The Bay Area which sits gently nestled between five beautiful mountain ranges has now been my home for the past year and a half. Coming from the far-spread lands of North Carolina, where the country miles can outnumber the population of the surrounding rural towns, I now find myself immersed in California’s beautiful geography which has captivated not only my mind but also my legs. For those of you that haven’t been riding out on the east coast, I want to show you some of the key differences between riding up and down the two coasts.

North Carolina

North Carolina is a short and stout state that spans about 500 miles from the beautiful coastline and outer banks, to the majestic blue ridge mountains. Its terrain consists of three different regions known as the Appalachian Mountains, the Piedmont region where you can find the state’s capital, Raleigh, and the coastal plain where the state’s beaches and estuaries are. 

In terms of riding, you are bound to find beautiful roads anywhere you look, as long as where you look is far away from civilization. In my 8 years of riding bikes in NC, I’ve found peace and solace in the beauty of the old country road. A regular route in the Piedmont’s rolling hills might take you through pine forests and farmland on rough asphalt. The piedmont is latticed with a network of suburbs the closer you are to one of the major cities such as Raleigh, Durham, or Charlotte which puts you on more heavily trafficked roads depending on the time of day. 

Coastal plain rides are just plain flat and windy. The year I spent living in the coastal town of Wilmington didn’t produce many inspiring moments within my cycling career. Hot and humid days that soared around 100F and 90% humidity were common in the summer. This made riding feel like pushing yourself through a dense armpit. Most of the rides I did made me feel like a storm chaser — dodging the heavy storms that would roll in out of nowhere on clear days. My favorite route took me down through the urbanized sprawl, from Wilmington to Kure Beach, through our very own cypress tunnel, and down to Fort Fisher. This out and back was a 50-mile ride, with intense and constant 15-25mp headwinds. Riding options up and down the coast were limited due to the lack of roads that connected through the sprawling estuaries and wetlands, which meant that the only undisturbed routes led inland.

The best riding in my personal opinion, as someone who likes a challenging climb or two, is in the Appalachians (app-a-latch-an). Home to my favorite college town, Boone (where Daniel Boone lived), is some of the best riding that I’ve experienced on two wheels. the best part is the spider-like network of roads which take you out into the mountains from the town center. This layout allows you to take a different road from town almost every day of the week. I never had to start my rides with the same familiar slog – there are hundreds of combinations you can make in route selection. You can find climbs such as Deck Hill, Friendship Church, and Junuluska which average between 8 and 10% gradients about a mile or two from town. If a gravel bike is part of your collection, you’ll find pristine gravel roads between Meat Camp (yes, that’s a real town), blowing rock, sugar grove, and Beech Mountain. Many of the roads in this region are rarely traveled so traffic isn’t much of an issue. One of the biggest things I miss about riding in Boone is being able to start my ride from town, go for 50-60 miles and not need to put my foot down or stop my bike until I return back home! Though, once you’re out of town, you’re really out in the boonies.

Some other notable features of the Appalachian riding experience include Beech mountain (home to Lance’s old secret training grounds and killer gravel climbs), the Blue Ridge Parkway which spans 469 miles, the Linn Cove Viaduct, mild 75-degree summers, and the most beautiful fall season you could ever witness.

I’ll end with the caveat that takes NC down a few points in the rankings, and that is breadth. Since the state is so wide, you will need to travel between 2 and 3 hours to get to the next geographical region. From the flat coast, it takes 2 hours to reach the hills, and from the hills, it takes about 3 hours to reach the mountains. NC also experiences all four seasons, unlike California, which means you’ll probably have to stock up on your winter riding gear if you are a permanent resident!

California, Bay Area

The Bay Area offers some of the most beautiful riding I’ve experienced. As if the nominally perfect climate didn’t make this place seem like a simulation already, the beauty of the landscape is unmatched.

As a Coastal valley surrounded by mountain ranges and hills, you can potentially make up a whole lot of elevation gain in very few miles. You can quite literally ride from sea level to the top of any of the high peaks such as Mt. Tam within a single ride! Down in the southern part of the peninsula, between Menlo Park and Palo Alto, suburbia sprawls from the Bay itself up until you hit Woodside, a small hot spot where you can find a market, cafe, and a few restaurants to add some flavor to your ride. But close to the bay, you’ll find some more casual riding gems in the slough. The San Francisco Bay Trail winds around marshy wetlands using a combination of paved and gravel pedestrian trails which extend out into the Bay. Beautiful sunsets and vibrant wildlife accompany you on your recovery ride through these Baylands.

Routes between the eastern corridor of Menlo Park by Meta and Woodside turn from flat, to rolling, to mountainous in about 10 miles. If you like climbing, you will find no shortage of epic climbs in the Bay Area; the southern peninsula houses the infamous Mt. Umunhum and Mt. Hamilton, which will crush your soul and make your legs scream, while the east bay offers the bare and exposed Mt. Diablo. The San Francisco labyrinth guards the Golden Gate Bridge that takes you north into the quaint town of Sausalito. More coffee shops, restaurants, and shopping await to distract you as you ride parallel to Richardson Bay. This throughway leads to the base of Mt. Tamalpais where you’ll find flowy climbs through dark and wet redwood forests. 

One of the downsides of living in such a densely populated area is that it’s hard to find routes that allow you to just set off and go. Most of the routes require some amount of stop-and-go through traffic lights or stop signs to get to the roads that you actually want to ride. This could add anywhere from 30 min to an hour to your trip of “untrainable” miles. But, all you have to do is make it across the Santa Cruz mountain range and you’ll find more undisturbed miles near Pescadero and Tunitas as the roads become more rural. 

Over the 3700 miles I’ve ridden since coming to the bay, I’ve only seen a fraction of all the rides that await me. I want to use this space as an almanac for riders who live and ride in the Bay to show them the routes they’ve been missing out on. Since there are so many options out there, I’ll have to cover some of my favorite routes rides first, so don’t be surprised if you recognize a few 🙂