Peninsula Bikepacking
MVP:
Roswheel Pannier—This pannier worked perfectly to carry everything I needed for a possible two night bike packing trip. It was so large that I didn’t need any other packs affixed to my bike.
Route Review:
The bike ride to Tamien Caltrain Station from my home was uneventful. The roads were really nice for cycling, except for a few spots where I had to cycle in an empty car lane. The drivers that passed me gave me lots of space and I felt safe.
The bike ride from the San Bruno Caltrain Station to the Sweeney Ridge Trailhead was steep in many places. It really tired me out to climb these steep hills and then to bike downhill, where I would inevitably have to brake.
The bike ride from Sweeney Ridge Trailhead to Linda Mar was very tiring. There was this super steep section where I believe I took 3 or 4 breaks. It felt like sprinting, in terms of energy used, but may the pace of a fast tortoise. Going downhill was fun for the most part, but there was this long stretch that I just walked. I’m sure it’s possible on a proper mountain bike, but I didn’t feel good biking it.
The bike ride from Linda Mar to Half Moon Bay was awesome. Although I had to gain almost a thousand feet in elevation, the trail was so gentle and well graded, that it was the most pleasant climb I’ve done on my bike. The downhill portion was also well graded and fun. The flat trails of Half Moon Bay were welcome and a great way to end a good biking day.
The bike ride from Half Moon Bay to Alice’s Restaurant (through Purisima Creek Trail) was rough. It starts out in a beautiful way as I followed the Coastal Trail and Cowell-Purisima Trail. As I started up to Purisima Creek Road, it was quiet and I started feeling myself getting amped up for the coming uphill portion (I even swore at the hills ahead of me). The Purisima Creek Trail started off great for me. The elevation gain wasn’t too crazy and the redwoods were serene (and shaded). But after a switchback, I found myself unable to sustain even the slowest speeds. I eventually gave up and ended up walking my bike up a 1 mile section that gained 800 ft in elevation. I then got on Skyline Boulevard, which I biked all the way to Alice’s Restaurant. This portion still had steep uphills, but biking on asphalt was so much easier than on dirt.
The bike ride from Alice’s Restaurant to the Saratoga Gap was the longest feeling portion of the whole trip. It was only a little over 10 miles, but because I was already tired, then 1700 ft of elevation gain was really tough. I just remember going really, really slow.
The bike ride from the Saratoga Gap to home was exhilarating. The downhill ride on highway 9 was just really, really fun. I got up to around 30 mph, and I can’t describe it any other way than to say that it was pure joy. The rest of the ride was on city streets and it was really easy. That’s what I remember. After a day of 5000+ft of elevation gain, the rest of it was just so easy.
What I Learned:
Caltrain is so underrated! Maybe its because I took the train after commute hours, but I found it clean and comfortable.
The Sweeney Ridge Trail was so steep that I had trouble riding the bike from a stop. I had to push down violently with one of my feet, then put the other feet on the pedal and push in a split second. I had to try a few times, which probably helped to tire me out quickly.
Not packing lunch/dinner or any cooking equipment was pretty awesome. I should do this more often when camping in larger towns.
I want to swear off Purisima Creek Trail and say that I’m never doing that again, but I do kinda want to try it again when I’m not carrying all my bikepacking gear and when I’m fresh. I think I can do it, and I just need to prove it to myself later this year.
Biking on Skyline Boulevard wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. Only 1 car buzzed me, which of course was a rich bastard driving a Mclauren. Other than that one car, the other cars gave me lots of space and were really nice about sharing the road.
I still need better conditioning for rides like this. I definitely felt tired on my lower thighs when I started on the second day (and it ended up being sore the rest of the day).
I was planning on having lunch at Alice’s Restaurant for lunch, but by the time I got there, there was a line around the block. I instead settled for a vegetarian burrito at Skywood Trading Post & Deli, but it didn’t taste very good.
The one interesting piece of information in the analytics front is that even with the walking I did, I actually rode faster on day two than on day one! Did I just learn to deal with the pain better?
On both nights after the bike ride, I was so tired that I went to bed around 3 hrs earlier than usual. The first night, I woke up a few times (then quickly fell back asleep); the second night, I slept like a log for around 10 hours.
Fears Overcome
Being too tired—I wasn’t sure how I’d feel after 30 miles of biking combined with almost 3000 feet of elevation gain, while carry an extra 20 pounds situated in the panniers. But at Half Moon Bay State Park, I felt fine. My butt was a little sore and I felt tired, but nothing that would prevent me from bailing from this ride.
