SF Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area is home to a rich vibrant cycling community, history, culture, and landscape. If you can, add it to your bucket list of cycling adventure destinations.
Routes
Pescadero
To say this route is dear to my heart would not tell the whole story. Riding from Silicon Valley over to the quaint coastal towns of Pescadero and San Gregorio is a rite of passage. First off its quite long. There’s only a few ways to get there and they all involve 2000+ foot climbs going out and returning. The rewards are endless as you get to travel an array of landscapes from vast open farmland to deep dark redwood forests. The climbing is epic and by most accounts world renowned. Some of the biggest legends of cycling have pedaled through this region of Northern California. I have done this route many times over the past decade and I typically start by climbing either Old La Honda or Kings Mountain and traversing a loop counter-clockwise through Pescadero, back up Haskins Hill and West Alpine, and down Page Mill (one of my favorite descents). Occasionally I have gone the reverse direction but usually bombing down Page Mill is my reward for a big day of climbing.
It is worth noting that this area of the peninsula is very popular on weekends with car clubs, motorcyclists, and general tourists. My friends and I usually try to get going early in order to minimize riding with those spirited drivers.
A few tips that may help with your trip (some are unwritten rules).
First never go down the east side of Old La Honda. It’s narrow and most folks are climbing it. The roads out here are narrow and twist/wind up the mountain so there are plenty of blind corners. Folks typically climb Tunitas Creek heading back, it’s up to you.
There are only a handful of places to get food or fluids. Depending on the time of day your only option and one I highly recommend is Pescadero gas station. It may not look like much but they have Mexican food and all the basics to survive and have hooked me up when I was desperate and had no cash.
There is also “The Bike Hut” run by Potrero Nuevo Farm on Tunitas creek rd. Those folks offer cyclists free snacks and fresh water. There is a donation box and chairs to relax outside. Super cool idea (I hope to do this in Midcoast Maine someday).
Folks typically skip highway 1 due to cars. Although you can’t really avoid it getting from Stage rd. to Tunitas. If you want lots of views of the ocean, however, you will have to venture out to highway 1. Note: The wind is typically at your back heading south on highway 1 so plan accordingly.
Other bigger adventure options involve heading south towards or to Santa Cruz. Later I will post a ride I did which ended up being a big day with plenty of elevation gain.
