California dreaming

A small introduction, My name is Arien Torsius, newest blogger at the Isadore team. I was a professional racer, but have evolved into a bike travel specialist. There is not much that can top a gorgeous day-out on the bike accompanied with the ever-important coffee stop. I will be sharing with you some great places to go and ride during 2015. The Blog will feature both popular cycling destinations as well undiscovered roads only ridden by the locals of which some are barely big enough to fit a car.

The Velits brothers have for years been raving how great California is and I have always turned green with envy. Great riding and sunny skies sounds like a dream when you are in freezing temperatures.

I have been working in Boston for the past 2 months and with record snowfall, my love/hate relationship with my hometrainer in the basement, has recently been leaning more to the hate side. I plotted my escape route and it took me to sunny California.

Important things to note. Boston was at -8 Celcius when I left end-January, and in San Francisco I was cycling in +20 Celsius.

My favourite ride was out of the heart of town over the Golden Gate bridge. There is a bike path on the bridge, but be aware of tourists. No, not tourists like you … but the kind without bicycles with cameras.

As you cross the bridge you take a slip way up on a great climb to warm up your legs, where the views are fantastic. From here you can see Alcatraz and San Francisco in the distance.

On this route we have about 5km of junk miles to cover. Just to give you some perspective. I was born and raised on a farm in the middle of nowhere in South Africa with roads where you can see 30km in front of you, so this is definitely not junk miles. But being spoiled rotten and living in Tuscany, any route of this kind classifies as junk miles. You have the sea on the right with an occasional house-boat, and in the distance the sea is dotted with sailboats. Sailing is clearly a very popular sport in California. To the left of your bike lane/road is a busier and much bigger road.

The road narrows and from here the riding gets really good. Along the way you pass cute little towns with great places to stop for a quick coffee and anything containing chocolate :)

Now you will reach the piece that is jaw dropping amazing (especially if you have been stuck on a trainer for 2 months) At the town of Fairfax you start a 5km climb taking you all the way into the Tamalpais National Park. The road is narrow, with lots of switchbacks. You pass the Alpine lake, although you are a long way from the real Alps in France.

Your climb continues through the forest with beautiful redwood trees, and you then get to a road called The 7 Sisters. Most of your climbing will be done by now, and the road is mostly undulating as you follow the ridge line. I have no idea why the road is called The 7 Sisters. There might be 7 “bumps” you have to go over, but I was too mesmerized by the view to notice. Along the way we met lots of cyclists on this road! No words needed, just look at the photos …

Follow this road all the way until you begin a glorious descend. Whilst descending you will see San Francisco in the distance. Luckily my friends have patience as a virtue, so I managed to take lots of photos on the day.

By following the 5km of “Junk miles” back to the bridge you should have had a pretty fantastic day out on the bike straight from the heart of San Francisco.

Things to keep in mind for this ride. On weekends there are lots of cyclists and it is really nice, but during the week it is even nicer. Here you can have the roads all to yourself with almost no traffic. The cycling world is a bit selfish but it’s ok – isn’t it ?:)

Arien.

Here is the map of my ride.

Here is the link to the Strave route: Isadore San Francisco Ride