Marin Headlands-Paradise Loop (about 50 miles)

This ride is basically the classic Tiburon/Paradise ride with a quick Marin Headlands loop thrown in at the beginning for good measure. The full 50 mile route begins and ends at the Embarcadero ferry building in San Francisco, but there are several shorter options that are possible using ferry connections in Tiburon or Sausalito.

For the record, the weather in the bay area could not have been more perfect than it was today. Sunny and warm (even in the city), mild temperatures, hardly any breeze. It was really spectacular, and I congratulate all of the tourists out and about for choosing one hell of a weekend to visit the city by the bay. Trust me, it ain't always like this here, especially in March, so you lucked out.

Anyway, from the ferry building, follow the bike lane north along the embarcadero waterfront, take a left on Beach street, head up or around Fort Mason, and on over to the Marina. Eventually you'll get to the base of the Golden Gate bridge. It's only about 5 miles but you might be tempted to stop for some photo ops, and why not. You'll get some very scenic shots of the bridge from this route along the bay. Public restrooms? Chrissy Field (past the marina but before the bridge) has some good ones. Avoid the restrooms at the bridge visitor area if possible. They stink.

Ride over the bridge (if you're paying attention you'll note that so far this is the standard route to get to Tiburon). In the parking lot on the marin side of the bridge, instead of going to your right to ride into Sausalito, take a left up a steep road. This is Conzelman Road, which wraps around the marin headlands. This initial part is the steepest, but there is more climbing ahead, as well as some scary steep descents. But the views are great, and because the road is narrow and remote, it doesn't seem to attract too much auto traffic.


The marin headlands have some interesting features along with the aforementioned spectacular views. There are two historic forts located here, Fort Barry and Fort Cronkhite, as well as the Point Bonita Lighthouse. Fort Barry was constructed at the end of the 19th century as a line of artillery defense, while Fort Cronkhite was used during World War II as a line of defense against a Pacific invasion. It's hard to imagine anyone invading the bay area via the Golden Gate; it seems more likely that the invaders would come from outer space, but maybe that's why the forts were abandoned.

Exit through the tunnel to meet back up with Sausalito Lateral. Follow this down into Sausalito to continue the Tiburon/Paradise loop.

I've realized that, as many times as I've done the Paradise ride, I've never blogged it. Weird. So, this ride is kind of the default ride to do in Marin, especially if you want something that you can start in the city. It has a bit of everything: the bridge, the artsy tourist trap of Sausalito, multiuse trails through marshlands, one good solid climb, and then 7 or 8 miles along a lovely road that gives the ride its name, Paradise Drive. Paradise drops you down to the Tiburon ferry building; after this point you end up retracing your way back to Sausalito and across the bridge.

The first time I did the ride, several years ago, I did it counter-clockwise. After that I think I've done it exclusively clockwise, which just seems more enjoyable to me, but there's a steady stream of cyclists in both directions, so whatever floats your boat.

Speaking of, because the route passes by two ferry terminals (Sausalito and Tiburon) it's easy to accommodate shorter options of the longer route. Today I had kc meet me in Tiburon after I had done the first 30 miles, and he rode the final 20 miles back to the city, so that's one good option for folks looking to avoid the hilly headlands and the early morning start.

Animules: lots of tourists
Total Distance: 52 miles
Elevation gain: 3500-4000 feet
Time in the Saddle: 4 hours 35 minutes
Route (on bikely.com): Marin-Headlands-Tiburon

State of the rider: Felt good today; passed a guy while climbing Conzelman to the headlands (he was not 80 years old, nor 300 lbs, nor riding a mountain bike); easily passed a chick road cyclist going up the climb to Corte Madera. What, did these people actually take the winter off or something?