Why am I only now learning about riding out near Mt. Tam?

Just back from a great ride on the peninsula from Fairfax to Mt. Tam and back.  40 miles in all with several sustained climbs, moderate temperatures, great views, plenty of other road and mtn. bikers, and very few cars. We like all that.  Here's a link for folks who want to check it out.

Everything about this ride was awesome and it makes me wonder why it's taken 9 years of riding to realize that all these great miles are just over an hour down the highway.  Thanks to NCACers Tara and Capt. Cullen for instigating the ride.  Anno, Jarad, Risotto and a few other soon-to-be NCACers also showed up for the fun.  The ride started in an easy-to-find lot that contained plenty of space and, even better, a drive through coffee stand.  How cool is that?

The coffee stand was such a pleasant surprise that I didn't even mind the 4-mile grinder rising right out of Fairfax less than a mile from the parking lot. Here's a snippet from a post-ride conversation Jarad and Anno had about the climb:
   Jarad: I'm sooo glad we didn't get re-passed by that jogger on the first climb.
   Ann: Yeah, we really showed him.

After a quick, beautiful descent to Alpine Dam there were 2 more miles of steeper climbing up into the fog that only a Sasquatch could love:











Another 1/4 mile down the road and we burst out into the sun, following a ridge that marked the inland border of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  The Pacific Ocean and, I suppose, Hawaii and Japan are in this picture, but the fog was just a little too thick to see them clearly:

A couple more miles of rolling hills and three more miles of up led us to the end of the road near the top of Mt. Tam and views of the fog covering San Francisco.  I'm sure it's out there somewhere.

All in all, a great day of riding, even better for the fact that, except for the one climb away from the dam, it was almost all downhill back to the car.  It took just under two hours to get to the top of Mt. Tam and just over an hour to get all the way back.  Plus, when I got back I learned that the Iron Springs Pub and Brewery was just across the street and open for business.  I highly recommend the Kolsch.