This could very well be our favorite ride from the door of the shop. It’s manageable from a time in the saddle perspective, it offers world-class views, it has the perfect mix of dirt and paved (candy stripe) surfaces and it’s challenging enough to not feel guilty about a post-ride feast at Fish or any other Sausalito eatery.
You can download GPX file here.
We’ll skip the play-by-play and let the pictures do most of the talking, mainly because, well, GPS. We will try to explain any obstacles, type of bike needed and any other points of interest that we can think of.
Starting from Above Category you’ll roll through Sausalito. I like the back roads and parking lot excursions but you can head straight down Bridgeway and onto the short stint on the bike path. The first feature of the ride that I think is cool is riding on the wooden path along the slough that takes you to the road to Tennessee Valley. Just watch out on cold winter mornings when it’s covered in a thick layer of frost.
Once on the road to Tennessee Valley and past the early twists and turns you’ll head up a slight false flat towards the main parking lot. When you get there you’ll head left and towards the horse stables. Right after the corral, turn right and head onto the mostly single track climb up Old Springs. This is probably one of my favorite short climbs in the Marin Headlands. It has a few slightly challenging pitches that are slightly rocky where the key is to carry as much speed as you can in order to keep the grip and proper line to get through. It’s not hard by any means, but if you are a newer cyclist or have not ridden on this type of terrain before it could lead to the dreaded walk-of-shame. Before the tech section, you will navigate a few stretches with very slight erosion logs set perpendicular to the trail. Again, the faster you roll over these the easier it is.
When you get past these two features the trail becomes mostly flat and super fun. I prefer to slow down here and enjoy the views. You have Hill 88 ahead, the Tennessee Valley below and of course the Pacific everywhere. It is hard to believe there is a major city just a few miles away.
This is really the only part of the ride where you might want a bike with room for bigger tires. I’ve ridden this ride many times on a road bike with 28 and 32mm tires, but you need to be a bit more judicious in your line selection on some of the rockier bits. Past those sections and maybe the descent to follow, you can ride a road bike the rest of the way and depending on your skill level, slowly or at speed.
Regarding traffic on this part of the ride, on weekday mornings it’s mainly all yours but on weekends, depending on the time of day, you’ll want to be aware of runners, hikers and other cyclists going up and coming down.
Lastly, while water drains pretty well on most of this ride there may be some muddy sections where a road bike won’t work at all, so keep that in mind during the rainy season.
When you get to the top of the Old Springs climb you’ll turn right and head down the Miwok descent. I’m definitely not the bravest descender these days, but you’ll want to watch yourself a bit on this one and not let your speed get too out of hand. Except for those rare hero dirt days, the road has loose gravel over hardpack which can be super slippery and hard to find the edge grip going around the sharper corners. Also, during the winter the ruts will start to appear and you’ll need to navigate through those. You’ll want to keep an eye out for hikers and other riders on the road before the speed gets too high.
But like the rest of the ride, you’ll be rewarded for taking it chill and enjoying the views of the valley, Pacific Ocean and just sheer overall beauty of this area.
For the bike, just like the climb before, you can do this on a road bike if you have some skill but some larger tires with a bit of grip will make it safer and more comfortable.
At the bottom of Miwok you’ll hang left and then right towards Rodao Valley on a nice and smooth wide gravel trail towards another right that will take you to Bunker road. There you’ll hit the candy stripe and soon after take a right on Julian trail for another dirt climb.
This is a climb that I’ve been riding on my road bike forever. There is a slightly rutted out section once past the gate at the bottom and some soft and sandy sections here or there during the climb but other than that hit this one on your road bike at any time. In fact, my fastest time up this climb is on a bike with 25mm tubulars, so don’t worry, any bike will do here.
Besides the ruts at the beginning, the main thing to keep an eye out for are mountain and other bikes coming down. I’m going to be repeating this ad nauseam, but the views! Again, so hard to believe that just over this hill you’ll be looking down on a sea of humanity.
