Bike It

That was an epic two-person scouting ride (checking out some new parts of the Bay Area for potential group rides). I won’t spoil the surprise yet by posting a map or details, since parts of this will probably work their way into a “mystery group ride” coming in the next few months.

But in a few teaser photos:

Of course, I only noticed this sign after passing through:

Pavement art:

Well, that was a first: biking up an on-ramp onto a freeway. Technically legal at this particular entrance (the standard “PEDESTRIANS, BICYCLISTS, MOTOR DRIVEN CYCLES PROHIBITED” sign had the “BICYCLISTS” part whited out), but it still felt wrong… and the freeway shoulder riding was a bit sketchy, especially when there was an abandoned couch in the way. Not an experience I feel a burning need to repeat or make part of a group ride…

Marked as closed on my paper map, but passable (and avoids a larger detour):

Not a lie— I heard the bleats and saw a goat:

A bar with friendly regulars, pool, pinball, and many images of 19th century San Francisco scoundrel (and Brannan St namesake) Sam Brannan:

Not shown: asking a guard about access to a road beyond a gate, and being told the area was taken over by Homeland Security years ago, and there were “guys running around with guns back there” so we shouldn’t try to sneak in. Okay.

Score one for “escape the ordinary”.

On Sunday I joined someone else’s group ride, SF -> Fairfax (with a stop at the Good Earth Natural Foods for lunch— good sandwich options) -> Nicasio (with a stop at Rancho Nicasio) and then back via the very scenic Lucas Valley Road to San Rafael and Larkspur. A friendly crew and a solid 54-mile ride with a few thousand feet of climbing.

A few of the cyclocross maniacs led us onto dirt paths, wood chips, and coarse gravel through the Presidio:

Happy 75th, golden gate bridge:

Carnival and ferris wheel set up by the Mill Valley bike path— odd:

A memorable rock on Lucas Valley Rd, near the peak:

I bailed out and caught the Larkspur ferry since we passed the terminal about 5 minutes before one was going to leave, and I wanted to get back across the city in time for a BBQ.

Thanks to Jason and Erica and Cat, I got to go on an interesting 120-mile bike tour up to Wisconsin and back while I was visiting Chicago, and I didn’t have to do any of the planning.

(rhetorical question: who rides 120 miles to a Super 8 motel at the edge of a cluster of strip malls, just for fun?)

I was less interested in any specific destination than I was in checking out a variety of towns, environments, and regional cycling infrastructure (impressive!), and this ride certainly delivered.

It started off through lush, damp, marshy woods (this section of bike trail runs along the North branch of the Chicago river, which periodically floods, which I hear is why this land hasn’t been developed).

Rolling past the Japanese Islands at the Chicago Botanic Gardens:

There’s some Angry Birds joke to be made here:

This section of the trail ran dead-straight for miles, below high-voltage power lines (the utility company right of way presumably protected this narrow strip of land from other types of development):

Our one unplanned detour, a few hundred feet down a grassy path that looked like it could be a shortcut… but wasn’t:

Later that day, the trail gave way to gravel or crushed limestone— still hard-packed enough to ride on easily, though a few softer sections would have been tricky on really narrow tires.

Scoffing at path closures:

And by late afternoon, we were at the end of the DPR trail, near the Illinois-Wisconsin border:

Some slogging along the on-again, off-again shoulders on busy multi-lane streets brought us to strip malls at the edge of Kenosha, Wisconsin, where we ate unhealthy food at a Buffalo Wild Wings surrounded by fifty flat-screen TVs, had some local beer (Spotted Cow from New Glarus), and then watched whatever movie we could find on TV (Rambo) at the Super 8 before passing out.

The next morning, up moderately early (I had a flight to catch later that day, so wanted to leave some buffer time), I realized I’d reassembled a broken chain incorrectly the day before and it had been wearing a groove in a tab on my derailleur— the noisy riding on gravel and end-of-day fatigue had me ignoring the warning noises. 

“Milk for America”, with a cow as M:

Amazingly well-maintained, smooth, asphalt paths in Southern Wisconsin:

Riding through industrial areas North of Chicago:

A freeway off-ramp that looks like it’s been blocked off for years, and not a single car in sight.

At a gate to another bike path, several bike-themed sculptures:

A few-block detour to a scenic overlook of Lake Michigan:

Skokie sculpture park:

And finally back in Chicago (though these sharrows suggesting bikes ride in the sometimes heavily cracked, glass-and-gravel-covered section of pavement right next to the sidewalk were a bit suspect).

I disassembled and packed the bike into the case (only 16 minutes start-to-finish, down from 30 last time), and back to the airport I went. Success!

About 30 minutes to pack the first time (including reading instructions), about 20 minutes to unpack and assemble:

A casual day of bike riding, picnicking, and wine tasting around the Livermore area. The initial interest in this many-times-rescheduled ride and the good weather made me think 15 people might show up… but it was a group of 31, word of mouth through three degrees of separation. Thanks for being great, everyone.

Riding a few miles through Sycamore Grove Park— interesting trees on either side, bridges to ride over, and almost no cross-streets or signs of other people:

Scenic (accidental) half-mile detour to the Southern terminus of Arroyo, before it becomes a path to Del Valle or the ruins of an abandoned TB Sanitarium:

A long leisurely picnic on the grass with good bread, cheese, and bottles of wine, at Wente Vineyards (chosen not so much for their wine, but to have an excuse to ride through Sycamore Park):

On the way back we decided to turn the ride into more of a loop than an out-and-back (and I wanted to share the dedicated bike paths at the base of the Southeast hills that we’d stumbled upon last year). They start at Wetmore & Arroyo, and aren’t even shown on my East Bay Bike Coalition map, so they must be fairly new:

ladybug: (not shown: the vulture I saw tugging on the entrails of some other dead animal, about 20’ off the side of the road)

Fenestra, a very friendly cellar and space:

A good day.

The whole ride was about 30 miles (hey, with riding to and from BART and 31 people, that’s probably a thousand person-miles):

Let’s try this again. Bike tour of a few Livermore vineyards.

Rolling out Sunday at 11:11 from Dublin/Pleasanton BART, about 25 miles round trip. Example from two years ago: http://bikeit.tumblr.com/post/480688964/livermore