jur

These are some cycling pics from my recent SF visit. SWMBO & I took along our Brommies.

1st stop, Old Priest Grade: 2 years ago we visited Yosemite Park, and the New Priest Grade, ie the pass up into the Sierra Nevadas, impressed me as a great ride, and I resolved to ride it next time we came for a visit. Since then I have discovered that there is the Old Priest Grade, at a lung-busting 13% grade for some 3.4km. I was unsure if I could do it on my own Brompton which has a lowest gear of 58". A few days before doing the Old Priest Grade, I found another stretch of road with 13% gradient and rode it a couple of times to see if it is even possible at 58". It was possible, but only just.

https://www.strava.com/activities/700909224

I realised that I wouldn't be able to sustain such effort for 30min or so, plus I was wary of breaking off a crank arm or handlebar, and decided to use SWMBO's Brommie which has lower gearing (35"). Even so, I had to stand on the pedals all the way, in lowest gear. It was close to the edge of my capability.

https://www.strava.com/activities/710351703




Departing at the bottom.






Arriving at the top. The New Priest Grade is visible on the right, a much gentler grade.

jur

Next stop, Grand Canyon South Rim:


Having the bikes there was great, not having to rely on other transport. This is at the eastern extreme point.
https://www.strava.com/activities/710351767


Later I rode out to the western extreme point.

As I was just beginning the ride, another chap on a flat bar bike with slicks blew past me at impressive speed. I pressed the pedals a bit harder, and thought, wow, I wonder if my brakes are rubbing? (They weren't.) After a minute or 2 the other guy was way up ahead, and I thought well I need the exercise, let me begin a chase. So I set off in pursuit at my maximum speed and caught up with the guy, blowing quite a bit. He didn't look very happy to see me. I remarked to him that he is a hard guy to chase down, at which he said, "Well I'm going slow." Yeah right. We rode together for a while, he asked me how many gears my bike has and I waved 2 fingers at him at which he looked even less happy. We caught up with a shuttle bus while I was doing the pulling, and I thought great, I'll draught the bus. The other guy kept up speed and blew right past the bus. The next stop the bus pulled off and I also passed and chased him down again. We rode together to Hermit's Rest, me draughting him this time.

https://www.strava.com/activities/710351774


We stopped there, he drank some water and carried on, at which it was safe for me to do a victory salute on the canyon rim. He never even said goodbye...

jur

Back in SF, we visited the Golden Gate. My son & I rode up to the Marin Headlands viewpoints.

https://www.strava.com/activities/714695158


He was quite interested in catching Pokemons... He handled the ride up to the highest viewpoint very well for someone who rides occasionally.


Great ride with great view, that. Saw a fair few roadies doing the ride too.

I rode up to a winery located on the top of a mountain. Tough ride on my Brommie, again pushing me to the edge.
https://www.strava.com/activities/715901388

No pics of me riding.

jur

SWMBO & I also rode up to the Purisima Creek Open Space Reserve.
https://www.strava.com/activities/718228453



At the reserve we rode the MTB track that leads up the creek.




View of the Purisima Creek valley on the way back, taking a different way.
https://www.strava.com/activities/718228498


We were riding along this canyon choked with Eucaluptus trees. You wouldn't even know you were not in Australia.

jur

Later that day I rode up to Skyline Boulevard via Tunitas Creek rd.
https://www.strava.com/activities/718336358


That was again bl**dy tough on my 2-speed Brommie. There is a steep stretch in the middle that required me to stand all the way. It didn't help that I bonked when reaching the top. Good thing it was downhill all the way home or I would not have made it. It was dusk when I reached home where I ate everything in sight.

jur

Next day we drove with our bikes to SF to meet up with BruceMetras. We parked near the GG and cycled to the Pier.
https://www.strava.com/activities/718980561

Bruce met us there and we took a fast ferry accross to his digs, from where he took us on his favourite loop.

https://www.strava.com/activities/719300583




On the way back to the ferry.


More riding at GG...

That's it for this trip!

Abu Mahendra

good stuff!

tds101 

Excellent adventure!!!

amusa

I love San Francisco was there on a business trip back in 2001.
It's very sad to see so many young homeless people living in the street.

