The Biking Hub: Road

28 February » Features, Health and lifestyle » Dan

The ultimate road trip: the benefits of a winter cycling holiday

Is there anything better than cycling under sunny skies in the dead of winter? And, no, I’m not talking about a ride on a rare nice day at home.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to escape briefly from my home in Ontario, Canada for a quick getaway to San Francisco. And while I’ll admit northern California isn’t exactly the Caribbean at this time of year, the trip still goes down as one of my favorite vacations yet.

The trip actually served three purposes. First, my wife of eight years and I both needed a vacation. What better way to forget about the piles and piles of work at home than to hop on a plane and fly six hours to the land of hills, Alcatraz and, umm, ‘alternative’ lifestyles.

Secondly, the inaugural Tour of California was slated to kick off in San Francisco on Sunday morning, and there’s nothing more inspiring to your winter training regimen than watching a group of the world’s best professional riders ripping up the roads in front of you.

Finally, and in my mind most importantly, the trip was an opportunity for me to ride some of the famed hills around the Bay Area. The streets of San Francisco are legendary, and I wanted to experience the pain myself.

So, while temperatures were hitting with -15 celsius back home, I was packing up my Giant TCR road bike into a Trico Sports bike box and we headed south.

When we arrived, temperatures were rather chilly by San Francisco standards, ranging from around 8 to 13 degrees celsius, but considering the conditions at home these conditions were just about perfect in my eyes. I managed to get in a fair number of kilometers over the course of the three days, but here are the three parts of the trip that really stood out the most:

Old La Honda Road in Palo Alto

Certain hills around San Francisco are simply legendary, and this is one of them. At 3.3 miles and a grade hitting 18% at points, this climb winds its way up a tight two-lane road in Palo Alto, the home of Stanford University. The climb itself took me just under 24 minutes, which I’m told is pretty respectable, even though legend has it that some pro made it to the summit in 14 minutes back in the ’80s. What made this climb so fun was the amount of other cyclists just ‘out riding around’. They were everywhere. They came in every shape and size and they were all friendly and more than happy to have you jump on their group.

Golden Gate Bridge & Marin Headlands

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge is something every tourist must do, but crossing it by bike is entirely another experience. While the bridge’s east sidewalks are open to pedestrians and tend to get a bit packed, the sidewalks on the west side are for bikers only. I was able to fly across the bridge while enjoying views of the Pacific Ocean and the famed Marin Headlands, which were the second part of my ride.

The Marin Headlands are the southern tip of Marin County, which is considered by many to be the home of mountain biking. In fact, many of the first off-road excursions were said to have taken place in the forests going up Mount Tamalpias, which also offers amazing views of the Bay Area.

But many of the most famous views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco come from a vista high above the area at the top of the Marin Headlands. To get there, it’s about a four-mile ride edging on the Bay inlet. And as if the views of the area weren’t payoff enough for the pain of the climb, I rode the area first thing in the morning and watched the sun rise over San Francisco.

At the top I was joined by about a dozen other cyclists who were out on a typical Sunday morning ride. It was simply incredible and one of those rides I’ll never forget.

Taylor Street

San Francisco is famous for its big red bridge, the Rock and its jaw-dropping hills. The city itself was built on and around a few huge hills so the whole downtown area is covered with horribly steep streets – many of which have stairs instead of sidewalks.

I had heard about the dreaded Taylor Street on a website talking about some of the worst of the worst when it comes to climbs. It’s one of the Heartbreak Hills from the many running races held in the city and as I rode up it I quickly realized why.

With pitches approaching 25 % at points, this residential road never seems to end. It’s split up into sections with stop signs at each intersection, and although its total length is probably less than one kilometre, it was still one of the hardest climbs I’ve ever ridden on a bike.

Was it worth it?

This is certainly not the first time I’ve packed up one of my bicycles and traveled, but it was by far the most fun trip I’ve had. I learned how rejuvenating these trips can be and I came home completely inspired and fired up to keep riding. In fact, I was back on the trainer right away and now I can’t wait for the weather to turn so I can hit the roads again.

If you ever have the opportunity to take a trip during the off-season, DO IT. I have ridden in Florida, Arizona, and California and they all offer incredible roads and fun rides for those of us trying to escape the dreariness of winter.

While the price might seem a bit high to travel south at this time of year, you’ll come home with a new attitude, new desire and a refueled passion for the sport. And you can’t put a price on that.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2006 at 12:05 am and is filed under Features, Health and lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.