Nor Cal Bike trip

[J.Greene]

I'm planning a trip with my wife for a week long bike trip in Nor Cal next year. I'll have a car and would like to stay in 2-3 "base camps" to plan differnent rides over multiple days. We'd like to do coast and redwoods. Does anyone have any ideas on areas to stay that would have good food, roads, scenery?

JG

[sbornia]

Mill Valley would be a good base for 2+ days of riding just north of SF. If you search the forum, you'll find a number of threads about rides around Mt. Tam, the Marin Headlands, Pt. Reyes, Tomales Bay, etc. There's good food there, too, and you're just across the GG Bridge from SF.

A bit further north, you could stay in Bodega Bay, Occidental, or elsewhere in Sonoma for some other great rides.

This map is invaluable for rides around Marin:
http://www.marinbike.org/Map/Index.shtml

Have a great trip!

[rinconryder]

I have heard this place is pretty nice.

http://www.costanoa.com/site.php

Will give you some good coastal riding and you can climb up and over to woodsise as well. You can do a good 80 - 100 mile ride with some coastal riding, climbing and views of the bay.

[MarinRider]

Check out:

http://www.theolemainn.com/

Great place to stay for road riding: 50 miles round trip to Point Reyes Light house, 60 Miles Round Trip to top of Tam, 100 miles to Kings Ridge.

Olema Inn's kitchen is the epic center of the Organic movement here in Marin. Some of the best food you'll find anywhere.

[J.Greene]

Any ideas for around Mendocino?

JG

[bcm119]

In my experience, Mendocino is better explored in a car, preferably a fast one. There are few roads that connect the coast to the redwoods to the inland wine regions, and people drive fast on them. if you want the "real" northern CA, go up to Humboldt county and ride the route of the Tour of the Unknown Coast century-
http://www.tuccycle.org/map.html

It has far less traffic than anywhere in Mendocino. I did that route in 3 days fully loaded for camping, and it was spectacular. Ferndale is a good base camp.

[jmewkill]

I enjoyed the road from ukiah out to Mendicino, the logging trucks up the hill were a bit of a dampener.

The road inland from Stewarts Point up to Kings Ridge is one of the nicest roads I've ever been on.

The taco stand on the north side of Gualala is worth the visit.

[willy in pacifi]

I'm planning a trip with my wife for a week long bike trip in Nor Cal next year. I'll have a car and would like to stay in 2-3 "base camps" to plan differnent rides over multiple days. We'd like to do coast and redwoods. Does anyone have any ideas on areas to stay that would have good food, roads, scenery?

JG


JG,

What are you looking for out of this trip?

If you are looking for a getaway away from big towns then perhaps Half Moon Bay (south of SF). There is lots of great riding where you can ride by yourself or with others depending on the route. It is a small town but close to bigger areas. There is also a good bike shop and they can show you the good routes. Olema would be another good place but the town is very very small and not much to do other than ride. Olema is north of SF.

If your want to be in with all then bike crowd then Mill Valley, Sausilito. Or even SF would work great as it is only a few miles before you are over the bridge anyways and into Marin where all the best cycling is north of The City

willy in pacifica

[J.Greene]

JG,

What are you looking for out of this trip?



Quit time with the wife.

No polution

Fewer cars than home.

Great riding.

Good weather

JG

[Steve Hampsten]

Have you looked at Sea Ranch? It's right there...timeshares available.

+1 for the tacos at Gualala.

Watch the poison oak, as I discovered.

[goonster]

The "standard" Mt. Tam ride through Sausalito, climbing out of Fairfax and descending into Mill Valley is a must, imo.

Calistoga is a decent base, with good food, good riding and attractions for the missus.

Stay off the main wine tasting routes, as there is no shoulder and all the drivers are, well, wine tasting.

Avenue of the Giants is the place for the Redwoods. An easy, gorgeous 60-mile roundtrip ride. Fairly far north, but worth the trip if it's Redwoods you want. Room availability can be very scarce if there are forest fires. Ask me how I know. :crap:

[willy in pacifi]

Quit time with the wife.

No polution

Fewer cars than home.

Great riding.