Not being conditioned enough—I wasn’t sure I could bike 50 miles with 5000+ ft of elevation after that first day, but I made it (well, I did walk 1 mile and 800 ft of that elevation gain). I’m not even ashamed or anything of the walk I did since my goal was to make it home before 5pm, and I did.
Media Consumed:
The Memory Police—finished!
Friends Made:
While I was cycling up Sneath Lane, this babushka got my attention and gave me a bottle of Ensure nutrition shake. She was awfully nice and it’s these types of kind gestures that just make my heart sing.
(Enemy made) While I was pushing my bike uphill on Purisima, I still said my hellos while coming across people. One of these people (this random white dude) told me (unsolicited), “That’ll teach you!” I just kept walking but screw people like that. Teach me what, that I shouldn’t try to push myself past what I think I can do? What’s the point of living if one only does things that they know they will succeed at? Having said this, the other two dozen people I passed or came across were genial.
What Happened?
30.6 miles, 4 hr 47 min, 2805 ft of ascent
53.2 miles, 7 hr 38 min, 5418 ft of ascent
I decided to bike pack from San Bruno, to Half Moon Bay, and then back to San Jose. So I biked to the Tamien Caltrain station, and rode that to San Bruno. It was my first time on Caltrain, and though it was expensive, I thought the train was just super. It was so clean and empty!
It was around 11am when I got to San Bruno and decided to not have lunch there, but at Pacifica. It took me two hours, but I eventually got to the Linda Mar neighborhood in Pacifica. I lived in Pacifica for two and a half years, but I had never visited the Linda Mar neighborhood. What I found was that there were a lot of steep hills, which wasn’t my favorite part. I did however, enjoy eating Beijing Beef at Panda Express. I try to avoid meat these days, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s so delicious!
After that, I made my way over to Half Moon Bay, which required ascending a hill almost as big as the one that I had gotten over earlier in the day. But because the grade was gentler, I found it to be very enjoyable, without the pain that I found on Sweeney Ridge. Oh, one memorable portion was this feeling of peace that I had when I coasted while biking parallel to the runway on Half Moon Bay Airport—I had many doubts that I could even do this ride, but right there, I allowed myself the satisfaction of knowing that I had done it. I had bikepacked to my destination with a personal best elevation gain while carrying camping equipment.
After camping at Half Moon Bay State Beach, I rode the Coastal Trail as far as I could. Seeing the expansive golf course at the Ritz Carlton renewed my hatred of golf links. It requires so much space for use by so little people that I think it’s wasteful (especially given how much water it requires). Besides that, the Coastal Trail was lovely—flowers, cows, and not many people.
I then headed up Purisima Creek Trail, which started out awesome, but ended with me giving up and pushing the bike the last mile (and about 800 ft of elevation gain). I just found myself resting for 30 seconds to a minute for a few hundred feet of progress and it just sucked. I also worried that I wouldn’t have the energy to bike on Skyline, since I did not want to push my bike on there (there is no sidewalk on Skyline).
Biking on Skyline was much more tiring than I thought. I mean, I’ve driven this road countless times, but I never appreciated how much elevation gain (and loss) there were. Well, I can tell you that I won’t take it for granted in the future. Because the views weren’t as beautiful, and because I had to constantly be on guard for cars, the Skyline portion took forever. Time went so slowly that I even turned off my phone. I just focused on the next pedal push, the next few feet, and the next hill I had to climb. Slowly (very slowly), I made it to Highway 9. I remember that last corner before the intersection. I was just so happy. It wasn’t as peaceful as the bike ride next to the airport, but it was close! Very close!
I knew that I’d be cold on Highway 9, so I stopped right before I dropped in to put on my wind breaker, and off I went! The ride was exhilarating. I just had lots and lots of fun. I pulled over twice to let cars pass (as certain cars would not pass me no matter how much space I gave them by riding on the shoulder), and besides that, it was really fun going 30mph. My bike doesn’t have the greatest breaks, so I was very glad that there weren’t any other unscheduled stops.
Once I got to Saratoga, I took a snack break (a small can of Pringles FTW!), and then headed home through local roads. What I remember on this portion is feeling how easy the bike moved on flat roads. I had biked through so much elevation change during the day that I had forgotten how joyous (and fast) biking through flat roads were.
When I got home, I put my bags inside the house, put the bike in the garage, took a shower, then sat on the couch, and gave my legs a well earned break.