norcalroadbiker

Hey guys,

I'm thinking about riding from San Francisco (Embarcadero BART station) to Point Reyes. I was curious if anyone else has done this ride (or parts of it) and what route you guys recommend. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

DG Going Uphill

I've done it. It's pretty easy to figure out if you have the Marin Bike Map (https://www.marinbike.org/Map/Index.shtml). On road, over the bridge, through Sausalito, on to Fairfax, out to Olema. Off road, lots of options to Mt. Tam's ridge (lots of up and down if you go Cozelman to Tennessee Valley to Dias Ridge, or you could take the road to Mill Valley and do Old Railroad Grade for a long but mellower climb), then Bolinas Ridge Trail. You could take it the whole way to Olema, but I prefer turning at the Randall Trail.

hueyhoolihan

i've BARTed over to the Embarcadero from Walnut Creek, then rode over the bridge and around Tiburon. i think you can catch route 1 (aka Shorline Hwy) just before you reach Tiburon and take it all the way to Pt. Reyes. i've driven some of it and the part i have seen (from Stinson Beach to Pt. Reyes) looks good to me. i'd try Google Maps for a close up of the road.

norcalroadbiker

Yeah, I mapped it out on bikely.com. Here is the route it generated: https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...to-point-reyes
What do you guys think of that route? How safe is the ride?

knotty

Kind of depends on what day you go, on a nice Sunday that route will have tons of cars especially around Muir Beach. A much calmer, scenic, and probably safer way is more inland through Sausalito, Shady Ln through Fairfax, around Nicasio lake. I'm sure Bikely has that route.

norcalroadbiker

I would be doing it tomorrow if I decide I am up for it. Shouldn't be too busy on a Wednesday right?

steeleman

Embarcadero north to Beach
Left on Beach, take to end and bear right into Aquatic Park
Left at the pier up the steep hill into Fort Mason
Pick up the bike path at the end of Fort Mason parking lot and follow to GG Bridge
Descend Alexander to Sausalito
Follow Bridgeway to the 101 Onramp at Marin City (Mikes Bikes), bear right onto the bike path
Bike path terminates at E. Blithedale in Mill Valley. Jog left one block to Camino Alto
Climb over Camino Alto grade and continue onto Corte Madera/Magnolia into Larkspur
Follow Magnolia through several lights/stop signs
Bear left onto Kent, into Ross
Turn left at end of Ross Common and jog one block over to Shady Lane. Turn right.
Shady Lane ends at Bolinas. Turn right then immed. left onto San Anselmo
San Anselmo through the namesake downtown, then bear left to stay onto San Anselmo at the mini mart
Follow San Anselmo/Center/Lansdale into Fairfax
At Fairfax, get onto Sir Francis Drake heading NW
Take Sir Francis Drake over Whites Hill to Nicasio
Right on Nicasio Valleh Road at Golf Course
All the way through Nicasio and the reservoir to the T-intersection
Turn left on Petaluma Pt. Reyes Road
Bear right at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill on P-PR road
Left on Shoreline highway and down the hill into Point Reyes Station

Return same way, or take Shoreline highway south through Olema/Stinson and many options (Bolinas Fairfax, Panoramic, Muir Woods, or Shoreline) back over the mountain to Mill Valley where you can retrace your route.

steeleman

Picture tells a thousand words. Here is the route I just described that runs basically from the MV bike path out to PRS and back over the mountain
https://app.strava.com/runs/studio-ve...s-loop-6830751

DG Going Uphill

Go with Steeleman's route. It's been pretty windy lately and you'd be dead against it the whole way if you took the coastal route.

bikingshearer 

Personally, i wouldn't ride on Highway from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach on a bet, no matter what day of the week it is. Too many uphills with blind corners, too narrow a road, too much traffic. I'd take on any one of those, even any two, but not all three since there are alternatives.

Steeleman's "inland route" is the way I've done it. Another way is to head into Mill Valley from the bike path north of Suasalito, go up Montford/Edgewood, turn right on the Panoramic Highway, right on Pan Toll, left on Ridgecrest, left on Bolinas-Fairfax Road. That puts you back on Hwy 1 at the Bolinas turnoff - from there to Olema is much safer, IMHO, that the Mill-Valley-Stinson Beach section of Hwy 1. This route is much hillier that the "inland route" - but it is very pretty and gets you into the country for much more of the time (on the "inland route," you are the Marin 'burbs pretty much non-stop until you emerge from the far end of Fairfax).