I will be in San Fran on business next week.
I have found some mapmyride routes in the Mill Valley, CA area, but was wondering if anyone has suggestions for flat, decent road, very little traffic in the San Fran/Mill Valley area for bike intervals. I could use about a 5-6 mile stretch as a straight away, or 3 mile out and back, or a square of some sort.
Many thanks!
hard to find around here. you can ride over to Stinson Beach and ride up Highway 1 to Point Reyes or do Loops from Stinson to BoFax Rd.
Lucas Valley Rd from the 101 also works. Other than that you have to go to Nicasio Reservoir, a bit of a drive.
Stinson is your best bet if you just want to get on the bike from MV. Takes about 55min to get there with some good climbing as a warm up.
You’re going to be in the Bay Area with all the incredible riding around there and you want to do flat intervals? That’s basically sacrilege.
You’re going to be in the Bay Area with all the incredible riding around there and you want to do flat intervals? That’s basically sacrilege.
And as someone else pointed out, pretty much close to impossible. Go to VeloSF or Breakaway performance and do a trainer session with them if you want to do flat intervals.
You’re going to be in the Bay Area with all the incredible riding around there and you want to do flat intervals? That’s basically sacrilege.
And as someone else pointed out, pretty much close to impossible. Go to VeloSF or Breakaway performance and do a trainer session with them if you want to do flat intervals.
Great suggestion. I meant to ask about good trainer sessions in the area. I will check out these options,. Thanks!
I will be in San Fran on business next week.
I have found some mapmyride routes in the Mill Valley, CA area, but was wondering if anyone has suggestions for flat, decent road, very little traffic in the San Fran/Mill Valley area for bike intervals. I could use about a 5-6 mile stretch as a straight away, or 3 mile out and back, or a square of some sort.
Many thanks!
Colleen…forget about your training plan. That’s what training on business is for (break out of what you do at home). There is a lot of nice riding in the area. Go ride some hills. Your body really won’t know the difference.
OK, from Mill Valley if I am not mistaken you can get one of the best rides around, which would be Mount Tamalpais (I have never done, it, just going by what others have told me)…if you want “kind of flat” there is the loop around the peninsula in Tiburon, but I have not done that loop since 1996, so it MAY be hillier than I recall. But it could work if you want to stick to your training plan. There are some blind corners, so be aware. Pavement quality used to be good.
Dev
LOL! Hi, Dev!
Well, I am coming off a stress fracture of my 3rd metatarsal that came on in mile 3 of the Ironman Los Cabos, marathon. Boo! So, I have yet to ride my bike outside. I have been doing shorter intervals on the trainer but I don’t think my foot is ready for hills. Or at least I don’t to test it out there in unfamiliar territory.
Hence, I was wondering about flats. I think sticking to the indoor route for now will be best. I am only out there 3 days.
Yes, it is beautiful riding out there. I did a week long cycling camp out of Mill Valley and it was fantastic.
I will miss you at St. Croix and miss the St. Croix race period. Hit it hard for all of us!
Thanks!
OK, if you are coming off the stress fracture (sorry to hear about that), then please just go the indoor route. No point rushing things. I can see the crank torque on hills being hard on the metatarsels than higher RPM lower crank torque flat intervals. Thanks for the wishes on St. Croix, but my biggest problem right now is having put too much food in my mouth on a 2 week business trip and eating out in restaurants every night and now having to carry all that extra mass through the run course next Sunday.
Drive down south of SF to Highway 92 (the half moon bay exit). Park on Canada road and ride south to woodside. That is as flat as you will get. It’s a nice out and back where people TT a lot. Only place that I can think of that is relatively flat. The only other part I can think of is parts of paradise loop were flattish and you could link up some portions but that is pretty boring. Riding indoors at this time of the year is just plain weird:) Sorry about the foot but i that case just put on a compact up front and a frisbee on the back and you can spin up anything.
If you truly want a flat, traffic free place to do intervals you wont do better than going and riding the ‘track’ (not banked, like a running track) around the polo field in golden gate park, best bet is mornings during the week, you’ll rarely find anyone there other than a few other cyclists doing the same thing, ride counter-clockwise. It’s boring but effective, and a lap is about 1km. As a lot of other people have said, there’s some much nicer riding in the area though!
Not to hijack the thread but I am in San Francisco for work next week as well. Monday I was going to do a longer ride up to mt tam via fairfax, and also hit stinson and muir beach before heading back. Tuesday would be a great day to crank out some intervals at the track. Is it better to hit it first thing in the morning, or a little later after everyone else has gone to work?
Basically the ‘track’ is open to bikes whenever the field is not being used…so weekends are generally bad. Mondays the field is ‘resting’ from weekend use so it’s a good day to go out there, and other weekdays it’s generally better to go in the mornings, I was there today from 11-1:45 and nobody was using the fields, tends to be pretty chilly and foggy v. early but anytime before 1 is probably a good bet.
Basically the ‘track’ is open to bikes whenever the field is not being used…so weekends are generally bad. Mondays the field is ‘resting’ from weekend use so it’s a good day to go out there, and other weekdays it’s generally better to go in the mornings, I was there today from 11-1:45 and nobody was using the fields, tends to be pretty chilly and foggy v. early but anytime before 1 is probably a good bet.s
This is a good idea and helpful. Thanks!
I moved to SF a couple months ago. Flattest stretch of land I’ve found is from Stinson Beach to Bolinas Fairfax Road. It’s about 5 miles, half of which is really nicely paved, other half is alright. Love cruising along there and it’s beautiful, although might get a little boring doing repeats. Just a heads up there’s no real shoulder, but I’ve never had an issue with cars, bikers are pretty common on that route. Take Rt. 1 up there, it’s about 30 minutes from SF if you don’t hit traffic, great views along the way.
Is getting to the East Bay an Option? If so, I do nearly all of my intervals on a stretch of road that starts at Camino Tassajara at the “Mustang Soccer League Fields” (find on google maps) and then go down Camino Tassajara, make a left on Highland, and take that for like 7 miles (it turns into Manning). No lights, flat to rolling, and good quality road with very little traffic. About 15-20 degrees warmer than in the city though, so just don’t go in arm-warmers!
If getting to the East Bay is not an option, like Rob said, riding highway 1 out by Stinson Beach is pretty incredible.
I normally do loops on Lucas Valley road between Miller Creek road and Westgate, it’s a slight grade but smooth and most importantly protected from the wind. There also two pan flat roads in Novato, Bel Marin Keys and Atherton, hardly any traffic on them mid day. Lastly the town of Nicasio to the Nicasio reservoir then off to the left til the hill drops at the dam is good, but it’s been crazy windy lately.
In San Fran monday night with my travel road bike. Looking to ride north across Golden Gate…then where do I go? Would like something 50+ leaving late afternoon. Anyone interested in joining or group ride I could sit it on? I was planning on riding into Mill Valley via the trail then maybe over to Stinson and Highway 1 north until I feel like turning around. Advice? Highway 1 a safe place to ride for an out of towner? thanks.