Bay Area Bike Rides [Paperback]

Ray Hosler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1994

From Sonoma and Napa counties to the South Bay, scenic ocean vistas, stately redwood forests, and numerous public parks offer unparalleled, year-round recreation for bicyclists in the Bay Area. This new edition of a perennially popular guide for mountain bikers and touring cyclists includes over 50 rides, each featuring a concise map, mileage log, and a detailed description of local terrain. Complete with 11 brand-new routes, a helpful chapter on local transit systems, a bibliography, and an index, this handy volume will inspire bicyclists at every level of experience to make the most of the exciting cycling opportunities throughout the Bay Area. ?

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ray Hosler is a former bicycle columist for the San Francisco Chronicle, and has been bicycling and writing in the Bay Area since 1977. The author of numerous books on health and exercise, he lives in Santa Clara, California, and cycles more than 5,000 miles each year.

Product Details

• Paperback: 84 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; Rev&Exp edition (July 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081180612X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811806121
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,435,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide to Bay Area cycling, August 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bay Area Bike Rides (Paperback)

I bought this book about a year ago when I first moved to the Bay Area, and did all of the East Bay road rides, and a few others. With the exception of one error that I found the hard way (in the Calaveras Road ride, Evans Road doesn't really turn into North Park Victoria Drive -- you have to make a right turn!), this book is accurate, interesting, and the routes are well-chosen and as nice as any I've found in the Bay Area. Most of the rides are fairly challenging for a casual rider, but certainly not impossible. I've used it as a basis for my own explorations, stitching various routes together.

I can't speak for the mountain bike rides, as I haven't tried any of them.

All in all, this is a great sampling of rides and a interesting read with your Sunday afternoon beer, after an invigorating ride through the beautiful Bay Area hills and canyons.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well researched, well written book ideal for any cyclist, May 6, 1999

By 

Brian Van Den Broeke ([e-mail]) (Union City, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bay Area Bike Rides (Paperback)

"Bay Area Bike Rides" by Ray Hosler is a collection of dozens of Bay Area bike rides. The rides range from 4 miles to 104 miles and include rides in the North, South, and East Bay, as well as the Peninsula.

Hosler's book is broken into three sections: Mountain Rides, Road Rides, and Casual Rides. Each of the rides includes a text narrative taking you through the highlights of the trip (including historical commentary), detailed directions with mile-indexed checkpoints, a map of the course, and a topographical graph of the ride (showing areas you will go uphill and downhill, as well as the difficulty of the climb or decent). This book is very easy to read and seems to have been very well researched. I recommend it 100% for anyone living and cycling in the Bay Area.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the ride books for the bay area, December 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Bay Area Bike Rides (Paperback)

This is a very practical book written by a pretty serious cyclist, it has the information you really want to have and pays attention to details often lacking in similar books by other authors. While there are some pretty good rides left out of the book, he covers a very good sampling of the best near the bay area including rides from all around the area. Suggestions on where to park, where services are available (and warnings about where they are not available), rough topological profiles, very complete route sheet distances and even a very decent amount of history relating to the areas of the routes is included. In cases where different books are suggesting routes involving the same road areas I have found Ray's rides usually to be the better suggestion. It is true that there are some long rides included in the book, but just a few, and they are great rides that are worth the effort.