CA 37 - Vallejo (scary Mare Island)

It has been a number of years since I've ridden out of
Vallejo, but I recall that the route from the Vallejo Ferry
Terminal is north along the river front onto Wilson Ave.,
which passes under the CA37 bridge before turning northeast
and then back upon itself at the entrance to CA37 just prior
to the ramp up onto the bridge. The shoulder was adequately
wide, and I don't recall seeing any prohibitions against
bicycles on this bridge, although I do recall that the
railing at the edge seemed uncomfortably low (from the seat
of an upright bike) for a bridge that climbs about 100 feet
above the water.

Most of CA37 between Vallejo and Novato has a nice wide
shoulder. The two bridges over Petaluma River and Sonoma
Creek are a bit scary when traffic is heavy. The best way to
ride them is as quickly as possible, riding in the center of
the right-hand lane.

A nice multi-modal loop ride could be ridden around San
Pablo Bay, crossing the new span of the Carquinez Bridge,
CA37, and the Golden Gate Bridge, and using BART to get from
SF to one of the stations nearest Crockett such as El
Cerrito Del Norte.

--
Bill Bushnell

Personally, I do not like Hwy 37 ... even in a car. You did not say where
you started, just that it must have been 25 miles or so from Vallejo. If it
were me I would opt for one of several alternatives:

1) Ride north from Vallejo toward Napa, then go west on Hwy
121, 116, and Pt Reyes-Petaluma Rd.

2) Take the ferry to SF and then head around, over the GG
bridge, and make my way to Pt Reyes.

3) Head south, get to Baypointe BART, take BART to SF and
then make my way over the GG bridge and up to Pt Reyes.

Some roads suck, mostly because they are not designed
for bikes and the drivers are bad enough ... and 37 is
that way IMO.

- rick

I concur. Hiway 37 has a reputation of being one of the
deadliest hiways around the Bay Area, and that is inside 2+
tons of steel. I agree with the other workarounds mentioned
and might add another. The Golden Gate Transit (bus system)
runs Route 40 across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge which
gets you to downtown San Rafael's Transit Hub (or
Transportation Center). I believe it starts in Richmond at
one of the BART stations there. From San Rafael, you are at
4th or 3rd St., it is a straight shot. Get a map. You want
to go W. on 2nd or 3rd or 4th (I can't remember, I think
they all merge at a point called Red Hill - near a shopping
center by the same name). Once there you'll get (easily) to
Sir Francis Drake Blvd which is there. It goes all the way
across Marin Co. to Pt. Reyes! Kevin

In article <7fH7c.61452$po.555226@attbi_s52>,

Karstens Rage said:

The official volunteered that after spending some time on
the island she vomited the color of the yellow paint on
the ground and that was enough to deter us.

And you were gullible enough to believe that.

--
Mike DeMicco <[email hidden]> (Remove the
REMOVE_THIS from my email address to reply.)

In article <[email hidden]-
berlin.de>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article <7fH7c.61452$po.555226@attbi_s52>,

Karstens Rage said:

The official volunteered that after spending some time
on the island she vomited the color of the yellow paint
on the ground and that was enough to deter us.

And you were gullible enough to believe that.

It may well have been true, but not due to the
contamination; she probably got a bad batch of sushi the
night before.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return
address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by David Kerber
In article <[email hidden]-
berlin.de>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article <7fH7c.61452$po.555226@attbi_s52>,

Karstens Rage said:

The official volunteered that after spending some time
on the island she vomited the color of the yellow paint
on the ground and that was enough to deter us.

And you were gullible enough to believe that.

It may well have been true, but not due to the
contamination; she probably got a bad batch of sushi the
night before.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return
address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

I actually LIVED on Mare Island when I was in the Navy and the ground contamination is bad enough that most developers wouldn't touch it but there's nothing there that would make you puke any color just by riding through... it's mostly gasoline and diesel from leaky old tanks and buried equipment from the days before there were environmental laws.

Hwy 37 used to be a three-lane road from Vallejo to Sear's Point with the middle "suicide" lane being the passing lane and it alternated every couple miles so eastbound traffic could pass for one mile, then west bound traffic for the next mile - it was insanely dangerous and they got rid of it a few years ago. The ride over the 37 bridge is fine on the separated bike/pedestrian lane but it is tricky to get to. No way I would consider riding anywhere west of the bridge... it's just not do-able.

K - you didn't miss anything. Drive to Marin and then ride, or start in Santa Rosa or someplace or ride from Vallejo to Calistoga through the Napa Valley.

David Kerber <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]-
berlin.de>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article <7fH7c.61452$po.555226@attbi_s52>,

Karstens Rage said:

The official volunteered that after spending some time
on the island she vomited the color of the yellow
paint on the ground and that was enough to deter us.

And you were gullible enough to believe that.

It may well have been true, but not due to the
contamination; she probably got a bad batch of sushi the
night before.

Good point. I wouldn't expect to find good sushi in Vallejo.