From the Daly City BART station, go west on John Daly Boulevard. John Daly Boulevard is a smooth, fairly wide 4-lane expressway. Descend on John Daly for about 2 kilometers; turn right on Lake Merced Boulevard. Lake Merced Boulevard is a slower 4-lane road with a few potholes. Take Lake Merced about a kilometer to John Muir Drive (just south of Lake Merced itself). John Muir is a wide road with little traffic; don't get on the stupid "bike path" to the right, it's horrible on weekends. Lake Merced sometimes has some nice views. After about a mile, John Muir ends at Skyline Boulevard; turn right on Skyline (it's a merge). Skyline is a fast 4-lane highway with a reasonable shoulder. Take the first left off Skyline (about a kilometer) onto the Great Highway.
|
|
|
The Great Highway is a blast if the weather is right. There's a short, somewhat steep hill, then a longer descent on the other side that brings you out to the ocean. After the first light (about a kilometer), it's rail-straight and fast for about 3 km; there's usually a nice tailwind on this section, and it's pretty and often closed to motor traffic. There's sometimes drifting sand on the road but usually not on the northbound side. There are traffic lights placed periodically but they're only to let pedestrians cross to the beach so they're usually ignorable.
After about 3 km the straight section ends; you'll see the Cliff House up ahead and a windmill across the intersection to the right. Turn right (on Lincoln Way) and immediately left on South Drive into Golden Gate Park. All the roads in Golden Gate Park are wide and well-paved and are often closed to motor traffic on the weekends. Most of them have rolling hills; don't push it too hard because we have (at least) one real climb up ahead.
At the top of the first hill, turn left (streets are marked poorly if at all in Golden Gate Park) and then quickly right onto John F. Kennedy Drive. JFK climbs some more but not too steeply; again, don't push it too hard. After about 2 km, and just before we come to an overpass, turn left on an unmarked street. This ends shortly at Crossover; turn left on Crossover. This will take us around a bend to a light at Fulton and 25th. We will go straight through the light onto 25th Avenue.
25th Avenue leaves the park and enters a mostly residential area in the Richmond district. There is one somewhat steep but short climb in the second block and it's mostly flat to the end about 2 km down. When it ends, turn right on Lincoln Boulevard (aka El Camino Del Mar). Lincoln will take you into the Presidio; it is a fairly significant climb, but it rewards you with some great views of the Golden Gate, Seal Rocks and the Marin headlands. Feel free to stop on the way up and have some water or a snack. Lincoln climbs for almost a mile; this is the biggest climb we've had on a beginners' ride, but it's really not that bad if you take it easy and gear down appropriately. Also, the best views are on the steepest section; take a break and look out over the ocean to the rocky Marin headlands. After the peak it descends for a bit to the Golden Gate Bridge visitor's center.
For easy route
See "Returning to San Francisco" below.
For intermediate and advanced routes
Turn left into the Golden Gate tour bus area. There are restrooms and a
snack bar here, and we'll probably take a break. After that, go up
the road by the visitor center. On weekends bikes must use the west
sidewalk (really they should use the west sidewalk all the time but the
bridge authority for some reason keeps the west sidewalk locked during the
week, forcing bikes to use the east sidewalk and dodge tourists in high
winds). To get there you go up to the east sidewalk and turn right on
a path that goes under the bridge (it's marked). The bridge is no fun;
there's usually a stiff crosswind and it's just generally unpleasant. Be
careful around the bridge towers, the winds whip around them and make riding
treacherous (slow way down and you'll be OK). The bridge lasts for about
3 kilometers.
| 
|
Conzelman Road is under construction, so we go all the way to the parking lot at the end of the bridge, climb the short, steep hill, turn right and go under the freeway and down a road called Sausalito Lateral. This goes down a steep hill into Sausalito; by the time it gets down there it goes through a couple name changes and is called Bridgeway at the bottom. Bridgeway has a nice view of the bay, then enters the Sausalito tourist district. It eventually exits to a more realistic business district and then ends at a freeway ramp after about 5 km. There's a bike path to the right of the freeway ramp; take it. This is not bad as bike paths go but don't be fooled; we are taking it only because there is no other bike-legal route north in Marin.
The bike path is popular but fortunately mostly with bicycles rather than rollerbladers and dog-walkers. It goes through the salt marshes for about 5 km, then ends at East Blithedale Avenue. Go sorta straight-rightish onto East Blithedale Avenue (that is, don't turn right). East Blithedale is a wide road with good pavement. It has one kind of annoying intersection with 101 and then is mostly good riding. It becomes Tiburon Boulevard past 101, and after about 3 more kilometers rolls into Tiburon's business district. If you're bonked, you can catch the ferry to San Francisco here; it costs about $5. If not, continue on through Tiburon on Tiburon Blvd. After it passes through Tiburon it becomes Paradise Drive, and starts rolling along through wooded areas with views of the bay. After about 3km it meets up with Trestle Glen Boulevard.
Tamalpais goes into downtown Corte Madera and ends at Magnolia. Turn right on Magnolia. It is narrow in parts, but mostly an OK, residential road. Take Magnolia to Bon Air; turn right. There's a bridge over Corte Madera Creek, and a water fountain shortly after that. Bon Air then ends at Sir Francis Drake; turn left. Sir Francis Drake is a busy street at this point; stick together. Just after a pedestrian overpass, turn right on Wolfe Grade.
