SF Sly Dog-Day 1-First Bay Crossing Not How We planned It

After a great night’s sleep at Sara and Crow’s, and a waffle breakfast by Sara, we loaded the remaining bits onto our bikes, and headed out. We made it out when we planned, just before 8:30. 

Crow took our photo (we almost forgot), and we were on our way. It was only about a half mile to the route, mostly all downhill. It was a bit on the chilly side, but warmer than it’s been at home. 

We were all thankful for our gps head units, because the navigation to the Richmond-San Rafael bridge had numerous turns. We were pretty much entirely on bike paths or bike lanes with the occasional “sharrows”.

We came upon an awesome community garden. The worker showed us all the things they had growing. 

The lemon balm was very nice!

We continued on toward the bridge. As we arrived, there was a sign saying the path was closed, and there was a free shuttle. Well darn, we wouldn’t get to ride across the Bay today! We found the shuttle stop, and not even 5 minutes later the shuttle showed up. It was a van pulling a trailer (for the bikes). We loaded the bikes onto the trailer, and got in the van. 

The crossing saved us a few miles of riding, but we were disappointed. The reason it was closed is because they are doing a pilot program where they push the bike path barriers to the side to create a break down lane on the bridge during certain days of the week. 

There’s a locked gate, and cameras if you try to ride it anyway. The pilot program is running for 3 years to see if there are less traffic issues on the bridge (in my opinion, if more people ride their bikes across the bridge, there wouldn’t be as many cars, and less accidents).

We off loaded at the other side, and continued on the route. We pulled into a town that I can’t remember the name. Catherine’s husband, Paul, was in the area, and offered to bring us donuts. We met him at Marin University campus. I was the only one who actually ate a donut. It was delicious. 

We hit our first bit of dirt not long after leaving Paul. It was more of a fire road, and not difficult to ride. There was no walking…yet. 

We stopped at the other end of the trail and ate some lunch. We had thought about getting lunch in Fairfax, but we were all carrying so much food, we decided to eat what we had. 

In Fairfax, we stopped at the Marin Mountain Bike Museum, but unfortunately, it was closed. 

They even had a sign for the STP in the window. 

Now was the beginning of the afternoon’s climb. It was paved out of Fairfax, but then we turned onto the White Hill Trail. If it hadn’t been so steep, I could have ridden more of it. 

It was very steep, and we all walked large portions. The climb continued for about 5 miles. I’m sure I rode less than a mile of it. So much pushing!

Photo by Catherine

It was pretty though. We climbed higher and higher. At a couple of spots, we could see the Richmond bridge. 

After a couple of hours, and a whole lot of pushing, we reached the top. Well, the top of that climb. Oh, we still had plenty of ups to go! They were just shorter, but still very steep, and some were very rocky. 

Some of the descents were also quite scary. Catherine took this photo of me coming down a particularly scary one that Jana had lead me down. 

We finally reached the point where it really was downhill all the way to the paved road. Once we hit the pavement, we were not far from our destination of Samuel P Taylor State Park. 

We finally made it to the hiker/biker site. I think it was about 6:00 ish. About a 9 1/2 hour day to go 37 miles of which a few of it was spent in a van crossing the bridge. Hopefully, tomorrow will not be so much pushing, although we know we will likely spend some time pushing in the morning up the Bolinas Ridge climb. But, in the meantime, it’s time to go to sleep and rest my weary back. 

SF Sly Dog-The Drivelo

April 4, 2026

Jana and I wanted to do a Spring bikepacking trip. Jana found a route in the San Francisco area on Bikepacking.com called the Bay Area Triple Crossover. It is a point to point route from the Golden Gate Bridge to Palo Alto. The intention of the route creators was to take the train back to San Francisco. Of course, we didn’t want to do that. Besides, we wanted a longer ride. Enter the SF Peninsula Traverse! We could use part of that route to connect the ends of the Triple Bay. Based on a report of someone who did just that, we also reversed the Triple Bay, and we added two connectors. One was easy as it is just the Pacific Coast Bike Route. The other is from the Traverse to Palo Alto. I mostly let RWGPS choose the route. We’ll see how it turns out. Jana has friends who conveniently live very close to the Triple Bay, so we could park at their house. We wanted a third member. Catherine agreed to do it!

Fast forward to today…

Jana and Catherine picked me up in Jana’s husbands’s truck (same vehicle we took to Idaho for the Panhandle Ramble).

Jana’s bike is in the back of the truck

We headed south. Our destination was Wellspring Hotsprings campground in Ashland, OR…about halfway. We stopped in Vancouver for some lunch at a taco truck that Jana knew about. One more stop in Albany for diesel (the major expense of the trip for sure), then on to Ashland. We arrived at Wellspring. An interesting place. We had planned to avail ourselves of the hot spring pool, but in the end, didn’t (it was an extra $10, and it was getting late).

Our little “camp” for the night. Jana in the pop up. Catherine and I in our tents. 

April 5th-Happy Easter!

Day 2 of the drive began with us doing our good deed for the day. An older gentleman named David asked us for a ride into Ashland where he was meeting a friend. We made room for him, and dropped him off at Lithia Park. We continued through Ashland (stopping for coffee/hot chocolate). We went by Southern Oregon University where my oldest son and I stayed with his 6th grade gifted class when we came for the Shakespearean Festival. 

Soon we were entering California!

The remaining drive to Richmond was uneventful. We arrived at Crow and Sara’s house around 4:30. What amazing friends they are! A beautiful house, and a park for a back garden. 

