This was one of the best rides ever, and Esteban, thanks for the great photo journal. Thanks to Franklyn for guiding us, including showing me how to get through the city easily, and thanks to everyone, including Aaron, Erik, and Lee for inviting me on the ride and the fun times. I have a few photos to add to Esteban's and a description:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46035...@n07/sets/72157623101578234/ A group of 5 guys, Aaron, Erik, Esteban, Franklyn, and Lee, with nice steel bikes met up in San Francisco, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, rode through Sausalito and made their way into Mill Valley, where they stopped at a café. By coincidence, this other guy on a Rambouillet looking to come up with a good ride in unknown territory, comes to the same cafe, and is invited to ride along with the other 5. I was the wayward Ram rider, and here is how I ended up there. I started late Monday taking BART from Berkeley to San Francisco with the intention of riding into Marin and exploring Marin for a day and a half, stay overnight somewhere. The Rambouillet is loaded with a rear big loafer, a banana-type bag on the seat, and a small Keven's bag as a handlebar bag, all green tweed. I carry a change of clothes, some toiletries, some tools, a bike lock, camera, Marin Country riding book, etc. It's my favorite inn-to-inn touring light type of load. By spending more time in San Francisco than I had planned, I ended up in Sausalito an hour before sunset. I figured I would risk it by going north and finding a hotel. It wasn't long before I saw how easy that is (if a bit expensive). On the secluded "5" bikeway (yes, they are numbered here), the bike path forked off and went right to the parking lot and front office of the Holiday Inn Express. I'm on vacation so I splurged and got a room. That permitted me to tool around a bit until sundown and then set off from here as early as I wanted the next day. Got up Tuesday morning, ate the free breakfast, and headed into Mill Valley, where I ran into the rest of the group. Ride: went up one of the residential climbs from Mill Valley and eventually got to Panoramic Highway, a beautiful hilly ride to the Ranger Station. From the Ranger station there are many options, Old Stage would be a good fire climb towards the East Peak with the touring bikes, and that will be for another trip, because we decided to do the full loop which meant taking Pantoll up to West Ridgecrest, which is the rolling ridge line where many car commercials were filmed. That is fun to ride along and is incredibly beautiful with ocean views of Bolinas, as you can see in Esteban's video on his Flickr page. By the way, the day in Mill Valley started off so foggy that everything was wet, but by the time we were up at Ridgecrest, it was sunny. After that, descent to Fairfax, complete the loop on the residential east side. In Larkspur, I learned that my favorite Italian cafe is on Magnolia Ave., and going there had been a goal of the day, since I had been there once before and wanted to find it again. But by now, that goal had been far overshadowed by the big loop ride and the good company, so I had no trouble just riding by it and looking in the window as we rode by it to start our pretty long climb on Camino Alto through Corte Madera. The climb up from Sausalito to the GG Bridge is substantial, and I liked it, and then riding with the pedestrians on the bridge was the most dangerous part of the day. -Jim W. -----Original Message----- >From: Esteban <proto...@gmail.com> >Sent: Dec 30, 2009 8:01 AM >To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> >Subject: [RBW] California & Steel Bike Uber Alles Mt Tam Ride > >Franklyn, who used to have a Romulus and now has an Ebisu and >Kogswell, led Lee (Ebisu), Aaron (Romulus), Erik (Bleriot), and myself >(Romulus) on a great ride up from the Mission in San Francisco up Mt. >Tam, over to the Alpine Dam, through Fairfax and back as a great way >to end 2009. > >On a stop at The Station in Mill Valley, we saw a fellow on a nice >orange Rambouillet with tweed bags, looking to find his way up the >Railroad Grade. It was Jim Warren from the list. He joined us and we >all had a great time. > >Three of us were So Cal Riv Riders (with family in the Bay Area), and >three Bay Area folks. Despite the territorial tension (re: In Smog >and Thunder: http://www.insmogandthunder.com/trailer-play.html) we had >a great time! > >Here are some photos: > >http://www.flickr.com/photos/25671...@n02/sets/72157623101143324/ > >I BARTed back to the East Bay in time to see the Riv staff trying to >make their way across Main St Walnut Creek in time to catch the SF- >bound train, like a bunch of herons taking flight with their flapping >bags and Albatross bars. > >Esteban >San Diego/Pleasant Hill/Potrero Hill SF, Calif. > >-- > >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW >Owners Bunch" group. >To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >For more options, visit this group at >http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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