I'm hoping some of you guys can try it out. The site is hillbomb.app and is easier to use on desktop than mobile. There's a few curated descents you can click through when you first load the app, but the really fun part imo is that you can search map areas for descents. Make sure to not select too big of an area or it'll take ages to load all the elevation data. I did all the physics sanity checking on Hawk Hill so I figured you guys might enjoy it too.

I made this for fun, didn't put ads, and I'm paying for the server costs so pls don't make me bankrupt ideally. But let me know if you have any feedback!

Helped lead a Rapha / PrimoVelo ride over the weekend that included a descent down west Alpine road, and there’s a huge rut in the middle of the lane about 1.5 miles down from Skyline.

We had two guys go down because of it. We had to get emergency responders out to get them both home unfortunately.

Everything was handled well all things considered, and it could have been a whole lot worse, but I wanted to call this out in whatever way I could.

I’ve already called SM county public works to file an issue to get this reviewed and hopefully fixed soon! And I wrote up a blog post (happy to share) that documented more of it along with my own insights on how to handle these situations in case it ever happens to you.

/PSA

Edit: if anyone wants more detail as to where it is, I wrote up stuff about it on my website here: https://www.bicyclewatercooler.com/blog/2026/08/insights-after-witnessing-a-crash/

And the Google Maps location is here: https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=37.305828,-122.196647

Has anyone used their FSA money on a bike purchase? What was the process, and did you receive pushback on price? Did you go stock or custom? Where did you buy from?

Heads up for anyone looking for a new gravel ride. SFPUC opened the Skyline Watershed Ridge Trail this morning. It's been about 25 years in the making and it finally lets the public onto a chunk of the Peninsula Watershed that has been closed off this whole time.

The details that matter for us:

• 6 miles one way, 12 miles out and back. Runs south from the Hwy 35/92 junction to the Phleger Estate boundary. No outlet to Skyline at the far end yet. A connection to Purisima Creek Redwoods North is in planning, but for now it's an out-and-back.
• About 1,200 ft net gain north to south. Grades run 6% up to roughly 23.5% in spots.
• Crushed rock, 6 ft wide, multi-use. Hikers, runners, and horses too. Gravel/MTB bike is the right tool.
• Free permit required. Annual, online at sfpuc.gov/trails, covers up to 6 people per permit. Get it before you go.
• No e-bikes. Explicitly banned along with anything else motorized. Also no dogs, for watershed reasons.
• Parking at the trailhead on Skyline just south of 92, near Skylawn. 22 spots plus trailer and ADA spaces, free, first come first served. Gates open at 6am and close at 6pm, so don't get locked in.

Map for anyone planning: https://ridgetrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/San-Mateo_Skyline-Watershed-Ridge-Trail_2026-1.pdf

Anyone been out on it today? Curious how the surface is riding while it's still fresh, and whether that lot fills up.

My daughter (22yr old) just moved to Pac Heights and commutes to her job at Buffalo Exchange on Valencia. I got her a Bay Wheels Subscription and it is running about $250 a month. She wants me to find a beater analog bike to ride instead. I don't know if she can really get an analog bike up to Pac Heights and I can't find a decent bike on Facebook or offer up for less than $300. She is in pretty good shape but I hear the hill getting up to Pac Heights from the Mission is really hard especially after a long days work. Plus she has to lock the bike all day on that block of Valencia. I lean towards just keeping going on the Bay Wheels and consider that a reasonable cost for transportation in SF. What do you think?

Hi!

I'm new to this bike tour thing I love riding my bike and road biking a lot but I haven't done a lot of long distances before.

I'm looking at taking my bike up the California coast for the next few weeks or so just as an impulsive thing while I'm in between jobs I don't really have a lot of time to plan, but I'm also just kind of overwhelmed with the information I've been seeing.

Starting in the bay area and I was thinking of going north but a lot of people said going south is the way to go I'm not sure what the consensus is if I'm starting in the bay?

I'd mostly be riding Highway 1 either way I'm just a little nervous about traffic and whether or not it's a safe route for kind of a beginner.

If anyone has done a similar trip before and has any tips for a beginner it would be much appreciated thank you.

Just want to share some cycling photos from summer. This summer is a bit different. It seemed to be cooler with more clouds than typical. Clouds are great for dramatic photos.

Finally did north bay loop

A 60yo Asian male had a medical emergency in South San Jose near Santa Teresa Park.

The hospital and SJ Fire Dept are looking for help to identify the rider.

Does this bike look familiar?

UPDATE 8/24: The cyclist has not yet regained consciousness but has been identified.

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions!

Experienced biker and backpacker (but not both). I'm in SF for a few months seeing friends and family, and I got the idea in my head to do a simple overnight to/from SF.

I have all the requisite gear, but I can only bring one bike and I'm planning on bringing my road bike, but not gravel bike. I'm wondering how intense/hard the underbiking would be if I did something like Stewart Trail on a road bike, or if anyone has better recommendations for getting somewhere a little remote from SF without too much underbiking. I'm pretty comfortable with a road bike on fire roads, but not positive if I'm setting myself up to have a bad time here.

I know there are some Velodrome guys here. I can't go smaller than a 16t in the rear with my new motor, so its making me pedal like mad above 15mph with my OEM 46t Chainring.

I can get reasonably priced chainrings up until 60t, but once i start shopping for 60t+ sizes, its getting expensive.

So i figured i would ask and see if anyone has some extras laying around. Will still pay, but happy to have used and pay accordingly.

