Tale of Two Climbs

Seems like forever since I've done a serious ride, but I was able to take advantage of the three-day weekend to get in two climbs: one up to the ranger station on Tam, and the other up to the junction on Diablo.

The weather was perfect this weekend: sunny, warm, and clear. The unfortunate result of a drought that will probably produce lots of fires this summer, but for now it's great cycling weather. So, Sunday went riding in Marin with kc and his friend Roxanne. She's on the short side, but I was able to drop down the handlebars and seat post on the Terry for her, and that seemed to work well. That means with my growing fleet of bikes I can accommodate visiting cyclists from 4'11" to probably 5'9".

We parked near the multi-purpose trail in Marin City, north of Sausalito, and then did the Stinson Beach/Muir Woods loop clockwise. I've always done this ride counter-clockwise, but took a chance that maybe the climbing would be a bit better doing it in reverse. Following the route clockwise, you climb up through residential areas of Mill Valley, cross Panoramic Highway, then drop down to Muir Woods. From Muir Woods there's a bit of a climb (500') to get up to Highway 1 on the coast. That climb was a bit of a pain, and there were easterly winds up on the ridge, but going north on Highway 1 was pretty painless, and the view was great.

We stopped briefly in Stinson Beach before beginning the principal climb up to the Pantoll Station on Mt Tam. This climb is about 1500' over the course of 4 miles, but it's a great climb. It's very evenly graded, without any steep sections, and the second half is entirely shaded by forest. I felt awfully sluggish on all the climbs on this ride. Even kc was up ahead of me pretty much all day, which almost never happens. After the final climb it was a quick descent back to Mill Valley for lunch at the flatbread place. Yum, flatbread!

Route sheet: Muir Woods/Stinson ride
Total distance: about 27 miles
Total elevation gain: about 3000 feet

On Monday I BARTed out to Walnut Creek at a painfully early hour to meet ccb and his crew for a ride up to the Diablo junction. The temperature was cool when we started out, but it warmed up nicely and ended up being a great morning for a ride up North Gate. I rode slowly, but didn't feel as sluggish as the day before. Also my headache pressure wasn't as pronounced for the first time in at least 2 weeks (long story). From the junction, we headed down the newly paved south side and over to Danville for a java before heading home. All in all a good mid-January ride.

Distance: about 30 miles
Elevation gain: 2300 feet