Good weather

JG

I still vote for Half Moon Bay (HMB). There are old logging roads that climb eastward from the Ocean thru redwood forests up to 2,000 feet. These climbs are anywhere from 4-9 miles long and at times I have ridden them with zero cars. There are also the flater, rolling hills of Hwy 1 south toward Santa Cruz with a couple of nice small towns in between such as Pescadero and San Gregorio. Again, HMB has a bike shop for info on where to ride and there is plenty of riding so you never have to ride the same hill.

I live about 15 miles north of HMB and ride down a few times a month to ride the beautiful hills and coastline. My wife and kids will then meet me down there for lunch and we window shop in the 5-6 block cute comercial district then hit the park so the girls can kick off their shoes and chase after each other . Then we all pile intot he van with my bike and drive the coast home over Devils Slide.

willy in pacifica

[jimp1234]

Half Moon Bay is nice, but you might also might want to consider Santa Cruz as well. Did the SC Mountain Challenge in August, and was really impressed by the great roads with not too much traffic, some redwood stands (though it was very hilly terrain). And you get to ride the roller coaster at the boardwalk.

:beer:



http://www.santacruzcycling.org/scmc/2007/routes.shtml

[MarinRider]

There is no shortage of great places to ride/eat/hang out around NorCal. Pick up the latest Michelin Guide for San Fran and try any "star" or rated restaurant, you will not be disappointed. Make your reservations well ahead of time.

Great riding all around in Marin, Half Moon, Santa Cruz. If you stay at Sea Ranch you can ride Skaggs and train with Levi.

Or you can stay at Deetjen's:

http://www.deetjens.com/home.htm

and ride Nacimiento Fergusson into Hunter Liggett. Big Sur will give you stories to save for your grand kids.

[Steve Hampsten]

There is no shortage of great places to ride/eat/hang out around NorCal. Pick up the latest Michelin Guide for San Fran and try any "star" or rated restaurant, you will not be disappointed. Make your reservations well ahead of time.

Great riding all around in Marin, Half Moon, Santa Cruz. If you stay at Sea Ranch you can ride Skaggs and train with Levi.

Or you can stay at Deetjen's:

http://www.deetjens.com/home.htm

and ride Nacimiento Fergusson into Hunter Liggett. Big Sur will give you stories to save for your grand kids.

good call

you bringing a bike, homey? which?

[MadRocketSci]

Santa Cruz is great. North SF is great. But no one's really mentioned the center of silicon valley cycling yet - woodside, ca. You will have access to all the classic peninsula climbs (kings mtn, old la honda, page mill, montebello, alpine, tunitas creek, etc) and loops that take you out to the coast and back (with the option of hitting Pescadero, San Gregorio, or Half Moon Bay for lunch) through low traffic redwood lined (and some newly paved) roads. Plus, there are plenty of decent restaurants in Palo Alto, Woodside, Menlo Park, Mtn View, etc.

The closest "nice" place to stay near woodside is in Atherton (priciest zip in the nation), but the room rates don't seem too bad:

http://www.athertoninn.com/

Best food I think is in SF or the Berkeley area....

Santa Cruz/Peninsula climb descriptions:
http://www.westernwheelers.org/main/resources/BA_Climbs.html

for north SF rides, just drop into city cycles to get specifics...they have group rides on the weekends that do the classic loops...

good luck!

[J.Greene]

good call

you bringing a bike, homey? which?

This one (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11397373@N03/1119951724/in/set-72157601441684866/)
JG

[vaxn8r]

Half Moon Bay is close to some great hill climbs on roads free from traffic. Tunitas Creek, Old La Honda, Pescadero. All classic, low traffic stuff. I've stayed at the Best Western which is bike friendly and on the south side of town closest to the rides.

I've also stayed at Hotel del Sol (very affordable) in SF. Near the wharf and the bridge and an easy ride over the bridge to some great rides out of Sausalito, Mill Valley etc. Plus, then you have some great restaurants within walking distance.

[eddief]

all of sonoma county from inland wine country, the geysers, lake sonoma, westside road, jenner, russian river, chalk hill, bear republic ipa in healdsburg. get bored, move twenty miles over to napa and do it again.

