Ride Report: Super Bowl Campout
Who played the Super Bowl this year? Who cares! Instead of taking part in the American tradition of watching sports ball, we went bike camping with a bunch of friends.
I left from my home in Santa Rosa, roughly 60 miles north of San Francisco. I packed my PBJ with all the sleeping gear I'd need for an overnighter and then hopped on the SMART train. Thankfully for folks like me who prefer to travel car-free, the SMART (Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit District) train runs on a regular schedule from Sonoma County to Marin County. It's so easy to bring a bike onboard! The train cars are clean, the folks working onboard are friendly, and the whole experience feels very utopian. I enjoyed watching the cow pastures and rural wetlands glide by my window, then hopped off in Larkspur. Thank you, SMART train!
At the bustling Depot Plaza in downtown Mill Valley, I met with the Boyz on the Hoods, a SF-based group of friends and retired rando nerds. Founding members Brian and Irving are close buds with Sklar—you may recognize Irving from our trip to Japan. It's always fun to link up with their crew, and today was no exception. They've been hosting a Super Bowl Campout every year (minus a year or two during the pandemic) since 2016, and I feel like the new kid whenever I join them since many of the folks have known each other for over a decade. I grabbed a turkey sandwich at the market deli and made my way over to Railroad Grade. Blue skies beckoned and the climb up the shaded fire road passed in no time.
Eventually the ride ended at Alice Eastwood Campground, a group site on the edge of Muir Woods. There were already about thirty people setting up camp throughout the woods, so I quickly found a spot deep in the forest to set up my sleeping zone. Since I was using a bivy, my camp setup only took a few minutes. Shazam, camp was set up—time to go for a hike.
When I got back to camp, the party was in full swing. There were probably close to 60 folks in attendance by this point, so I found a spot near the fire pit and ended up in a few good conversations with some nice folks. The sun set and I started getting sleepy, so I headed to my campsite. I was glad I'd chosen a spot deep in the woods. The party zone kept raging until the wee hours but I fell asleep under the stars and slept soundly.
The next day, I rose with the sun and mooched some coffee from Joel B from Scenic Routes, a really great bike shop in SF (thanks, Joel). I ate two Off The Farm bars for breakfast, packed up my bike, and then rolled out with Eric from Low Pressure. We rode the Tenderfoot trail back to Mill Valley and then stopped for coffee and a bagel at the cafe on the square. I finished my coffee and proceeded to get lost on some trails. I ended up riding back up Railroad Grade and over Hoo-Koo-E-Koo to Indian Fire Road, then back to Larkspur and the SMART train station. I arrived just in time to catch a train to Santa Rosa. With a sigh of relief, I sank into the seat and headed home. What a weekend.
