The Bay Trail

One of the best reasons to visit or live in the SF Bay Area are the bike trails. The longest one is the 500 mile Bay Trail. Figuring out how to ride it though is challenging since to ride from A to B then airbnb and go from B to C the next day until finishing the entire loop and get back to A could get expensive and time consuming. I figured I’d just do it in sections, A to B then back to A and drive home. I started in March 2021 and plan to blog and vlog it with my Google Pixel 4A 5G, GoPro Hero 9, and Canon M6 Mark II.

TOC

Bikes: I’ve bought, rode, and sold over 15 bikes the last 10 years and here is my discussion about that journey. I’ve found what I consider to be the perfect bike for me, a Giant Anthem 3 from 2014. Giant only made these 27.5″ wheeled full suspension XC bikes from 2014-2019 and right now it’s my favorite bike. Note most of the Anthems during this 5 year period were pretty much identical, I just happen to have one from 2014 since I found it used for $1000.

2014 Giant Anthem 27.5″ wheels Maxxis Receptor 650×47 gravel tires

Gear: Next was to figure out how to carry the gear I would need. Extra layers, food, tools, fluids so I had some custom bags made by Broadfork Bags and am super happy with them. I am also using a Revelate Mountain Feed bag for an extra water bottle and Mag Tank 2000 for my phone and light battery. Lights are a necessity as I usually will take pix of the sunset before heading back to the car. Read all about my gear evaluation on my Gear page.

Tires: I’m deciding between the Maxxis Re-fuse 650×47 and the WTB Byway 650×47 as my go to tire. Read all about my evaluation and tubeless set up advice in my Tires page.

Cameras – Evaluating a GoPro Hero 9, Canon M6 Mark II, and a Sigma FP as well as mounting options. Read all about it on my ??? page.

GoPro mounting – Either on the helmet, handlebars, or a chest harness. The helmet is good since you can direct what the camera is looking a by just turning your head. The downside is a Hero 9 with a Media Mod gets heavy after an hour of riding. Handlebars are a good choice. The chest harness seems to be the most popular due to the POV field of view. I’m having trouble getting the adjustment correct so my composition looks right. Still working on this.

Next I had to decide on the tires I would use. In Feb 2021 Maxxis released their new gravel tire the Receptor and seems to be pretty much perfect on paper. It’s 47cm or 1.85″ wide. Mounted 4 of them. Note they are directional but the Rotation -> indicator is difficult to see and only on one side of the tire. I’m having trouble mounting these tires. They come out lopsided just a little and the bead gets tucked under the rim for about 6-8″. I’ve remounted 7 times and have got one perfect but the other still has 3″ of bead tucked under. Worse, the tire that I mounted perfectly seems to be defective. The bead is peeling back. I filed a claim with Maxxis but haven’t heard from them. Once I get them mounted perfectly then I’ll be able to evaluate. Considering going to the Re-fuse if I can’t get these Receptors to mount and work right.

Converting to tubeless tires. Here are my experiences.

  1. Gorilla tape works great, but you have to put at least 2 layers of it for it to be air tight. If you only use one expect leaks to be visible through the spokes and rim seam.
  2. A roll of 1″ gorilla tape will tape two 27.5″ wheels with some left over. It’s 9 meters or 30 feet long.
  3. I’m using aluminum rims from 2014
  4. Soapy water is your friend. It will ease the seating of the tire, and allow you easily spot leaks. Not sure how water inside the tire and mixing with sealant is okay or not.
  5. Put your bike on a stand or upside down on the ground and install the wheels and tires. Spin it to see if it spins true. If you see bulges when it’s spinning and it appears lopsided when spinning, the tire wasn’t seated 100% evenly. This is a difficult thing to achieve. I unmounted and remounted my Receptor tire 7 times and its still not perfect. If you ride with lopsided mounted tires it feels terrible.
  6. A regular pump worked okay for me. No air compressor or special inflator required, however I did buy an air compressor since I was having trouble getting the tire to seat evenly.
  7. Next step will be to use a Park tire seating tool if I can’t get it to seat correctly.
  8. The Receptor tire says that a tube or sealant is required for the tire to hold air. I try to mount them with neither and ride around and make sure the seat is perfect before adding sealant.
  9. My 2021 XTC tires came tubeless with no sealant and held air fine. I swapped the knobbies for Re-fuse slicks and the front tire held air but the rear one had a slow leak. Fine for riding, just had to pump it up before riding.
  10. Depending on the bike shop, the labor charge is $30-$50 to set up a wheel tubeless, so not cheap if you need a pair of wheels set up.
  11. You can buy valves or cut them out of an old tube.

March 2021 – Alviso Slough. Some notes, the parking lot closes around sunset. When I was there in March 2021 there was a host, a guy living in an RV there yelling at people and threatening to ticket them since they hadn’t left the lot by the posted time. So you might want to park outside the lot on the street. There is a rottweiller nearby at the first house, but he’s fenced in. It get’s super windy out there so bring enough layers and sunscreen. The terrain is hardpack and loose over hardpack with some mud. Flat with maybe 20′ of elevation throughout the whole ride. Animals are mainly seagulls and egrets. Didn’t see much else. A great place to take picture of your bike! Great sunrise or sunsets at this spot. Great photography at this site.