Bike Camping
A few weeks back I endeavored to go camping by bike, alone.
I loaded up my bicycle with two panniers (sleeping bag, sleeping pad & tent), and a handlebar bag with a headlamp, water, etc.
I first stopped at the bank ATM to pickup cash:
I continued on my journey to Millbrae BART station, to ride to a reasonable starting point:
The BART ride led through San Francisco and to the east bay, passing West Oakland and the immense Port of Oakland:
I got off of BART at Orinda station and noticed wayfinding signage I had not seen before:
I passed the Orinda library where I was very impressed to see a vibrant scene of seniors socializing and a Saturday farmers market:
I picked up my father along the way, who would join me as far as the Richmond-San Rafael bridge before returning home:
We rode up Wildcat Canyon, climbing ~600 feet:
We passed Lake Anza, a public swimming lake I went to when I was much younger:
Some of the Berkeley residents high up in the hills had protest signs against bike lanes, which presumably harm them as they contest for free parking in the neighborhood where the bike lanes were proposed:
Coming down from the Berkeley hills there were some nice sights, including this bench:
The smelly Sake factory:
An Amtrak train:
And the Berkeley Aquatic Park:
We crossed highway 80 via a very nice ped/bike overpass:
We also saw the new Gilman overpass, though we did not try it out:
Going north along the bay trail had some nice sights as well:
At the lead up to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, my father and I split ways:
And my crossing of the bridge commenced:
Once across the bridge, I stopped in San Rafael to pick up a burrito and was impressed at how brief a ride it was to reach China Camp State Park:
It was a quick check-in at the ranger station (moderately easy to find), and I located where to setup camp:
I sat and ate my burrito with great appetite:
Before sunset I tried hiking up into the hills above the campsite but could not locate a truly unobstructed view:
I did see a cute deer:
The next morning I accepted one of the campground ranger’s offers to have a coffee.
We had ~1 hour of conversation–wide-reaching around the availability of campsites in the bay area, the policies policing them, the homelessness crisis in the region, the transit options, those who aim to obstruct new developments, and the land-use politics of California.
I regrettably cut the conversation short in order to make a specific ferry in Larkspur bound for San Francisco, and I made the short(er) ride back in time to make my desired ferry departure, bagel and banana in hand:
There was excellent separated bike path infrastructure, but I had stop to take in a comically long list of financing agencies involved in creating the trail:
The ferry ride was comparatively short and luxurious (though crowded):
Once in San Francisco, I met friends for a coffee and a heartier breakfast before taking BART back to Millbrae from Embarcadero:
All-in-all, a very eventful bike camping trip. Would do again.