Paradise Loop
Trail Review
I biked this route before, but this time, I went counterclockwise and visited the optional Hippie Tree.
I liked how there was less vehicle traffic going counterclockwise.
There were sections where the wind gusted to about 20 mph. It made it such that I had to pedal going downhill.
What I Learned:
I’m pretty sure I’ve written about this before, but I loved that Tiburon was about 20 degrees cooler than South San Jose—instead of oven-like 90-degree weather, we spent the day in cool 70-degree weather.
What Happened?
21.6 miles, 2 hr 34 mins, 1272 ft of ascent
With Cassie dealing with the last throes of a cold, we decided to cycle this easy but iconic route. It helped that Tiburon would experience almost perfect weather while San Jose would be too toasty for a multi-hour ride.
We parked on the street next to Amy’s Drive Thru, where we planned to have lunch after our ride. From there, we headed in a counterclockwise direction to Strawberry and Tiburon. The weather was perfect, there weren’t too many other cyclists, and the route wasn’t too difficult for Cassie (with her cold).
We took it easy on the ride and stopped at scenic and interesting locations. The most interesting should have been the Hippie Tree, where there was a swing with beautiful views (the swing though, was hung very high so getting up on it was a bit precarious). Instead, our favorite ended up being a private refuel station at Jar Farms, where there was a small barn with energy bars, cold bottled water, and local honey (where all proceeds went to a food bank). We bought a delicious energy bar to support the cause and gulped it down in mere seconds.
When we got back to Amy’s, I had my favorite chicken sandwich (which happens to be vegan), while Cassie refueled with a salad. Afterwards, we went climbing.
