badger: May 2012

Just got home from a whirlwind bike trip down to Marin County and Carmel. We drove down to Fairfax last Wednesday, then Thursday followed a 75 mile route posted by the Marin Cycling Club starting at the post office. This is one of the prettiest rides I have ever done. I was amazed by the lack of traffic so close to San Francisco. We met two guys that rode in from SF, taking the Golden Gate bridge to Mill Valley up to Fairfax, following our route until we parted on Hwy 1 to take a little side trip into the not so friendly, hard to find, town of Bolinas. The weather cooperated with sunny skies although a stiff headwind made the 'wall' of Hicks Road that much harder. Turning south at Marshall we had a good tailwind and almost missed our turn to Bolinas Fairfax road had the SF guys not passed us yelling, "you missed your turn!" One can easily do 75-100 miles without support here. There are many small towns to stop at, including Marshal where had it not been 10:30 am, we would have shucked some oysters at Hog Island Oyster Company. They supply you with a glove and you shuck you own, sitting at charming picnic tables on the bay.

Hicks Road

Hog Island Oyster Company

We stopped for some tasty baked goods and coffee at the Bovine Bakery in Point Reyes. Lunch was a turkey sandwich made at a small grocery store in Bolinas.

Bolinas

Good thing we ate lunch as the climb up to Mt. Tam is about 6 miles averaging an 11-14% grade. After Mt. Tam, we descended to the Alpine Lake dam followed by a little more climbing into Fairfax. The wind picked up again and at the Meadow Club golf course I was nearly blown off my bike. 75 miles, 5500 feet of gain.

Mt. Tam

We drove down Thursday evening to Carmel and stayed at the Carmel Mission Inn, a very nice, affordable place to stay when down there. We were up at 6:00 am for breakfast and departed at 7:30 for our ride 92 miles south on Hwy 1. Clear skies again with tailwinds that built during the day. This is another good ride one can do unsupported. 92 miles, 6500 feet of gain, the last 20 or so miles one can fly in to San Simeon with a stiff tailwind. This particular ride is organized for 'friends' by Jack from SF, and has escalated from 25 riders on the first ride, to over 100 riders this year.

Schematic prepared by Jack, our ride organizer

We stayed in the Cavalier in San Simeon. Last time we did this ride, two years ago, we had a room facing the beach, but were too late to enjoy the deck and views (Allan broke a spoke 10 miles out of Carmel, got it fixed in Monterey and we got in at 8 pm! see post 5/10/10). This year we got in early but forgot to request one of those more charming rooms. The next day we took a bus back to Carmel that Jack reserves (60 people max, the bikes go back in a van) and got back at about 1:30 pm. Off to Portland -- got back at 2 am!