Messages

1

Routes / California SF Bay Area campsites: what's open?

« on: June 26, 2020, 05:12:12 pm »

Hey all,

I want to get away, but a lot of my favorite places to camp aren't open. Does anyone know whether the places that are reserve-only are letting cyclists into the bike camping areas? I'm thinking places like Half Moon Bay, Brighton Beach and Big Basin.

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Routes / Re: Bike route San Rafael to Oakhurst / Yosemite

« on: August 14, 2019, 07:50:27 pm »

Local cyclists love Mount Hamilton as well. It can be hot in August, though, because it's exposed all the way up.

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Routes / Re: Bike route San Rafael to Oakhurst / Yosemite

« on: August 14, 2019, 05:35:34 pm »

Bclayden's route sounds good to me. But the rider would have to be, as Bclayden says, VERY prepared for the climb over Mount Hamilton and through the San Antonio Valley. The route over Mount Hamilton is beautiful but once you start climbing at Alum Rock Park, there are exactly three places for services: water and nothing else at Grant Ranch Park, partway up Mount Hamilton; water and maybe a food vending machine at the top; food at the Junction Cafe, 65 miles and 5400 feet of elevation gain later.

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Routes / Re: Highway 2 in Vermont near St. Johnsbury (Green Mountains Loop)

« on: July 28, 2019, 12:43:40 pm »

I love dirt riding! What other dirt roads do you recommend in the area?

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Routes / Highway 2 in Vermont near St. Johnsbury (Green Mountains Loop)

« on: July 27, 2019, 07:00:04 pm »

I'm planning a September trip using the ACA Green Mountains route. As I go over the route, I'm looking at the East Alternate A section. CCW, approaching St. Johnsbury, the map has you take N. Danville Road, then get on US 2 toward St. Johnsbury. The mapping software I'm using does NOT want me to get on US 2. Is it legal to ride there?

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Routes / Re: Bike route San Rafael to Oakhurst / Yosemite

« on: July 27, 2019, 06:56:32 pm »

Well, I haven't checked this in a long time, but Nyimbo, what would you recommend instead of Highway 49? I've ridden it and didn't like it, but I didn't know about alternatives.

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Routes / Re: Bike route San Rafael to Oakhurst / Yosemite

« on: June 05, 2019, 03:10:10 pm »

I live in this area. Your selected route is not one that I would pick. Let's take a look at the geography of the area you're planning on riding.

San Rafael is near the coast, with little mountains to the west and smaller mountains to the east. Once you get over them as you head east, you then have to cross a big big flat area, the Central Valley, to get to the foothills of the Sierra. The Central Valley is hot, flat, windy and dull. The average high in July is 35 degrees C and it can get a lot hotter.  It's not a fun place to ride in the summer, and your goal should be to minimize your time in it.

Your proposal has you riding right down the Central Valley from Stockton to Modesto. This just prolongs your time in an area you'd rather escape as soon as possible.

The Sacramento River and the American River come from the Sierra, meet in Sacramento, cross the rest of the Central Valley and end up in the San Francisco Bay. I advise as much as possible following the rivers to the Sierra Foothills (say, to Folsom) and then riding along the foothills to Oakhurst. That will be hillier, but it will be so much better.

So I suggest riding to Sacramento, either via Petaluma and then along the Highway 80 corridor, or ride to San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge and take a ferry to Vallejo, or ride to San Francisco over the GG Bridge and take a ferry to Jack London Square in Oakland, ride through Walnut Creek and Rio Vista. (Check Google Maps.)

From Sacramento, take the American River bike trail to Folsom, then head up to Placerville. Then head south on Highway 49. I don't love Highway 49, but it's a lot better than riding for days in the Central Valley.

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Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Re: Pacific Coast Route Section #4, maps 47-49 October 2017

« on: September 30, 2017, 06:13:57 pm »

Great info, jfswain.

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Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Re: Pacific Coast Route Section #4, maps 47-49 February 2017

« on: August 22, 2017, 12:10:40 pm »

I'm pretty sure there isn't an easier route. I know of three other routes, but all of them are harder, not easier.

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Routes / Re: Just Finished Banff to Whitefish of GDMBR. What section next?

« on: August 06, 2017, 11:07:03 pm »

The southern Colorado sections are gorgeous. The only trouble is that flatlanders who start in Colorado could have altitude issues. One great thing about doing the whole thing is, Banff isn't very high. Gradually, as you ride south, you get higher, but there's plenty of time to acclimate.

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Routes / Re: Gravel roads/ alternatives on the Pacific Coast Route

« on: August 06, 2017, 02:37:37 pm »

 Craig, thanks for the Klamath Beach Road suggestion. I loved it! I'd say there was more than a little hiker bikering, and one short section at the landslide was so steep I couldn't push my loaded bike up it. My friend and I pushed my bike up, then his. If I'd been alone, I would have unloaded the bike, pushed it up, then gone back for the panniers. But it's a short section, and after that section the road rapidly improves.

Note that once you ride past Kamp Klamath along the coast, the road becomes dirt and shortly turns into a one way road going north; it's a clockwise loop. My friend and I continued south, the wrong way. Riding against traffic worked out because there was almost no traffic, but on a day when there were cars, if there is such a day, riding against traffic on a narrow hilly winding road would be ugly.

The detour ends up on the Newton P. Drury Parkway, perhaps my favorite road on the entire Pacific Coast Route. Miles and miles of slow dreamy descent through old growth redwoods.

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Routes / Re: Gravel roads/ alternatives on the Pacific Coast Route

« on: July 26, 2017, 12:47:29 am »

My buddy and I rode the Klamath Beach Road alternate a couple of weeks ago. I loved it. Let's be clear, this is a mountain bike trail. People on road bikes will be doing some walking. There was one little section that I couldn't even push the loaded bike up. My buddy and I pushed one bike up the section together, then went back for the other bike.

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GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Openstreetmaps.nl map for Pacific Coast?

« on: June 09, 2017, 04:18:14 pm »

I just went to openstreetmaps.nl to get a map for the Pacific Coast, to download onto my Garmin etrex for my upcoming Pacific Coast Trip. But it will take 10 days to build it, and I haven't got ten days. Surely someone has already done this and can pass along their map. Help.

Thanks.

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Routes / Re: Pacific Coast Road Quality

« on: June 07, 2017, 01:56:33 pm »

Speaking of 1.8 tires, I've set up my touring bike for the Pacific Coast with new Compass Naches Pass tires, 1.8 *inches* wide. I couldn't be happier with these tires. Like all low pressure tires with compliant sidewalls, they have low rolling resistance; high pressure tires, we now know, have higher rolling resistance than low pressure tires. I replaced some 1.5" Schwalbes that were like riding on rocks.

I had been touring on Panaracer Pasela 35 mm tires, which I also like, but these Compass tires are better. For me, riding on hard narrow tires offers scant benefits. 

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Routes / Re: Pacific Coast Road Quality

« on: June 06, 2017, 10:29:59 pm »

I think OP has 0.7 inch/18 mm tires. In my opinion, that's too narrow for anyone to tour on, unless they are credit card touring and weigh less than 80 pounds.