Why this ride
A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. 447 km round from Alamo - plan on about 7 h 59 of riding. It goes by way of Boyes Hot Springs, near Inverness, Moss Beach and Daly City. The climb of the day is near Stanford.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mount Hamilton and Mines Road
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 447 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 59
- Journey
- Loop
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Alamo
Planning note
Next is San Francisco Bay Area return.
2. Near Boyes Hot Springs, on the way back
This is wine country in its quieter, older form, with small family vineyards on the lower slopes, oak savanna on the hills and old stone wineries, and it is far less crowded than neighbouring Napa. Sonoma itself, the historic town at the southern end, has a Spanish plaza, an old mission and an easy, unhurried feel.
Read the complete Near Boyes Hot Springs, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
San Francisco Bay Area return comes up about 103 km into the recorded legs. Next is Food stop near Inverness.
3. Food stop near Inverness
The San Andreas Fault runs straight up Tomales Bay, and in the 1906 earthquake the land on the western side lurched several metres north in a matter of seconds. Inverness sits on that western side, on the shore of the bay, a small village of wooden houses among the trees, at the gateway to the Point Reyes peninsula. It is a quiet, slightly eccentric place, with a general store, a few restaurants and a lot of bird-watchers.
Read the complete Inverness write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Mount Hamilton and Mines Road photo pull-off.
4. Moss Beach
Moss Beach clings to a low bluff above the Pacific, a scatter of houses, cypress trees and fields on the San Mateo coast between Montara and Half Moon Bay. It is a small, quiet place, often wrapped in fog, where the sound of the surf is constant and the air smells of salt, seaweed and eucalyptus. For many riders, it is a first taste of the wild coast just south of San Francisco.
Read the complete Moss Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Hamilton and Mines Road photo pull-off, about halfway. Next is Mount Hamilton and Mines Road checkpoint 8.
5. Near Daly City
South of San Francisco's city limits, the land runs out abruptly. Daly City's houses, the ones with the colourful matching boxes that inspired the song Little Boxes, cover the hills right up to the edge of high, crumbling sea cliffs, and below them the Pacific pounds a long empty beach.
Read the complete Near Daly City write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Mount Hamilton and Mines Road checkpoint 8. That is the ride. Next is High point near Stanford.
6. High point near Stanford
Planning note
High point near Stanford is the summit of this stretch. Next is Scenic stretch near East Palo Alto.
7. Scenic stretch near East Palo Alto
East Palo Alto sits on the flat edge of San Francisco Bay, right where the Dumbarton Bridge launches its long, low span towards Fremont. To the west lies the wealth of Palo Alto and Menlo Park, home of Silicon Valley's giants; to the east, the salt ponds and marshes of the bay. It is a dense, busy corridor, cut by Highway 101, and for riders it is mostly a place to pass through, refuel and plan the escape to the hills.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near East Palo Alto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 376 km into the recorded legs you reach Scenic stretch near East Palo Alto. Next is Back to Mount Hamilton.
8. Back to Mount Hamilton
It is not especially high, but because it stands alone above the surrounding plains, the view from the top is among the widest in the world, taking in the Sierra Nevada on a very clear day and, some say, more of the earth's surface than any peak apart from Kilimanjaro. The claim is a local legend, and nobody quite tests it.
Read the complete Mount Hamilton write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Back to Mount Hamilton. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Food stop near Inverness to Moss Beach
This Food stop near Inverness → Moss Beach stretch is for rhythm and scenery. Keep your head up, let the view breathe, and resist turning every open bend into a target. Stop once properly rather than half-stopping everywhere.
High point near Stanford to Scenic stretch near East Palo Alto
Use High point near Stanford → Scenic stretch near East Palo Alto as clean positioning. Keep it tidy, ignore impatient traffic and save the enthusiasm for the good road ahead. The value here is not drama; it is arriving at the riding section with space, fuel and concentration intact.
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