[Steve Hampsten]

This one (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11397373@N03/1119951724/in/set-72157601441684866/)
JG

bring the jersey

leave the cannoli

nice bike

think about coming out in june for the big mile camp in wallawalla - we may rent some ex-europro pacers. or the ramble in august

and healdsburg is a great call

[don compton]

i just can't stand it any longer. a great spot to stay is "the point reyes inn" in olema. its at the intersection of sir francis drake blvd. and hwy 1. there are two great restaurants within walking distance, and you can ride in any direction and enjoy the wonderful, marin-sonoma atmosphere. its arguably the best riding in the world.
don c.

[Buzz]

A little more info please. What types of riding are you looking to do? Distances, mountains, terrain, etc. You mentioned coastline and redwoods.

What type of eating / wine experience experience are you looking for?

Healdsburg would be an excellent base for several. Lots of good restaurants, wineries and some well known rides from there looping through Russian River area, Sonoma, etc. As some one earlier posted you could then go over to Napa Valley and repeat.

I'll tell you that some of the riding in wine country is great and at other times can be a challenge with traffic and drinking tourists behind the wheel.

If you were looking to get away the Sea Ranch suggestion by Steve (that guy gets around) is an excellent one. A more secluded coastal area with minimal development. It's a bit of a drive to get to it. Lots of great riding though. Sea Ranch is more a place to go to for a week and hang out and cook your meals in.

All the other places mentioned are great for a days riding, i.e. Santa Cruz Mountains - Woodside, Palo Alto but these are all sort of built up areas and not what one would call a vacation destination. Again, great riding but it sounds like you are looking for more of a vacation.

If I were to do something along these lines I'd recommend a couple of days in Healdsburg area and a couple of days in Napa Valley in Yountville or St. Helena. Get a quick ride in and then hit any of the following restaurants in Yountville: Redd, Bouchon, French Laundry or La Toque in Rutherford. Redd is the hot restaurant in the valley right now and for good reason. You can get a reservation. The fixed meal is like $110 with wine pairing, the food is consistently excellent, the cocktails fantastic and their sommelier knows what he is doing. Bouchon is the French bistro of Thomas Keller who owns the French Laundry. Again, reservations are easy or just drop in and have dinner at the Zinc bar. Prices are reasonable. The French Laundry is a destination event and requires a whole day basically as you will be there for about five hours. Reservations are really hard to come by and it will set you back about $250 to $450 per person (or more in our case) depending upon how much you spend on wine. If you are into food, etc. you will appreciate every little step they go through in the selection and preparation of your meal. It will be memorable. La Toque in Rutherford is a more relaxed / accesible version of the French Laundry. Still expensive but more like a three hour meal and reservations can be had. If I had to pick one, though, Redd would be it for the time being.

I'd then stow the bikes and hit SF for a couple of days.

If you need any help with ride routes, etc I am sure that there are a few of us here in No. Cal that can give you more detailed info once you have a better idea of where you will be staying. You might also want to check out chainreaction cycles . com you might have to google it to get the right website. There is an extensive list of rides with photos and descriptions.

Finally, if you want a free meal you are welcome to come to our place in Danville in Eastbay of SF. I will take you on a guided tour up Mt. Diablo here in Danville and environs and then we can go across the street to my neighbor who is an unbelievable cook, cocktalian and former wine maker. KT and J if you are reading this I hope you don't mind me inviting strangers to your house for dinner. He is also the product developer for a famous chocolate factory here..so some special treat usually awaits. Oh, and he rides. We will tell stories and drink wine, etc.

[Skrawny]

NorCal Serotta Forum group event anyone?
I'm up for riding with anyone who wants to ride here in SF, or I'll head to East or South Bay.
-s

[Louis]

The French Laundry is a destination event and requires a whole day basically as you will be there for about five hours. Reservations are really hard to come by and it will set you back about $250 to $450 per person (or more in our case) depending upon how much you spend on wine.

Sounds like a nice place to visit as you cruise by the area on your Meivici...

[Steve Hampsten]

I'll be riding out of Santa Rosa from Nov 1-6 - PM me if anyone wants to hook up there. I expect to get my legs crushed for me.

Any thoughts on Lake County from Buzz or others? We're thinking a Camp or Ramble might be nice there sometime.