September 2023 Riding Highlights

Oct 2, 2023

I rode a new monthly record of 803 km and it was filled with pleasant rides with friends in and out of the city. The ebike helped a lot here and there were many bonus kilometers from picking up food takeout that I normally would’ve been too tired to do. We’ve sworn off delivery because we don’t want to put more cars on the road and Uber, DoorDash, et. al. are killing restaurants and cities.

Ravenswood Trail

I had this trail all to myself after work one day and it was amazing! It’s super fucked up that they close the trail for so much of the year so that enthusiast waterfowl hunters can kill things. There’s not really any parking (great!) but that probably means that hunters bring their lifted trucks on to the trail.

A flock of pelicans in the sky in front of power lines and the fog

A dirt doubletrack trail with tall grasses on each side going towards the East Bay hills

Dark sand with a nearby vista point, water, and Coyote Hills in the background

A few shore birds in the twist and turns of the wetlands

Niles Canyon

Highway 84 was closed to cars on the 23rd for Stroll & Roll. A bunch of us took BART to West Dublin and then took Foothill Rd (not ideal but was fine in a group) south to Sunol. This was sort of the catalyzing event on a longer ride from Niles Canyon to Sunnyvale via the Alameda Creek Trail and Bay Trail. tbh Niles Canyon was the least exciting part of the ride and there were way too many cops who showed up for PR.

Multiple bike riders in each direction on a highway without a car facing the distant hills

Multiple bike riders going through the banked turn of a highway without cars

Alameda Creek Trail

They have hundreds of goats on the trail!! They’re used strategically for resource management. Eat that invasive grass, goats!

A goat looking back at the camera framed by foliage

A group of goats with their heads on a goat lying down in the center

One tried to escape!

A goat with it's neck under the bottom of a flexible fence

Coyote Hills Regional Park

Kat and I will definitely be coming back here to explore some more.

Serpentine hills in the foreground and midground with distant friends on bikes

A rider wearing flannel biking through a paved path with grass on each side

A rider biking without hands on the bars through a paved path

Bay Trail

It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden large sections of the Bay Trail down in the peninsula. The salt is always fun to look at.

Salt deposits with various formations and shrubs

Spectacular moon rise on the 27th.

A nearly full moon at golden hour between a bunch of electricity towers

The views of the old Dumbarton Rail Bridge are cute!

An unused bridge over the water with the evening fogline and golden hour colors

Shoreline Trail

The views coming up to the Dumbarton Bridge are incredible! You can see all the wetland restoration being done.

A break in the levee used for salt collection

Around San Francisco

The wildfires up north gave us several days of poor air quality. One day we rode around masked up.

A woman riding a purple vintage Trek rigid mountain bike over a colorful mural

Market St vibes.

A woman in an orange 'Slow is Forever' shirt riding in a downtown street with the ferry building in the background

I’d love to know more about this area near Crane Cove Park.

A woman riding on an empty road towards a stark building labelled 'Union Iron Works Company'

Battery Caulfield descent out of the Presidio. This is my favourite way to get out of the Presidio when the traffic is light.

A woman riding under a large tree going down a hill towards city blocks

There was a downed tree on the old growth oak forest network 😭

Riding around the Presidio at night.

A bicyclist riding down a paved road in the dark with their headlight and a few foggy streetlamps

My favourite day ride with Kat included a rare stop at Woods on Polk. Best bike in the city.

A purple vintage Trek mountain bike parked against a fire hydrant

Kat has been watching this family of ducks at Lake Metson grow up and it’s one of my favourite things ever. I deeply regret not getting to come here and watch the ducks with my dear friend Hansel as it was one of their favourite spots.