They have the cutest little Yorkie named Leo…just a puppy at 9 months. 

We all loaded our bags on our bikes, and made them as ready as possible. Crow went and picked up dinner from the taqueria, and we had a wonderful evening. 

Now it’s time for bed. Tomorrow we begin riding!

Back to blog touch?

It looks like the blogging app I used to use is back? This is a test to see if it really works. 

(Temporary Backup) Fire and Ice and Mosquitos and Dust-Day 3

Laying in our tents last night, we were observing the large number of insects wishing they could join us. We knew that they would be patient little bloodsuckers, knowing we would have to come out sometime. Sure enough, when I got out to pee at about 5:00am, they were right there waiting. I did manage to get back inside without letting any in (that I know of).

Normally when I get up, I get dressed in my cycling clothes first thing. I did do that, but I also put my long pants on. Once everything was packed up, then and only then did I take my pants off, and immediately spray bug spray on my legs. 

We left the campsite at 7:00! I chalk it up to the mosquito motivator!

Katie returning to the road. 

Onward for the last day. 

It was a nice downhill to a section of pavement on FS 30. 

Morning shadows!

Photo by Katie

We made quick work of the first several miles as there was only one short climb. I pointed out the shelter that Makaela and I only found the morning after we camped just across the creek in the rain. 

Not much further, we made the turn onto Outlaw Rd, and the longest climb of the day. It was 3.1 miles with an average grade of 5%. Of course, Geraldine and Katie, strong climbers that they are, shot right up the road. Me…not so much. There was even a spot where I ended up walking a 10% grade because my rear wheel was spinning out in the gravel, and I was running out of steam. 

Geraldine (who has now also been given the “trail name” Extra Credit) passed me going back down. When she caught up to me, we looked to our right and saw Mt. St. Helen’s!

Not much snow there!

Selfie time!

We finished the climb, and caught back up to Katie. We had another short climb, then a long long descent. The road was the roughest we had experienced on this route. Just before we were to turn back onto Carson Gular Rd, Katie noticed one of my fork bags was missing. Fortunately, it didn’t have much in it…just a few bars (when I got home I realized it also had my long spoon). Geraldine talked about going back. There was no way I was going back up the hill, who knows how far, to maybe find the bag. Besides, Ortlieb has come out with a 5.8 liter version (mine are 4.1) that I was planning to get because the 4.1 size is really too small. Both Katie and Geraldine have the 5.8 liter version. With that size, I might be able to fit my cook set in them. 

Back on Carson Gular Rd, we had a final 2 mile climb. There were a fare number of vehicles kicking up massive amounts of dust. It was also quite toasty. Still, I wore my buff to keep from inhaling too much dust. Near the end, Geraldine and Katie rode back to me, so we could finish all together. 

Those cyclists up ahead were out for a 50 mile ride from Carson called the Lava Fire Loop. The van is just up there!

Loaded up, changed, and ready to head home. 

We made a stop at my brother and sister-in-law’s place called The Cabin. Got to see my sister-in-law, Lori, but my brother was out of town. Got some great food!

Photo by Katie. Waiting for our food. 

Now I’m home, and most of my stuff has been unpacked. My lower legs are covered in mosquito bites, but at least they are clean now. 

This was a very fun bikepacking trip. Geraldine and Katie did great! I think they are hooked now! Time to plan the next one!

Fire and Ice and More Dust Day 1

I started my day coughing from all the dust. We ate our breakfasts, and packed everything on the bikes. We were able to leave stuff we didn’t need, in the van. 

We had Carbs take our photo. 

We hit the road just before 8:00. I was impressed as I figured it would be at least 8:30. For being bikepacking newbies, Katie and Geraldine got ready pretty quickly. There were a couple of adjustments once we got going, but not much. 

And we’re off!

I struggled with coughing, and I made sure to use my buff a lot of the time. The mornings are still always the worst. 

Our first side trip was to Natural Bridges. 

We did a good chunk of trail around the main bridges. 

Another bridge. 

Such a cool area!

And there were even some ripe huckleberries!

They were delicious!

Not far down the road was our second feature…the Gular Ice Cave. Last time Makaela and I were here, there was no ice. This time there definitely was ice!

Well…we had lights. 

Old snow at the entrance. 

Geraldine. 

Ice ice baby!

Geraldine went the furthest. 

Ice ribbon. 

Coming back out. 

We ate some lunch, then continued on our way. We stopped at Peterson Prairie and spied this.

We drank a bunch and refilled our bottles. It was quite hot out. 

We had a 2 mile climb up toward the berry fields. This is where there is the handshake agreement that the right side of the road huckleberries are reserved for the Native Tribes. Now we were up to 4000+ feet. The huckleberries are not even close to ripe yet. 

Good view of Mt Adams. 

Me, Wanda, and the mountain. 

In the berry fields area. 

We made it to the turnoff to Surprise Lakes (almost missed it as there was no sign, except on my Garmin). It took awhile for us to find a good spot, but we did. 

We are actually above the lake pictured below. It was way too buggy by the water. 


We did 29 miles of the route today. Geraldine and Katie agreed it was not easy. The route wasn’t bad, but the heat made it seem harder. 

I found a kickstand for Wanda!

Funky kitchen structure not far from camp. We almost considered camping there. 

We’ve all been bitten by the ever present mosquitoes. We all finally gave up and dove into our tents at 8:00. Tomorrow we will finish the loop.