Greg, Jim G and I started riding from the Golden Gate Bridge a little latter than planed, somewhere past 8:15 am. Our route, proposed by Greg, used roads that I am familiar with but rarely ride, quite nice for cycling, with very low car traffic and great scenery.. This is the way we took to Bodega Dunes.

Golden Gate Bridge (SF) to Fairfax using the regular bike route.
Right on Sir Francis Drake (SFD) to Nicassio Valley Rd
Right Point reyes Petaluma Rd
Left on Hicks Valley Rd
Right at Willson Hill Rd
Left at Chileno Valley Rd
Left at Tomales-Petaluma Rd
Right on Hwy 1
Left on Dilon Beach Rd
Right on Middle Rd Bear
Left to Whitaker Buff Rd
Right on Valley Ford Frankling School Rd
Left on Hwy 1 (At Valley Ford)
Left at Bodega Dunes Park about a mile North of Bodega Bay.
 78 miles From my garage (about 73 from the bridge)

We did four stops. The first one at The Java Hut in Fairfax for coffee and scones, next one at Nicassio for water, a third one at Tomales for lunch and more water and a last stop at Bodega Bay to buy our dinner and breakfast for next morning.

The next day we returned home using Hwy 1 all the way to Point Reyes Station where we did lunch and then continued to Olema where we turned left on Sir Francis Drake. We used the Marin Bicycle Path at the Samuel P. Taylor park and joined SFD again at the end of the gravel trail (Inkwells bridge) From there it was more SFD to Fairfax. Then the regular bike route to SF. 74 miles to my place (about 69 miles to the Golden Gate Bridge)

The pace was easy both ways. I belong to the lightweight school off touring, I hate dragging the kitchen sink with me. During the week prior to this tour I think I was able to pass some of that to both of my friends. Greg and Jim  had very nice and compact loads, just the basic things needed to be comfortable and not suffer because the lack of anything. They both have done brevets so their randonneuring experience played a big part when it came to packing. Once at the campground things went smoothly considering they had never done any camping. In general it was a good experience.

Before this overnighter I had some reservations about group touring having done many solo and tours with my wife but never with anybody else. My objective was to introduce my friends to bicycle touring. I think the experiment went fine for them and also for me. I had fun and it seems they did too. Would I do it again? Sure we are already talking crazy routes again...

Some of my photos of this overnighter are here and some more and Greg's and Jim's
(First posted September- 5-2007 at 05:01 pm)