carrying all our gear), stop periodically for wine tasting, and then camp in Bothe-Napa State Park.

RAGBRAI, condensed

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 06:42:00 +0000

I spent a week biking and camping across Iowa with 10,000+ strangers. It was one of the better vacations I’ve taken. Here’s a map of the route, about 450 miles (50-80 miles/day, only one day with serious hills).

I emailed some updates and photos to this blog from my cell phone while I was on the ride– I’m combining all those updates into this post (link below).

Saturday:

Starting off the trip with a near-disaster: the airline (Fronteir/Midwest) lost my bag (tent, clothes, cycling gear, everything except my bike itself). The bag wasn’t even in their system– they had no idea where it was. Then an agent in Milwaukee called me because he’d found my bag and it had my number on it. He didn’t know I was in Omaha. They said they could get it to be a few days later– not useful since I was about to get on a bike the next morning. They said there were no flights left today to send it on. Then I asked someone else and he found a flight to put it on. 4 hours later, it showed up at the airport!

Map/recap: "Three Bears Plus"

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:37:00 +0000

I didn’t organize a ride this week, but went with Adam & Becca on a roughly 50-mile ride combining Berkeley->Orinda (via Tilden Park / Inspiration Point / Wildcat), the “Three Bears” loop (a.k.a. San Pablo Dam loop, but nicknamed after the three moderate hills in a row), a ride through Moraga (less scenic), and then a switchback-filled climb among redwoods and fast descent on Pinehurst. GPS map of the route.

It was a good day, at a modest pace (5+ hours, 4 hours actually in motion). Fauna sightings included wild turkeys (including a fluffy little baby turkey), sheep, deer, many trailers of horses, and roadkill.

Alpine Dam, take 2

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:04:00 +0000

Rode Alpine Dam again today on the new bike, leaving the house at 6:40AM (ouch…).

Here’s a quick overview image of the route (you can also check out the GPS track I recorded, though it’s approximate). The ride was about 70 miles and 4500’ elevation gain, and I wrapped it up with a visit to La Taqueria (3 tacos con aguacate) and Humphry Slocombe (peanut butter curry ice cream).

A few photos from the ride to China Camp.

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:23:00 +0000

China Camp ride map

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:36:00 +0000

It was a generally good day, and a fairly long one (I racked up 67 miles, though it was much less hilly than the Alpine Dam loop). Three of us went on the ride, which was a mix of the usual nice Presidio / Golden Gate / Sausalito ride, a lot of boring suburban and busy-streets riding up by Larkspur / San Rafael, and several few-mile sections of good views in China Camp, and on Irwin and Corte Madera (taking the less direct, more hilly, back streets route on the way back was worth it). Fun, but I didn’t like it as much as some other rides I’ve done.

This Sunday: China Camp

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 07:23:00 +0000

After a few weekends out of town, I’m back to biking.

This Sunday: the China Camp State Park loop in Marin (the road-bikeable route, not the many mountain bike routes). A little under 50 miles round trip from the Presidio Sports Basement. Details TBD (I have some maps to dig up– I’ve never done this route), but here are a few bikely maps for a high-level overview:

Optional extended 61-mile version including Paradise Loop:

Alpine Dam Recap

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:46:00 +0000

The Alpine Dam Loop last weekend is my favorite ride in California to date– I highly recommend it. It was scenic enough to make me swear out loud in amazement on several occasions (a crystal clear day with views of SF and the Farallones didn’t hurt).

It was also a moderately challenging 65 miles door to door, with a fair amount of climbing (about 4500’ ascent total) and fast twisty downhills. Here’s a route map based on CC’s GPS track.

ride this saturday

Mon, 25 May 2009 18:31:00 +0000

I’m planning on joining someone else’s organized ride this Saturday, in case you’re interested – the Rock The Bike group biking to Maker Faire. http://www.rockthebike.com/node/10277 from the web page: “the ride is about 19 miles over mostly flat terrain, and we will take a leisurely pace, cruising with great music on our party bikes.” Plus, there’s valet bike parking and you get into Maker Faire at a discount. To get back without doing that length of ride again, the Hillsdale Caltrain station is just a few miles away. If you’re interested, let me know (I’ll mass-RSVP to the organizers), and meet at Dolores Park at 8:30AM.