My regular bike rides. Either solo or on
Uncle Fester with
Marya. They mainly start in San Francisco and go through Marin. If I mention door-to-door distances, my door is in the middle of San Francisco. Your door is probably someplace else.
I didn't plan this route too much before I did it. I had always wanted to ride out to the Pt. Reyes Light House and I didn't think it would be that long, so I decided to go over Mt. Tam and go down the west side (which I've always been meaning to go on). It ended up a little longer than I thought. Luckily, it was a beautiful day with not much wind. It took me a little over 10 hours door-to-door do this 120 mile route.
A deer almost hit me on the backside of Mt. Tam, a lady in a station wagon almost turned into me in Inverness, and there's no water between HWY 1 and the lighthouse (well, perhaps you could turn off at one of the beaches). The last 10 miles to the lighthouse is all cows, cows, cows, which is fine, I like cows. The lighthouse and views are beautiful (although if you actually want to go in, the lighthouse is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesday).
An overview of road bike routes in Marin County, California (from the perspective of someone who rides in from San Francisco). Currently, I note bathrooms that are oriented toward a solo bicyclists perspective and other spots to have picnics and various destinations.
A great picnic destination spot. Especially, if your bike can do a little fire trailing. There's tons of wildlife up here: ducks, fish, turtles, wild turkeys. There's picnic tables, pit toilets, and running water. The climb from Fairfax is short and steep, but it's also shaded.
This is one of the more popular routes in Marin. Probably because it's fairly short and not very hilly. There's also a cut-off option to make it even shorter. Plus, you get to ride through one of the richest areas on the planet. And if you're really lazy, you can take the ferry back in Tiburon.
Like many of my rides, this one wasn't planned. I had always wanted to do a century, but had never gotten around to it. On this day, I was a little pissed off and just started riding and riding and just kept going. San Francisco to Samuel P. Taylor to Marshall to Novato to San Rafael. About 108 miles door-to-door.
So I was curious if I could do a 200k Brevet (I'm not into organized rides), so this past summer I went out and tried it. The hardest part was finding a route, which in the end turned out to be: San Francisco - China Camp - Lucas Valley - Nicasio - Marshall - Olema - Samuel P. Taylor - Mini-Paradise Loop. Door-to-door, it took a little under 10 hours.
A short ride with a nice climb and gorgeous views the whole way up.
This is one of my favorite rides. A nice climb, some rolling hills, a curvy decent, and some beautiful scenery. It's about 58 miles door-to-door.
Door to door this is about a 63 mile route. It's got a few hills: Sausalito, Camino Alto, and the one outside of Fairfax. But they're not bad. Although, the one outside of Fairfax is often breezeless on hot days.