One historical point of interest on this section. At the bottom, right as you turn off the tarmac you’ll see three or four long mounds running along the field to your left. This was the rifle range when the Army was active in the area back in the day. The soldiers holding the targets would be in trenches on the other side of the mounds and would raise the targets and then lower them for grading. I’m not exactly sure of the ranges but it looks like at least 50, 100 and 150 meter distances. This is also where I saw a mountain lion a few years ago, just sitting on top of one of the mounds, taking in its surroundings.
At the top of this climb you’ll hit a round about and you will then go left and down the main road. When you get this on a quiet morning it’s a super fun ripper down to our next turn. Normally though, you’ll want to keep an eye out for all the tourists who I promise are not keeping an eye out for you. And again, like everywhere else, you may have more fun chilling and enjoying the views.
But don’t go too fast and miss the dirt road down to Kirby Cove. Another road I’ve been doing for years and way back when, before Strava and Instagram, you would NEVER see another person on this stretch. Not that it’s bad now, but you will want to watch out for other riders and hikers.
Like the Miwok descent, this can be pretty slippery and can be easy to overshoot the sharper corners towards the bottom (Ernesto, Julius??) so show a bit of caution here.
This is also easily done on a road bike, just take even more care going down.
At the bottom and at the beach you will see a totally different view of the city and the golden gate bridge. There is also camping down here and would be a cool bike camping stop. There are also a few bunker positions from WWII that housed some big mortars.
Maybe one of my favorite parts of the ride is climbing back up and near the top, seeing a small part of the Golden Gate Bridge tower appear. In the morning, just as the sun is coming up this part of the bridge seems almost unreal in how orange it is.
At the top of the dirt climb, take a left and go back up what you just came down. Past the roundabout and all the way to the top. For you first timers or really anyone who likes a good view, stop here and click away.
Now you get one of my favorite descents anywhere. It’s short, it’s fast and it’s pretty dangerous. What could be better? Well, yep, the view. Insane. I actually remember my very first time starting down this, almost 25 years ago. I think I literally let out a gasp. The view is insane. Another one of those, where the hell am I, moments.
I recommend chilling on this one until you know where you are going and just enjoying everything there is to see. This is a one way road, but I have seen stray tourists driving up a few times but mainly it’s said tourists stopped dead on the road taking pictures which can be the most dangerous thing.
Still on the one way and more of the same, our most awesome little cycling playground. The second mini descent is fun as hell but watch out for gravel in the road from time to time. Has caught a lot of folks out.
After a little loop, we start heading down towards Rodeo Beach.
On your way down, slow down and pull into the entrance to the old Nike missile launch site and say hi to my buddy Joe. He’s super dedicated and is there 24-7. Maybe offer him a snack as I’ve never even seen him take a meal break. Also, as the sign says, no pictures here!
Once at the bottom and after you head towards the beach you’ll take a right at the stop sign at the top of a little rise. Head through the gate to another nice little, mostly paved, no cars allowed section. This is the kind of climb that seems to go forever, even though it’s barely a five minute, easy climb. And, have I said this before? It is hard to believe that there is a major city just back over your left shoulder.
At the top of this second-to-last climb, stop and check out this 16-inch gun, pretty cool. And the fact that this exact gun was on the USS Missouri for the Japanese surrender ceremony at the end of WWII is even cooler. Descend this hill chill, lots of hikers and dog walkers most of the time and really, you don’t want to miss this view. Surfers and one of the few water spots can be found at the bottom.
The GPS file will take you up a short and steep little hill near the Artist studios and then back to the dirt on Rodeo Valley trail. You’ll keep on this flat section towards the final paved climb of the day.
The final climb up McCullough should be taken all out since the views here suck. Actually, this climb brings back bad memories as it was at one time my main interval hill. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve been up and down this thing over the past 20 years. So so so many tears and more than one breakfast have been left here. It’s perfect though, a steady 6-8% all the way up and of course, kidding on the views. You'll end up back at the round about that you’ve gone past a few times and back down the tourist laden descent. Finally, back at AC to say thanks for the ride recommendation, en route to tacos at Fish.
You are very welcome.
The weapon of choice for this ride: Bastion’s Crossroad, rolling on Tufo Thundero 40mm gravel tires, a perfect balance of efficiency on tarmac and confidence when the terrain turns rough.
Like always, if you want to have some fun and add a unique custom bike to your garage, give us a shout!
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