Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Some serious hills
...at least for someone towing 70 pounds of kid and trailer! Today I tried to ride from the Sanchos - Emerald Market area up Oak Knoll to Five Corners. I was ok for a little while, then had to get off and push the rig for a bit, then got back on, and turned around after just a few more tenths of a mile. If I had consulted my map (I always keep a copy of the San Mateo County Bike Map, a great resource and usually available at local bike shops like Chain Reaction), I would have realized I had just a fifth of a mile to go before reaching my goal. Next time.
This is a really tough ride, as you can imagine! Give it a try if you are wondering if you can commute by bike in the hills, but make sure your brakes are in excellent working order first! Check out my Bikely map of the of the route.
This is a really tough ride, as you can imagine! Give it a try if you are wondering if you can commute by bike in the hills, but make sure your brakes are in excellent working order first! Check out my Bikely map of the of the route.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Routes around the RC
Planning routes can be challenging when you're concerned about the best way to go towing a trailer. If you want to plan your own routes, try the streets early on a weekend or holiday morning when you won't have to worry about too much traffic. Or, get some help from Biking Moms and Bikely, a great resource where cyclists help each other out.
So far I've only created a couple routes on Bikely, one of which is for getting to Whole Foods. This can be tricky because Jefferson can be a barrier for cyclists and because of some dead-end streets. (The other is just a mile long but shows you how to avoid the big hill at Alameda and McGarvey.)
Specifically, the way to deal with Jefferson is to take Hudson. There's a traffic signal there. Actually riding on Jefferson is not recommended -- even if you aren't towing a trailer -- because it's two lanes of fast traffic with no bike lane and parked cars on both sides.
So far I've only created a couple routes on Bikely, one of which is for getting to Whole Foods. This can be tricky because Jefferson can be a barrier for cyclists and because of some dead-end streets. (The other is just a mile long but shows you how to avoid the big hill at Alameda and McGarvey.)
Specifically, the way to deal with Jefferson is to take Hudson. There's a traffic signal there. Actually riding on Jefferson is not recommended -- even if you aren't towing a trailer -- because it's two lanes of fast traffic with no bike lane and parked cars on both sides.
