Moved to San Francisco about a month ago and while the training rides have been amazing; finding long stretches of aero bliss have been few and far between. In my first month living out here I’ve done the Paradise Loop, an awesome ride down in Santa Cruz and La Honda (but backwards). The most time I’ve been able to spend in my bars was on 92 down near Half Moon Bay but that stretch isn’t super long and is kind of far away from San Francisco.
Someone recommended the Silverline Trail up in Nappa but again that’s a 30 to 45 minute drive. Are there any good spots that let me get into my aero bars, and not worry about stop signs for 10 or 15 mile stretches that are within riding distance of SF?
im with you. i live in the bay. canada rd/woodside is decent. not flat, but no major climbs. trying to find more myself.
I’m thinking about taking my bike for the holidays to the Bay Area… are there any good tri shops in the city or near it? I know there’s a big cycling community but tri?
Yeah, Nicasio is fine but you have 90 minutes of crap riding over the bridge and stop and go through towns just to get there. Driving to Lucas Road park & ride is a good starting point, but again, you drive to get there.
I ride Canada road to Woodside all the time. The hills are not major, even I can do them The question is, do I bring out the roadie or the P2SL? I just switch off.
‘front of the pack’ in palo alto is a good tri store. not super big, but it has everythin a triathlete should need. the staff is also super knowledgeable. they dont have a bunch of clothes so if you want to go somewhere for that kinda stuff id suggest ‘sports basement’ in sunnyvale (i think thats where it is)
san jose has some decent areas, surprisingly, where you can stay aero for a good amount of time on fairly flat ground. the only downside its usually very/very windy. if you lookup the silicon valley tri bike course look at the middle 1/3 and there you can go off of the course and get many miles of good quiet roads
kinda wish i lived in the north bay, for biking, my friends who cycle up there love it. no wonder thats where Levi lives.
Highway 1 south of Half Moon Bay. A relatively flat stretch of it is also the Big Kahuna bike course. The race course goes from the beach in Santa Cruz to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse (~10mi south of Half Moon Bay) and back. Keep in mind that the wind usually blows north to south so you’ll want to start early if you ride south from HMB to avoid a massive headwind on the way back. It’s a nice rolling stretch of road, good aerobar territory and a wide bike lane, for the most part.
Pacbikes in San Francisco has a pretty awesome selection of Cervelos and Scott bikes (I think the best in SF). Agreed…almost any ride around here is going to have some major climbing, just find one with a few long flat/rolling stretches and suck it up
Yeah I don’t mind the climbing at all; just would like to balance some of the climbs with some 10 to 15 mile stretches of aero bliss. Plus it’s kind of fun to pass roadies on my tri bike or meet them at the top and have them say "you climbed this on that???"
Would be nice to get a sweet road bike out here but since I went the start-up route post MBA instead of going back into finance it’s going to take a couple years!
Get compact cranks 50/34 - neutralizes much of the climbing permitting a more optimal TT cadence.
From SF, “warm-up” riding out to Stinson Beach either on Hwy 1 or up and over Tam via Panoramic, and you can TT along the Bolinas lagoon - only about 12-15min of perfect flat, but ez spin at the end and return doubles your time and with the compact cranks you can spin in aero-form up the climb to Pantoll about 22-25min, and if the legs invite up to the West Peak Summit, another 20min for total of 45-55min uninterrupted riding (one stop sign at Stinson). I liked to use this for IM Canada preparation.
Getting in the car, drive to Lucas Valley Road and ride out to Nicasio, Pt Reyes Station, Olema, return for 45mile largely flat TT type ride. Riding towards Petaluma and Tomales Bay lengthens the ride and though hilly in sections, consists of uninterrupted riding with a lot of aero bar friendly sections.
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The grade for the above is moderately steep but pretty consistent, thus allowing a steady aero rhythm.
The question is, do I bring out the roadie or the P2SL? I just switch off.