Mt Tamalpais Birthday Trip

 

Xiaoqin found a hotel on Mt Tam and decided it would be a great birthday present for me to do a trip with her. I mapped out two rides and we drove up on Saturday and rode the first, an ambitious 38 mile loop with more than 4500' of climbing, taking in RidgeCrest, Mt Tam summit, and Highway 1. It did not disappoint.

While the valley was shrouded in fog, on Panaromic Highway and Pan Toll road we were in the sun, with gorgeous views of the sea of clouds below us. You might think things couldn't get better but when we descended down to Ridgecrest, the gate across the road was closed!

We saw plenty of cyclists coming the other way so we knew it was passable by bicycles so we rode around the gate and onto the car free highway. The views were nothing short of phenomenal, and we could use the entire road because no cars were going to be on it!

Once the road descended enough, it was foggy and mysterious but the pavement despite being wet didn't splash any water on us, and the road was still car free so we could dodge around wet spots and avoid construction debris. On the other side of the gate a group of cyclists stopped us and asked if we could help with their broken chain. While I had an 11s quick link they clearly needed a chain tool and I didn't have one with me. Fortunately, they had a radio and radio'd their parents for help.

The descent down into Bolinas was gorgeous if cool, making us wear our jackets. At the bottom we turned left and headed along the Bolinas Lagoon, which was beautiful even on a cloudy day, with fast flat curves that denied the right to cars to drive at full speed but were perfect on a bicyle.

At Stintson beach we stopped at the Parkside Cafe for some seafood tacoes to brace ourselves for the inevitably trafficky climb up Highway 1 towards Muir Woods. A hostile hitch hiker told us to block all the traffic going southbound. Usually it's the motorists who are rude but I guess anti-bicyclist sentiment extends to many hikers as well.

At Muir Woods we stopped to use the bathroom before climbing up the Muir Woods road to four corners. The sun came and went but it never rained and the temperatures were warm though not unpleasantly so.

Back at the car, we loaded it back up and drove to Mountain Home Inn, a tiny hotel with just a few rooms. Rather than miss the sunset, Xiaoqin had the smart idea to bring instant noodles and we could eat dinner in our rooms and then drive back up to Ridgecrest for the gorgeous sunset.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and then drove to Point Reyes Station to start an easier ride along parts of the Marshall Loop.

In retrospect, I should have reversed the route, since the traffic on the return was much worse later in the day while traffic on that part of highway 1 was relatively light. Nevertheless, we had gorgeous views of Tomales Bay before turning inland.

Once inland past Tomales it got warm very quickly. Unfortunately Xiaoqin suffered a flat at a rest stop from a thorn. We quickly fixed it thanks to the Cycplus Pump that was on her bike. Despite my never having topped up the charge it happily pumpped up her tire after we installed a new tube.

The return via Wilson Hill Road followed by Hicks Valley Road and then Pt Reyes Petaluma Road had  a lot of traffic but the road mostly had wide bike lanes and it was mostly downhill. It could have been cooler, but we got to Point Reyes Station and our car before 2:00pm  and could buy a nice lunch and sit outside before going home. What a wonderful birthday present from Xiaoqin!