Wolfe Grade is a somewhat steep (about 8%) but not too long (about 60 meters total climbing) hill. After the peak, it has a rather steep and twisting descent into San Rafael, where it becomes A St., and then becomes one way headed the other direction. Turn right on First St. and then immediately left on C St. Turn right on Fourth St. and then left on Lincoln after about 1 km. Lincoln moves out of downtown San Rafael and parallels the freeway.
After about 4 km, Lincoln turns to the left, and then back to the right, changing names to Los Ranchitos Road. Los Ranchitos then becomes Las Gallinas Ave., which is a wide, mostly residential road that we will be on for a while.
Take Las Gallinas past Manuel T. Freitas Pkwy. and Lucas Valley Rd., then turn right on Miller Creek Rd. Just before the freeway, there's another bike path paralleling it; turn left on this path; it's somewhat better maintained than the last one. After 5 km, it ends at Alameda Del Prado; turn right. Alameda Del Prado is another frontage road; it ends at Ignatio Blvd.; turn left. Ignatio starts out commercial, then becomes slightly uphill, wide, quiet, and residential. We stay on it for about 5 km, then turn right on Sunset Pkwy. Sunset becomes slightly more uphill, then has a rather fun descent to South Novato Blvd; turn left.
South Novato starts out residential, and then becomes commercial as it enters downtown Novato and becomes Novato Blvd. It leaves Novato after about 10 km, and becomes a quiet road through pastureland. It is rolling and gradually uphill, with one short, steep section, until it ends at the Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Rd. after 15 km; turn left.
Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Rd. is also quiet and rolling; after about 1 km, The Cheese Factory will be on our right. This is past the halfway point, and should be a good stopping place. You can refill your water bottles, buy cheese and other stuff at the store, hang out on picnic benches by the duck pond, and just generally chill out. When we start riding again, we continue heading south. After 5km we hit Nicasio Valley Rd.; turn left. Nicasio Valley is rolling and slightly uphill. After about 5 km, it does a dogleg through the odd little town of Nicasio, and about 1 km after that, Lucas Valley Road turns off to the left. Turn left on Lucas Valley.
Lucas Valley (yes, that Lucas--Skywalker Ranch is on this road) is a pleasant road that gradually climbs for about 6 km, then has a fast descent, followed by a gradual descent back down into San Rafael. Once we get back to the residential part of town (about 16 km total), we'll hook up with Las Gallinas on our right, and reverse part of our path from the morning. Turn right on Las Gallinas, which becomes Los Ranchitos and then Lincoln, and take Lincoln to Fourth St. Turn right on Fourth St.
Fourth St. is fairly busy and commercial at first; after it leaves town, it becomes Red Hill Ave, and after a total of 3km, hits Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Turn left on Sir Francis Drake.
Sir Francis Drake is busy and commercial; we're on it about 3km until
we pass the College of Marin and hit College Ave. Turn right on
College Ave, which bears to the left as it becomes Magnolia. Keep
going straight on Magnolia as it becomes Corte Madera Ave. and then
Camino Alto. After it leaves Corte Madera it climbs at about a 7%
average grade for about 80 meters total, then has a rather fun descent
to East Blithedale. Turn left, and then right on the bike path, and
follow the directions for "Returning to San
Francisco" below.
Returning to San Francisco:
Take the bike path to where it ends in Sausalito. Cross the street
and continue south on Bridgeway. Bridgeway goes through Sausalito,
then starts to climb the hill, becoming Sausalito Lateral. Continue
climbing past where we originally left Ft. Baker. Sausalito Lateral
eventually goes underneath 101; turn right soon after the underpass,
and then turn left into the Golden Gate Bridge west parking lot.
Cross the bridge, and then get on the bike path at the other end. Do
not go into the GG Bridge tourist area; stay on the bike path until it
hits Lincoln, then turn left.
Continue descending on Lincoln for about 1 km; turn left on Cowles St. shortly after going underneath the freeway. (Cowles is a small and not particularly well-marked road; if you miss Cowles Street, you can turn left on McDowell Avenue or Crissy Field Avenue later, they all wind up together). Cowles hits McDowell Avenue; turn left. McDowell Avenue hits Crissy Field Avenue; turn left again, and then turn right after going under the freeway again. This will put you on Mason Street in the actual ex-Army base, and you'll probably have a nice tailwind. (This all sounds more complicated than it is. All you are trying to do is get between the freeway and the bay, and then head east. It's pretty obvious when you actually are there). The newly restored Crissy Field will be on your left; it's much more pleasant than it used to be, quite pretty in fact.
Mason Street is straight and wide and has little traffic, and there's a nice view of the bridge. After about a mile it exits onto Marina Boulevard; turn left. Marina Boulevard takes you through (duh) the Marin a District, and it's a rather pretty ride. Marina veers to the right at Fort Mason; follow it, then turn left on Bay. Bay is a mostly residential street with one hill (Russian Hill). In this direction there's almost no climb and a rather steep but non-fun descent (watch out for parked cars and don't run the lights). The descent ends around the fringes of the financial district, then hits Embarcadero after about 5 km total.
Turn right on Embarcadero and take it to the Ferry Building. Dismount across from the Ferry Building and head across Justin Herman Plaza to the Embarcadero BART station. Total riding is about 20 kilometers for the beginner's ride, 90 kilometers for the intermdiate ride, and 162 kilometers (100 miles) for the advanced ride.