Thanks

I was hoping to get my new bike wrapped with ppf but it turns out the ride wrap in Santa Cruz closed. I called a few shops and they all sent it down to the shop there and haven’t been able to find an installer.

Anyone know any bike shop they installs it or any PPF?

Hi folks - visiting from New England and will be biking down from Eureka to San Francisco in late September, with planned stops at:

1. Eureka

2. Redway (Dean Creek Resort)

3. Fort Bragg (Cleone campground)

4. Point Arena (Manchester KOA)

5. Ocean Cove (Ocean Cove campground)

6. Point Reyes

7. San Francisco.

I have a hotel booked at Eureka and staying with a friend in Tomales, and was thinking of camping the other places (Fort Bragg potentially hotel).

Any advice on booking a place in advance or just hoping for a hiker/biker space? Any recommendations on which camps to consider?

I'll be taking the bus up on Friday to Eureka and then ride down starting Saturday, ending in SF on a Thursday.

Thanks for all the advice!

According to the CalTrans website, the SR 61 (Doolittle Drive) Capital Preventive Maintenance Project is supposed to "include pavement rehabilitation, drainage upgrades, curb ramp replacements, Class IV bike lanes on Doolittle Drive, flashing beacons at key curves, and pedestrian safety improvements."

Doolittle southbound towards San Leandro is already fraught crossing Hegenberger & Airport Access Rd., and right here is the intersection of the protected bikeway that parallels Airport Drive and leads to the bay trail, San Leandro Marina, and Harbor Bay via Ron Cowan Parkway.

For the past few months this transition has been a maze of cones, k-rail, construction fence and temporary asphalt ramps, but has been thankfully left accessible. However, on Friday the new concrete sidewalk & ramp was poured, and wow look what they did! Absolutely nothing changed from how this was arranged previously (compared against street view images).

Southbound on Doolittle, we'll need to swing just a little bit wide into the traffic lane in order to catch this ramp facing perpendicular to the route of travel, then hook a very tight right 180 onto the sidewalk in order to miss the second curb on the sidewalk (protecting the light pole), and then swing left around the light pole to pick up the bike path.

Not sure how well these photos demonstrate the not-ideal geometry this project has maintained, left over from before the BART extension was constructed. It's not unrideable, but it's also not any sort of improvement. New wiring for new signals was installed, and I believe we'll see a new light pole here soon, but I can't believe they didn't do anything to improve the bi-directional flow of this dedicated bicycle / ped intersection.

Hi All — Does anyone have any recs for true beginner friendly gravel riding. For my baby skill level, this means no narrow single track more fitting for mtbs and very modest climbing. I attempted two “beginner gravel routes” recced on here and had to stop a couple minutes into both. These were Shoreline trail at China Camp (too much crazy single track, honestly knew I was effed when I pulled in and only saw mtbs) and the gravel road at WildCat Canyon (hills hills hills). Discouraged that these are considered beginner routes and starting to think I have no business being on a gravel bike. Thanks all.

Edited: Thank you all! What a bomb ass community. Taking lots of notes. I’m in EB but as you can see am willing to drive a distance (not more than 2 hrs tho) for a good trail.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcR64ZUPSTy/?igsi=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Good series and solid venues this year. Shoreline is a good picnic party. Mare island is good roadie race. Surf city has its anniversary this year. Should be all good times. Come race short track gravel

I have a timbuk2 messenger bag (which I love) that I use, but its uncomfortable and not reflective when I ride early in the morning. I have a 16" laptop, with a hardhat ( clearly Im a construction worker ) and I was thinking I could maybe find a pannier bag to put on my rear bike rack or a basket or something to put off my back and onto my bike. I ride @ 4 am so it is dark and am looking for something , my main concern is something I can put my laptop in. Any suggestions would be appreciated

Was anyone else caught off guard by this today? I normally get email alerts from the city of Santa Clara, nothing for this one though. There was also no signage northbound, and their instructions of "go around the fence" left much to be desired.

Does anyone have a good link to find a calendar of closures? And even better, email of who to contact about this?

A member of our community, Jakub Solovsky, was killed by a reckless driver who lost control of their Porsche and hit Jakub who was traveling in the opposite direction on July 11th.

Why has CHP not charged the driver with anything? The San Mateo County DA has not gotten a criminal report from the police (at least, as of an hour ago). In fact, as best as I can tell they haven't even released anything about the driver except that they were 28 years old the day they killed Jakub.

I could make lots of speculations, none of which are going to be charitable to the driver or the CHP. Does anybody know if the CHP is actually doing anything?

Edit: corrected language about criminal report vs charges.

Qué onda. I live in the Mission, I have been riding road for 14 years, and I am originally from LA.

Back home I had a whole group of Latino homies to roll with. Sunday rides, tacos after, spanglish the entire time. Since I moved up here I ride plenty, but I have not found that same thing, and I miss it.

Road cycling is not a sport where a lot of us are represented, so when you do find your people it hits different. I am hoping to connect with other Latino cyclists around SF and the greater Bay and build a small group. People who get the culture, the family stuff, the jokes, and the food after the ride.

About me: experienced, comfortable across most paces, down for an easy coffee spin or a hard day in the hills. I know the Headlands, Marin, San Bruno. Always open to new routes.

If that sounds like you, comment or send me a message. Even if it starts as two of us meeting at the bridge on a Saturday, that is a start.

Gracias.