Half Bay in a Day

Last week I had a brilliant idea: to circumnavigate the San Francisco bay over the course of 2 days. I would start in San Francisco and travel clockwise, passing through Marin and the North Bay on the first day, then begin day two in Oakland and travel through the east bay, across the Dumbarton bridge, and up the peninsula to finish in SF. That was the plan. I ended up completing the first leg, from SF to Oakland, but then lost my motivation for the second day. Which is why this entry is called "Half Bay in a Day" rather than "Bay in 2 Days".

I've mentioned elsewhere that there's a plan to eventually encircle the bay with a multi-use path called the Bay Trail. Right now there are huge gaps in the trail and some sections are unpaved, so until it's completed, you have to piece together a route around the bay based on the existing network of paths, bike lanes, designated bike routes, highways, etc. While there were some interesting sections of the ride, like the north bay marshlands and traveling over the new span of the Carquinez bridge, overall it wasn't that pleasurable. I think I'll wait until the Bay Trail is complete before trying it again.

The route begins at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, and follows the well-traveled route along the waterfront, over the Golden Gate bridge, through Sausalito, Corte Madera, San Rafael, and Novato. This stretch of the route through Marin (about the first 35 miles or so) was very pleasant, although once you get through Sausalito, the bay is out of sight for quite a while. I could have followed a different route closer to the water, one that goes by San Quentin, but that's not all that pleasant. Side note: isn't it strange how, in the bay area, the maximum security prisons occupy great waterfront property? They could move San Quentin to Bakersfield and convert that land to expensive condos in a flash.

At around mile 40 the route joins Highway 37, which is the only way to get from Novato to Vallejo and is, I believe, technically a "freeway" in certain spots. I really don't enjoy riding on the shoulder of freeways for 15 miles, with cars and tanker trucks zipping by at 65+. However, this highway does have a nice generous shoulder the entire stretch, with those safety bumps providing an extra buffer between you and the cars. It wasn't an ideal cycling road, but it's kind of the only option if you want to get from point A to point B in this part of the bay. So I just plugged in the iPod, put my head down, and tried to blast through this stretch as quickly as possible.

The terrain right along the water in the north bay is unspectacular, but vaguely interesting: it's all salt water marsh where the Petaluma River, Tolay Creek, and Sonoma Creek all enter the bay. Apparently this is area is called the Napa-Sonoma Marsh, and represents a prime example of tidal wetlands. There are several spots along the highway where you can pull off and find trailheads and wildlife viewing spots. So that was kind of interesting. Also, everytime I'm around marshes I think of that X-Files episode with Luke Wilson, where Mulder asks if there are any swamps in the area, and the Sheriff says "We used to have swamps, only the EPA made us take to calling 'em wetlands." Heh.

Past the wetlands, the route takes you through a ghetto-y part of Vallejo to the new Carquinez bridge span, the Alfred Zampa Memorial Span. Go Afred, you got your own bridge! The new span has a lovely bike-pedestrian lane along the western side of the bridge, joining the Golden Gate and the Dumbarton as the select bridges in the bay area with bicycle access. I'm looking at you, Bay Bridge...

The Carquinez bridge dumps you into Crockett, from where you take a lovely little tour past the ConocoPhillips oil refinery. Nasty! After that, the last 10 miles wind through east bay suburbs (Rodeo, Hercules, El Sobrante, etc.) back to sweet, sweet home Oaktown.

Total Miles: 80
Time in the saddle: 7.3 hours
Elevation gain: 3400 feet
route: SF-Oakland via north bay