Bay Area bike tour write-up and photos

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

Part 1

http://hiawathacyclery.blogspot.com/2013/01/san-francisco-area-bike-adventure.html?m=1

[justin...@gmail.com]

Bolinas is magical.

-J

[Michael]

Thanks Jim!! Awesome pics and narration. I wish I had the chutzpah to go touring like that. Looks like alot of fun!! You'll be able to have those memories a lifetime.

[Liesl]

Jim, I don't think I've ever told you that I Iived in the very south end of Sausalito 10 minutes from Rodeo Beach.  Your photo of it with your bike brought back wonderful memories.  Glad you enjoyed it.  Oh, and Sausalito isn't so bad if you get off the main touristy drag to the back streets and piers, back to its fishing roots.

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

Michael: No chutzpah required! Just load up your bike and find someplace interesting to ride it. What's the worst that can happen?

Liesl, I did not know you lived in that area! I didn't mind Sausalito, but didn't find the grocery store I'd hoped to find there. Mill Valley has a Whole Foods right off the bike trail.

[Dave]

awesome pictures and writeup!  Definitely going to have to do some non-road exploring in my area.  What were some of your top trails?  Sounds like Miwok may have been one.

Thanks,

Dave

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

In the Marin Headlands Miwok/Bobcat/Marincello/Tennessee Valley all link together, and for the most part are relatively easy riding. I'd love to ride Bolinas Ridge when it's not so muddy. The views from the trails going up Mt Tam were awesome. But honestly, the most intriguing trails to me were out Riv's back door in the Diablo foothills. That trail map must look like a plate of spaghetti, there are so many options.

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

Part deux:

http://hiawathacyclery.blogspot.com/2013/01/sf-bike-adventure-part-2.html

[Cyclofiend Jim]

The end of Bolinas Ridge nearest Bolinas-Fairfax Road (Bo-Fax to locals) is mucky and muddy for the first mile or two.  Even in high "dry" summer, you can find it sloppy and wet.  That ridge steals all the moisture off the coastal fog and traps it there. 

After a bit, the ground hardens up (different surface) and by the time you are at the far end (near Sir Francis Drake) it can be completely baked (and/or washboard trail surface).  One of the reasons it's always an interesting equation of gear and clothing here... ;^)

Sorry to have missed your excursion - my mother in law finally passed away at Christmas, and family has had my close attention for the past couple months.     Glad you got to enjoy part of our local playground and you couldn't have asked for a better guide than Manny!

- Jim / cyclo...@gmail.com / cyclofiend.com

[Anne Paulson]

On Mon, Jan 7, 2013 at 7:56 AM, MoVelo <jlpo...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> By the way, I was unaware of being able to ship bikes via Amtrak. I have
> taken the train to the Emeryville station with bikes along, then on the
> ferry across the bay and so forth.

How much do you have to break down bikes to ship them via Amtrak? If
you're not traveling with your bike, can you just ship it the same way
as you'd ship it if you were on the train with it, by turning
handlebars, taking off pedals and putting it in a box?

--
-- Anne Paulson

My hovercraft is full of eels

[franklyn]

Anne,

I have traveled with my bikes on Amtrak as well as using Amtrak as a way to ship bikes to others without my accompaniment. I find it to be a cheaper alternative to Fedex Ground or UPS, if the other person is willing to pick up the package at the train station.

Shipping bikes and traveling with bikes on AMTRAK is the same in terms of packing. You take the big AMTRAK bike box, turn your handlebar around and remove the pedals. That's pretty much it. When shipping a bike to a buyer, I tend to wrap it a little more carefully with some padding materials, but that's not required by Amtrak, it's just for my peace of mind.

Franklyn

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

Anne, Franklyn said pretty much what I would've said. In this case I used Amtrak because of the holiday schedule of my trip. Sometimes I've shipped to a LBS and asked to use their space to reassemble, store my boxes, etc, but obviously many LBSs might have inconvenient hours around the holidays. Amtrak stations tend to be open 365 days per year.

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

MoVelo: I rode a Surly Disc Trucker with Rohloff.

[Manuel Acosta]

Jim. It was a pleasure to be apart of your trip. Pictures look amazing! Next time your in the bay area let me know

[Joe Broach]

Fantastic trip, photos, and writeup. Makes me want to do something similar down that way. A rough gear and luggage list would be excellent. Looks like a tidy setup on the bike (notwithstanding the bag falling off).

Best,

joe broach

portland, or 

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

Gear and luggage:
Surly Disc Trucker with Rohloff
Rear: Carradice Camper longflap containing food, cooking gear, extra clothes, and some misc bike supplies.
Frame: Revelate Tangle bag containing 3L water bladder, pump, tent poles, tubes, multitool, gloves, hat, other small items.
Front: Revelate Sweet Roll with pocket, both size L. The sweet roll contained 2-person Mountainsmith Morrison tent, Mountainsmith 35F down bag, and my rain coat when I wasn't wearing it. The pocket was a catch-all for misc crap and I could have easily done the trip without it.

The bag that fell off was an afterthought. It was a Banjo Brothers pocket messenger bag, which I'd used as a carry-on for my flight, intending to scrunch it up in one of the other bags while riding. During my riding it seemed like a good bag to carry extra clothes, etc. I lashed it to the Carradice with a Surly junk strap, but I was careless about it once, and it fell off on a bumpy road.

One piece of equipment that has become essential to me is a New Trent Li-ion 12Ah battery that can be used to charge USB devices. This gives me plenty of juice to run my iPhone for up to a week if I'm somewhat careful about it.

[Matthew J]

Nice blog posts.  Glad to see you got good weather after some of the early rain.

 

Can always tell the Midwesterners from the West Coast people.  The happy locals had down vests and fleece while you were in a t shirt.  

 

Although I better add Chicago has been so balmy this winter (and last for that matter) I'm starting to need a lot of insulation too. 

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

More, including Riv visit #1:

http://hiawathacyclery.blogspot.com/2013/01/sf-adventure-part-3-into-east-bay.html?m=1

[René Sterental]

Great write-up! You're making me ask some serious questions to myself... :-D

 

René

On Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 9:36 AM, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery <thil...@gmail.com> wrote:

More, including Riv visit #1:

http://hiawathacyclery.blogspot.com/2013/01/sf-adventure-part-3-into-east-bay.html?m=1

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/G-kzIjWd4FMJ.

To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

Thanks René! Hope you get out for some nice adventures of your own.

[Amit Singh]

Jim,

Great meeting you and eating "beef" together!  :)

We'll need to get together in your part of the world this summer.  Thanks for posting photos and writing such a great ride report!

Amit

On Sunday, 6 January 2013 20:44:40 UTC-5, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote:

Part 1

http://hiawathacyclery.blogspot.com/2013/01/san-francisco-area-bike-adventure.html?m=1