Living in Sonoma County and concerned with the safety of all Rivendell and other riders, I resepctfully suggest that you stay away from Vallejo and Highway 29. Make your way via ferry to SF or MArin County/ Sausalito - then find the back roads up to Petaluma and Santa Rosa. I haven't done the ride for several years, but you can ramble around and up to the top of Mt Tam. Be safe.
On Aug 5, 11:56 am, "Andy.M" <[email protected]> wrote: > I was just up in the that area... so to give you a heads up there is > road work going on on the 121 between Napa and Sonoma NO SHOULDER so > if you go that way be careful! The Oakville Grade Rd/Trinity Rd is > gorgeous, but you'll need to bring your hill climbing shoes ;) > -Andy > > On Aug 5, 11:30 am, ian connelly <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > (caveat: i haven't done this ride exactly, but have ridden from north > > of santa rosa through napa to vallejo, and have done a lot of riding > > in marin. i would also be eager to hear input from santa rosa/sonoma > > locals!) > > > i'd suggest you take the ferry (either to larkspur or vallejo) to get > > started. only problem is that to take the ferry to either of those > > spots you can't go from oakland, but must start in SF. since you seem > > willing to BART you could always start by doing that. you can also > > take the ferry from jack london to the ferry building and sf and > > transfer (checkhttp://www.eastbayferry.com/forschedules etc). > > > from vallejo...well, you'd have to ride along hwy 29 to get to napa, > > and it's not very pleasant. wide shoulder but trafficky. (the bay > > trail is not yet finished between napa and vallejo, though they are > > making progress). once in napa, the easiest route would probably be > > via the silverado trail, then cut over to the west at st helena and go > > into santa rosa via spring mountain/st helena/calistoga. steep, > > narrow. > > you could also devise a route that got you to hwy 12 without having to > > go on the busiest roads, but you'd likely have to do a stint along 12 > > or 121 at some point, and on the weekends these roads are congested > > with drivers and would not be fun. also, since many tourists are in > > the area to drink wine, i would try to avoid riding them after noon if > > you must ride them at all. > > > via marin - little more wander-y, but you could take the ferry to > > larkspur, head west along sir francis drake past fairfax, turn towards > > to nicasio valley road (just past san geronimo), then turn right on > > petaluma-point reyes road...then, when you get to petaluma, head north > > via either stony point (west of 101) or redwood/petaluma hill road > > (east of 101). these are probably the most direct if semi-trafficky > > options, so ymmv depending. > > > (after i wrote this i checked google maps' bike option - google > > suggests the petaluma hill route - 65 miles, 6.5 hours. napa route > > adds 20 miles. good luck!) > > > ian > > > On Aug 3, 11:14 am, CR Masterson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I'm happy to BART across the bay, head up through Marin. Or any other > > > way you have fallen in love with. It would be nice avoid huge trucks, > > > mondo hills and traveling way out of the way as much as possible. > > > Thanks.- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
