Thoughts on a Marin County bike ride
February 22, 2025
I did a longish exploratory/adventury/scenic ride, from my friend John’s boat in Sausalito, up into Mill Valley, across a fire road, out to Tiburon, and back to the boat. Maybe 35 miles? Hard to estimate; there was a bit of steep climbing to get to the fire road, and the route on Paradise to Tiburon is pretty rolly… plus, it was on the small-wheel “clown bike” All-Packa, which definitly entitles one to bonus points for effort!
Some observations:
It’s just a beautiful area! No wonder so many people are out on the trail/roads, enjoying it. But it sure feels like a lot of riders are going faster than they should on a shared-use trail, and they are singularly unfriendly… I got not one wave, smile, acknowledgement whatsoever, other than from the French guy screaming “on your left! on your left!” as I was passing a little girl wobbling on her bike.
The bike infrastructure is really good – route signs abound, and while they sometimes are hard to spot or don’t make sense for a visitor, you’d figure it out real quick if you lived here.
The pre-driving-age kids seem to be getting those big, fat-tired “e-“ bikes, the ones that require no pedaling, and they go ripping around in teenage fashion. I’m sure the parents figure it’s better than having to shuttle the kids around in a car, but it would be better if the kids actually got some exercise, rather than just using the throttle.
The All-Packa is slow (or, I’m slow on it) and pretty much get passed by everyone, especially the bros on e-bikes, but I did have one group of riders catch me at a light, and there were a bunch of them left behind me once we got rolling again – so it’s not (or I’m not) that slow! Its great for sightseeing/touring, but there are definitely more efficient bikes.
I do wonder if I need lower gearing, were I to use it for a real tour. The highest gears really don’t get used, even in the current unloaded configuration; once you’re going down a hill fast enough to use those gears, you might as well coast. A couple lower gears, though, would be really good when trying to carry a load up a hill. I suppose I could ask the Bike Friday folks what they think the chainring options are; I still need a double, but maybe the two rings can both go down a couple teeth? Still, it’s a jolly bike!