Thanksgiving in Berkeley and BARC San Francisco Rides

Zach Kaplan at his shop in Alameda

Zach Kaplan Cycles

Parked in front of Zach and Michi's

Camping at Dumbarton Quarry

RV camping in the San Francisco bay area requires careful planning. There are quite a few state parks and private RV parks but getting a site isn't easy. The private parks typically want more than $100/night and state parks are completely booked up months in advance. I was trying to find a place to camp closer to my cousin's house in Berkeley where the family Thanksgiving dinner would be held. What I found was a state park in Fremont that is so new RVers don't know about it yet and, miraculously, it had lots of sites available. 

Recumbents regrouping

Regroup

Inspecting the velos

I put out word of my arrival with cycling friends. Zach and Michi, who I have known for many years, offered for me to park in front of their home for 3 nights. This is the longest time the neighborhood allows for RV parking. This stay would also correspond with a scheduled BARC (Bay Area Recumbent Cycling) ride and the 3 of us were able to ride to the start together. In fact, Zach and Michi rode a Rans tandem for the 10 miles to the meet up point in Emeryville. This was strictly urban riding. Zach and Michi don't have e-assist and I do. They are so strong that I really had to put in extra effort to keep up. We were riding 16-18 mph the whole way. It's good to get your heart rate up, right? Being fairly early on a Saturday morning the traffic wasn't too bad. The meet up point is a parking lot for the Emeryville police station that is right on San Francisco bay. The views of the Golden Gate bridge, the Oakland bay bridge and San Francisco city scape across the bay are incredible. The weather was fantastic and a big improvement from my time in Sacramento. 

There was a good group of bikers and trikers when we arrived. Some people I knew from Tater TOT or the Recumbent Retreat but more I only knew online and this was our 1st time meeting. I love doing group rides and it was terrific to meet so many friends. There were a few more trikers than bikers and most riders didn't have e-assist. 

I wish I had the courage

Zach and Michi's tandem recumbent

Orion, the star cat

Recumbent riders

Gorgeous view of the Golden Gate Bridge all along the route

We spent a fantastic day riding the San Francisco Bay Trail from Emeryville through Berkeley and around the bay to Pt Richmond. At one point we stopped to meet up with even more riders. Here, 3 velomobiles, 2 upright riders and a triker joined the group. We ended up with 19 riders and 18 bikes with Zach and Michi on the tandem. There were a couple of places where we had strong winds but, mostly, there wasn't any wind. Almost the whole day we had a view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge. This area is incredibly beautiful and the path system for cycling is heavenly. I loved the whole ride.

Zach and I did another ride all around where he lives in Alameda. There was lots of beauty and historic neighborhoods. We rode out to an abandoned naval base which had terrific views of San Francisco. I also got up close to the USS Hornet which is an aircraft carrier that has history with NASA space missions. It is now a museum. Alameda is an island with lots of distinct character. I enjoyed the tour very much and, again, the weather was spectacular.

USS Hornet

After visiting with Zach and Michi, I moved to spend 3 nights at Dumbarton Quarry Campground on the Bay. No one was camped around me and the time there was very quiet. I took care of lots of errands working on videos too. For Thanksgiving night, I had permission to camp at a brewery in Oakland even though they would be closed. This is a Harvest Hosts location. (Check out: https://harvesthosts.com/ for more information.) With Harvest Hosts stays, there is an expectation that RVers will buy something to support the business in return for camping. Since they would be closed on Thanksgiving I stopped by the day before to scope out the situation and pick up some beer. This brewery is across the street from the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland and backs up to Amtrak/freight line tracks. There is a huge homeless camp just a block away that goes on for blocks with broken down RVs and lots of tents. Harvest Hosts locations are all reviewed and, after seeing the location, I was surprised that the reviews were so positive. I bought some beer and talked to one of the owners. Everyone at the brewery was very nice and helpful. The owner didn't fill me confidence when I asked about safety. He didn't think I should worry but did say vandalism is a real possibility. I left there not feeling great about camping on my own but hoped, because it would be Thanksgiving that, somehow, this would improve my safety concerns. I left there and went to my cousins to drop off the beer, say 'hi' and hang out with family. It was great to see everyone and they all seemed to like the craft beer.

The next morning I got hitched up, leaving Dumbarton Quarry, to take my trailer to the brewery location. There was plenty of room for the trailer and parking was easy. Most Harvest Hosts don't want you to unhitch and having permission to drive to my cousins without the trailer was the whole reason I was staying here. I didn't realize just how close I was to the Amtrak tracks until a train went by blasting it's horn as it passed my trailer. It was crazy loud. All I could hope for was traffic would lighten over night. I was pretty nervous about leaving my trailer here unattended. I put a lock around one of the wheels as well as another lock around the hitch. I drove away and got one exit down the freeway when I couldn't remember if I locked the outside storage compartments. I turned around to go back and, sure enough, I had not locked them. Before leaving again, I double checked everything and also took pictures. 

Thanksgiving turkey is ready

Table is set

Cousins

Parked at Harvest Hosts brewery

Thanksgiving with my family was great. The table usually has about 30 people but with Covid concerns we had 21 this year. I missed seeing everyone but also enjoyed a calmer evening. We had great food and terrific wines. For next year, I might try parking in my cousin's neighborhood. I was worried that my rig would take up too many spots but there was lots of parking spaces unoccupied.  I left the party earlier than I would have otherwise because I was worried about my trailer. I got back to the brewery and everything was fine.

The night was sleepless because of the loud and constant train traffic. The train horns blew right outside my trailer all night long. The noise level was too much even with ear plugs. It was very nice of the brewery to let me camp but I don't think this is a good spot for RVers and left a more honest review with Harvest Hosts of my experience.

 

Ale Industries Brewery

Ale selection

Brew being brewed

From here, I went back to park at Zach and Michi's house for 2 nights. There was another BARC (Bay Area Recumbent Cyclists) ride scheduled and I followed Zach to the start. Zach and I met a bunch of recumbent riders at the Alameda ferry terminal to get to San Francisco. At the San Francisco wharf, we met up with more local riders. We rode through the Presidio and cemetery, Palace of Fine Arts, Legion of Honor,  Lincoln Park steps, Land's End, Golden Gate park, Sutro baths, Seal Rock to the ocean and passed the Dutch Windmill all before crossing the Golden Gate bridge. We spent so much time riding in San Francisco that only a few of us crossed the bridge and then rode up to the summit of the Marin Headlands. The weather was absolutely stunning and the views of the city and Golden Gate bridge in the late afternoon sun were gorgeous. I took a ton of photos and video. Many thanks to BARC and especially Russell for leading this very special ride. We crossed the Golden Gate bridge going back into the city at sunset and arrived back to the ferry after dark. Seeing the city scape lights on such a clear and warm night was impressive. Even after the sun went down the temperature remained warm. San Francisco is an incredibly beautiful city and I got to ride my trike through the heart of it.

Stunning San Francisco ride video

View from Marin Headlands

Getting on the Golden Gate Bridge

Starting from San Francisco Wharf

Ferry from Alameda

Panorama from Marin Headlands

Night time cityscape

Nice pic with Zach

Myrtle enjoys the ferry ride

Great ride with the guys