Wednesday on Wheels

Wednesday 23rd October

We had planned to get up early and run up to East Peak whilst the sun rose......but it was 7.20am when we woke up - the late nights, full days and early mornings seem to have caught up with us. I'd like to say we sprang from our bed, threw our running shoes on and rushed out the door.........but actually we snoozed for another hour or more before finally getting up and putting some coffee on.
Over breakfast we decided to spend the day cycling instead and planned a 12 mile off road loop with the help of a useful website that Martin found. Although it was bright and sunny again it felt chilly as we set off and there was still fog down in the valleys.

We set off down Panoramic Highway to the Mountain Home Inn and turned off onto the Gravity Car Road trail which climbed steadily but not too steeply upwards. It wasn't long before Martin had to stop and take off his fleece and any chilliness was soon forgotten as we pedaled steadily uphill. Despite our long walk yesterday I felt really strong but Martin was struggling to keep up with me. First he was whining that the bike was uncomfortable, so we swapped but that didn't make any difference, then he thought he might be coming down with something, then it was because he was carrying the backpack (containing his fleece!).

The trails made for excellent climbing, Gravity Car took us to Double Bow Knot Trail which in turn led onto the Old Railroad Grade and we followed this for several miles crossing both East and West Fork Fern Creeks down to the West Point Inn at which point we turned north and retraced the route of yesterday's walk up to Mount Tamalpais East Peak.

At the East Peak car park we stopped for a break and filled our water bottle at the drinking fountain, both the heat and the dust contributing to our thirst. We then headed down the Eldridge Grade Trail which was very steep, slippery and rocky requiring great care to avoid plummeting off the edge. It got slightly easier further down but was quite challenging for most of the way. Martin, of course, loved this and stopped behaving like a big girl. Now it was my turn to progress at 1 mile per hour with both brakes firmly on!

Eventually we turned off onto the Indian Road Trail and continued towards Mill Valley, our intention being to stop for coffee at the Depot. Unfortunately we turned slightly too soon onto the Hoo Koo E Koo trail (my favourite trail name!) and didn't realise our mistake until we completed our loop at the junction with Gravity Car. As it was now 12.30 we decided to go back to the cottage for lunch and ride down to Mill Valley later instead.

As we headed back downhill Martin charged on ahead and was soon out of sight. When I came to a fork in the trail I was unsure and took the left fork which very soon came to a dead end so I climbed back up and took the right turn. There was still no sign of Martin ahead and when I came to the next junction I turned left and followed the trail down. It looked familiar to begin with but then I started having doubts and eventually I came out onto a road and could see that I was headed in the wrong direction. I knew Martin would be really worried in case I had fallen off but I was so mad that he hadn't waited for me that I didn't care! It took a while to get back to the point where I had made the wrong turn (all uphill!) and then I continued on the right track. It wasn't until I reached the Mountain Home Inn that I met Martin coming back to look for me. Fortunately by this time I had calmed down a fair bit but he wasn't entirely off the hook.......

Back at the cottage and with 15.5 hard miles behind us we were more than ready for lunch. We had a visit from Max and Nepos, the rescued Basenjis (African hunting dogs) belonging to Scott and Derek, and they kept us company whilst we sat on the back patio in the sunshine having lunch. I can't pretend it was our company they were interested in, once the food had gone they disappeared!

After lunch we headed back out on the bikes and went down the Tenderfoot Trail which was lovely but quite tricky to navigate by bike initially. This went steeply down through woodland and then we free wheeled happily down into Mill Valley where we sat in the sun outside the Depot cafe/bookshop enjoying coffee and watching the world pass by in attractive Lytton Square. The building that houses the Depot used to be the railway depot for the scenic tourist line which ran just over 8 miles to Mount Tamalpais. Opened in 1896 it was known as "The Crookedest Railroad in the World" - for obvious reasons!  A quick trip into Mill Valley MarketMill Valley Market for a few delicacies for supper followed and then we were faced with the steep climb back up to Panoramic. We took a different route struggling up Summit Avenue, onto the Old Railroad Grade (which was where I ended up after my "detour" this morning!) finally arriving back at the cottage with a total of 23 miles cycled - seemingly not a huge distance but the terrain and elevation had made them much more challenging than the distance implies.

Another pleasant evening was spent in our delightful accommodation with an extremely tasty meal, crab cake, Japanese yam and steamed lentil and Edamame salad, more than adequately replacing any calories we had burned during the course of the day!