[ibooklover123]

Hey, I'm from the midwest and will be in San Francisco for a week in early may. Can anyone please help give me an idea of some good twisties or beautiful scenic rides nearby the bay area?

Thanks so much!

 

[RAS SV]

go north over the golden gate bridge - sausalito, mill valley, san rafael (you'll also pass San Quintin correctional facility (keep driving - don't stop )

you can stay on the 101 the entire time.. and in each little city you can hop off and expore the back roads. or go the 1 (shoreline hwy) to Stinson Beach - twisty as all get out. then, from Stinson Beach, roll panoramic hwy back to Mill Valley.

here's a little Google Map of the area (just keep sliding north on the 101).
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=mill+valley&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&split=0&gl=us&ei=rs7aSfbYFqSUtgOS6smzBg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1

just awesome up there. prepare yourself for the elements (warm, hot, cold, foggy, rain etc).

 

[JPL_SV]

Also check out : http://www.socalsvriders.org/modules/Jig/index.php?

 

[sj_moto]

Looks like I'm the first norcal rider.. I live south of the golden gate, so I have the most experience with that.
From SF, I'd start by heading south on 35 (skyline) and take that to Alice's restaurant. That's a big biker hangout that's part of the local history - good food and on a weekend there's tons of bikes there to checkout. From there, there's so many options, but my favorite is usually 84 to pescadero or 84 all the way out to 1 and then take 1 south if it's a nice day you can ride 1 along the coast and enjoy the ocean views for quite a while. Head back inland when you start to get near santa cruz by taking bonny doon rd or if you don't mind a little bit of traffic you can take hwy 9 from santa cruz and ride that all the way back to the junction of 9 and 35.

 

[ibooklover123]

Thanks for the ideas guys, I think I'll probably head north one day and then south another day, great ideas.

I've done highway 1 from sf all the way down to san luis obispo, but that was in a car... nice views all the way down though.

 

[ibooklover123]

BTW go norcal! I hit SF once a year, but this is the first time i'll be taking the bike.

 

[sj_moto]

Hwy 1 south of SF isn't that great for twisties, but just for scenic riding on a sunny day it's a nice cruise to enjoy the views and stop at the lighthouse or a couple beaches. If you're looking for more twisty experience riding south of SF there are tons of options, you really can't go wrong with any of the roads off of 35 or 84.

North bay all I know is that the roads around lake berryessa and napa are awesome. I've driven them in my car to go camping and everytime I am wishing I had my bike.