Mt Tam Ascent
I’m in California this week on a family trip, from which I stole a morning and did the classic ride up and around the Marin County’s Mt. Tamalpais. The climb started in the dark forest, eventually opening into the sun-drenched hills that buffer the Pacific Ocean. The metaphor was clear: I was climbing out of the darkness of my northwest hibernation and into the light of a new cycling season. Sure, I’ve been riding all winter, but the majority of those miles have been pushing the flat pedals of my long-tail as I take my son to school. This was a return to cleats, carbon, and the almighty V-kit. It felt good.
The bike I rented from ACME cycles, a Foundry frame with Shimano 105 components, was an odd fit. An insufficient drop, saddle-to-bars, for starters. That didn’t bother me for long though. I passed a deer early in the climb, who looked up at me with those ever-vacant eyes. He seemed to say, slowly “Wha? It’s a bike, fool”. “Fair enough,” I thought, it was a bike indeed.
I reached a viewpoint and looked down on Stinson Beach, where I had surfed the day before, and I felt the full swing of summer. The sun was in every pore now and the pedals were swinging underneath me.
As I neared to top of Mt. Tam, however, my climber’s high fell away to fatigue. I began to lament my meager fitness, and my California dreaming drifted in a darker direction. What if I worked less and rode more? What if I lived in a place like this, where I could ride big climbs right from my back door? What if I could fully realize the innate combination of endurance and arrogance I was seemingly born with? These are the daydreams of a middle-aged man on an expensive rental bike, to be sure.
I crested the summit and looked out to San Francisco Bay, the bridges, and the city. I finished the last of my water and deployed my vest for the chilly decent. I stowed my daydreams in favor of the present. I had my health, and enough fitness to get up here. I was alive. And I was on bike. This was, and is, enough.
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@Sparty
Ride last Friday was extra special. My willingness to ride down dirt/sand road in the rain showed me a house for sale. My parents are wanting to move back (near family) and this house is 3 minutes for us (versus 2.5 hours).
Wonderful article @Jim. Thanks for sharing.
Surfing one day and a bike ride the next, that's my kind of California dreaming. Cheers @Jim.
Last week I finally heard back that I was offered a teaching position at Dunn High School in the Santa Ynez valley, just north of Santa Barbara. I'm stoked to ride those roads ... but I'm also looking forward to visiting my sister in San Francisco, bringing a bike, and riding the roads of Marin county and the Santa Cruz mountains.
And twenty-plus years after both she and I moved out West, my parents are finally making noises about relocating to be closer to us...
@Lingduay
There are several ways up it, including a killer gravel grade. Such an amazing hill to have so close to a city. When I rode down there last Spring, I was confronted with similar moving impulses.
I live in England but did get over to California a couple of years' back and realised a long held ambition - to climb the Nacimiento Fergusson road that rises up from the Pacific coast, off Highway 1 between Monterey and San Luis Obispo. This has to be one of the most awesome climbs in Ca. with stunning views back down to the Ocean. Descending back down to the coastal highway requires nerves of steel and very efficient brakes!
@cognition
Hey, that's great news! Sorry to lose your presence up here, but hearty congratulations anyway! When do you think you'll be relocating?
If my daughter stays in Santa Cruz, maybe we can meet up there for a ride one of these days.
I was out there riding a few weeks ago (I made the short drive out of Berkeley towards Mill Valley) and rode over Alpine Dam through to the Seven Sisters, looking over Stinson Beach
. Absolutely stunning and beautiful weather
Mt Tamalpais. Sacred ground. Being the birthplace of mountain bikes.
@PeakInTwoYears
Thanks! We're headed down in late July. Tentatively the 25th/26th. I'm still looking to head over your way for some more time on the Olympic Peninsula before leaving.
If nothing else, I emailed @frank today to see about setting up a graveur Cogal from North Bend up to Snoqualmie Pass and back, a metric century with mostly gravel , a little singletrack, and some crappy pavement. Maybe we can tempt you to come over (close) to the big city...