This is the last in a series of posts about the Trek Travel bike tour my wife and I took with the owner of the shop I work at and some friends. Part one covered the first two days beginning at the Sea Ranch lodge and finished with us staying in Bodega Bay, and part two covered the next two days from Bodega Bay to Tiburon. My post today will cover the last day of riding into San Francisco and back to Tiburon.
Day 5
The last day of riding on our trip began with a short ferry ride from Tiburon past Alcatraz Island to San Francisco. Once back on land we headed through San Francisco past fisherman's wharf, past the Presido, to the base of the Golden
Gate bridge. Before crossing the bridge, we regrouped to get some pictures with the bridge in the background. The view was incredible and the bridge was like nothing I've ever seen. Crossing the bridge was a treat - the view was spectacular but the foot and bike traffic was heavy enough on the path across that it was tricky to take in the view without running over someone. We stopped a couple times to take it in for a bit. On the other side of the bridge, we headed to Sausalito for lunch next to the water. We got to watch seals swim next to the restaurant as we had a nice bite to eat and prepared for the challenge ahead - Mt. Tamalpais!
There was a good five mile warm up before the foot of the climb so we took it pretty easy. Only one of the other riders besides my wife and I was up for the challenge, and he attacked the climb much faster than us. I had never done a climb this long, and my wife normally would avoid the small climbs when we rode back home - so this was a big challenge for both of us. Mt Tam is not a steep climb, but it's about 10 miles long. Far longer than any climbs back home in Indiana. At the start of the climb, I told my wife to put it in a gear and set a pace that she knew she could keep for the entire climb. The Trek Madone bikes provided had triple sprockets so we knew we wouldn't run out of gears. We planned to stop whenever she felt like she needed. Since the view was awesome the entire ride up, it gave us plenty of reasons to stop. She did exactly what I said...and set a pace of 5-6 mph and really never went any faster the entire ride to the top. It took us nearly 2 hours to get all the way up. Much like the last few days, there was no hurry so the speed didn't matter.
I'm not sure how many times we stopped on the way up - at least 5 times. Some of the stops were to take a break, some were to just take pictures. Just before the top there was a bit of a downhill that was nice, until the road dumped out into a parking lot - that looked like we were hitting a wall. After several miles of pretty steady climbing, the steepness was surprising. My wife initially said she wasn't going to be able to do it. After some coaching she gave it everything she had left and rode all the way to the top!
When we got to the top, we met the tour guide who had set up the van
just for us. He showed us the best places to take in the view, then took our picture. We hung out there for a bit and grabbed some snacks from the van before hitting the road for the drop down the mountain.
The route down took us back the way we came, turning off toward Tiburon after about 8 miles. It was exhilarating. Hardly pedaling while trying to keep your speed under 45mph - for nearly 10 miles - was something we've never done. It got scary a couple times and we had some serious 'arm pump' from braking so much. We didn't stop until we got to the bottom. We really didn't expect to need to take a break from descending! I guess when you're not used to it, even going downhill can wear you out. The rest of the ride was a mix of urban and not-so-busy roads that allowed us an easy ride back to the hotel.
The final stats for the day: just under 42 miles and 3225 feet of climbing!
That was the end of the riding part of our trip. We stayed in Tiburon that night and said our goodbyes to the tour guides. The next day we took the ferry to San Francisco again to our hotel where we hung out in San Francisco for a day before heading back home.
These five days in California gave us some of the best cycling memories of our lives. Trek Travel did an absolutely fantastic job. Everything about the tour was top notch. We didn't have to worry about a thing, the routes were great, and we didn't have so much as even a flat tire with the bikes. First class all the way!
Day 5
The last day of riding on our trip began with a short ferry ride from Tiburon past Alcatraz Island to San Francisco. Once back on land we headed through San Francisco past fisherman's wharf, past the Presido, to the base of the Golden Gate bridge. Before crossing the bridge, we regrouped to get some pictures with the bridge in the background. The view was incredible and the bridge was like nothing I've ever seen. Crossing the bridge was a treat - the view was spectacular but the foot and bike traffic was heavy enough on the path across that it was tricky to take in the view without running over someone. We stopped a couple times to take it in for a bit. On the other side of the bridge, we headed to Sausalito for lunch next to the water. We got to watch seals swim next to the restaurant as we had a nice bite to eat and prepared for the challenge ahead - Mt. Tamalpais!
There was a good five mile warm up before the foot of the climb so we took it pretty easy. Only one of the other riders besides my wife and I was up for the challenge, and he attacked the climb much faster than us. I had never done a climb this long, and my wife normally would avoid the small climbs when we rode back home - so this was a big challenge for both of us. Mt Tam is not a steep climb, but it's about 10 miles long. Far longer than any climbs back home in Indiana. At the start of the climb, I told my wife to put it in a gear and set a pace that she knew she could keep for the entire climb. The Trek Madone bikes provided had triple sprockets so we knew we wouldn't run out of gears. We planned to stop whenever she felt like she needed. Since the view was awesome the entire ride up, it gave us plenty of reasons to stop. She did exactly what I said...and set a pace of 5-6 mph and really never went any faster the entire ride to the top. It took us nearly 2 hours to get all the way up. Much like the last few days, there was no hurry so the speed didn't matter. I'm not sure how many times we stopped on the way up - at least 5 times. Some of the stops were to take a break, some were to just take pictures. Just before the top there was a bit of a downhill that was nice, until the road dumped out into a parking lot - that looked like we were hitting a wall. After several miles of pretty steady climbing, the steepness was surprising. My wife initially said she wasn't going to be able to do it. After some coaching she gave it everything she had left and rode all the way to the top!When we got to the top, we met the tour guide who had set up the van
just for us. He showed us the best places to take in the view, then took our picture. We hung out there for a bit and grabbed some snacks from the van before hitting the road for the drop down the mountain. The route down took us back the way we came, turning off toward Tiburon after about 8 miles. It was exhilarating. Hardly pedaling while trying to keep your speed under 45mph - for nearly 10 miles - was something we've never done. It got scary a couple times and we had some serious 'arm pump' from braking so much. We didn't stop until we got to the bottom. We really didn't expect to need to take a break from descending! I guess when you're not used to it, even going downhill can wear you out. The rest of the ride was a mix of urban and not-so-busy roads that allowed us an easy ride back to the hotel.
The final stats for the day: just under 42 miles and 3225 feet of climbing!
That was the end of the riding part of our trip. We stayed in Tiburon that night and said our goodbyes to the tour guides. The next day we took the ferry to San Francisco again to our hotel where we hung out in San Francisco for a day before heading back home.These five days in California gave us some of the best cycling memories of our lives. Trek Travel did an absolutely fantastic job. Everything about the tour was top notch. We didn't have to worry about a thing, the routes were great, and we didn't have so much as even a flat tire with the bikes. First class all the way!
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