12boy

Very nice writeup, but I am curious. what were the two speeds on your Brompton? Looks like you had wonderful weather on your trip.

ThorUSA

did the old priest road, (being a shortcut) with a rental car and burned up some serious brakepads going downhill .. together with a bunch of other industry hooligans coming back from a Mammoth DH series event a long time ago. Missy Giove almost rolled her Volvo in front of me...... good times.
What I am trying to say ...


My hats are off to Jur for getting up there ..


thor

Still Pedaling

Wow!!! What a fantastic journey. I'm so envious. My old body would never be able to handle that, unless, of course, I had an electric motor on my Brommie.

Thank you very much for posting this. I hope that more out there that do trips of this nature take the time to tell us all about it, like you did.

Cheers
Wayne

BruceMetras

It was a real pleasure finally meeting Jur and Connie in person.. lovely people ... we had perfect weather for our trip across the San Francisco Bay and then looping around China Camp State Park and their eventual departing Marin County via Sausalito Ferry.. I look forward to seeing them again on a return visit.. after coming through the new Marin bike tunnel, we rode to my shop for a brief visit, one for a viewing, and also because I had to repair a front tire flat.. while there, I convinced Jur to take my e-assist Airnimal for a spin, and then, of course Connie.. I'm guessing a new build in the near future is in the offing.. pic of the bike a few days later with San Pablo Bay in the background ..

jur

I have a 2-speed with 58t chainring, giving 59 and 79", which I find perfect for the majority of my riding.

sdwphoto

I recently got back from a trip to San Francisco and Portland,both great places to ride and had a good time.I have a Brompton also which I like very much,but I could never ride a two speed such as you did on those hills.
In Oregon I hit some very steep grades and stopped for a breathe on the side of the road. A highway patrol officer stopped to ask if I needed help,he asked about the bike and if it was geared for the local hills .I told him it was a eight speed, 6gears with two extra , get off and walk and stand up and pedal.

tdonline

Stand up and pedal on a folding bike makes me very nervous. No such worries on the regular sized bike; used to do a lot when I was a clipper. Nowadays I stand up more for bum reasons--bumps and blood flow.

Should I be paranoid about standing on folding pedals/bike? I'm not particularly big if weight is an issue.

And yes, I can't even imagine riding around SF on 2 gears...

jur

I forgot, I actually got a blister on my right hand from pulling on the handlebars for 30min plus... I won't be trying that in a hurry again.

fourknees

Great write up and pics. I can imagine only two gears, but I can't imagine only a low gear of 59, and getting up 13% even for the short tryout ride you did.

Makes me want to get a brompton now!

jur

That was our first ever ride on electric assist. While riding with Connie while she took it for a spin around the block, she was bolder than me and pressed the up button until she sped away from me! The pedelec function has convinced me that is the way to go - simpler, safer and more natural, IMHO. So yes, that helped us enormously, and I have convinced Connie that I must convert a bike, most likely the Moulton APB. She said to wait a bit until our finances have settled a bit. I looked up the Aussie Luna site and they are very well priced, better than other places I looked. So I'm going to pull the trigger one of these days.

prathmann

Yes, congrats to Jur for making it up, but it's not a climb I'd recommend to anyone unless they can pick a time with very little traffic. As indicated, it is a significant shortcut compared to the new road and as a result drivers in a hurry tend to prefer it. So you frequently encounter cars cutting some of the sharp corners with extremely limited visibility. Another nice climb in the vicinity (although not as steep) is Wards Ferry Rd. which has minimal traffic.

jur

I agree with all this; there's no shoulder, very twisty so poor visibility, just a few turnouts for slow traffic. Good thing trucks etc are banned from it but cars still pose a problem. I hummed and hawed quite a bit before taking the plunge, plus my timing meant less traffic. Even so, there was a truck behind me as I arrived at the top. I wasn't even aware of it until seeing the pics.

invisiblehand

Sweet! Love the pics Jur. Thanks for sharing.

onbike 1939

jur....you have no idea how depressed this makes me. ^^^^^^^^^^


Many thanks for this thread....great stuff and hat's off to you.