Bike camping isn't as hard as it looks / Bay Area mass transit gives bicyclists a leg up on reaching destinations

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Surely, you've marveled at them. While driving along the coast highway, or on some Sierra byway, suddenly you spot a few bicycles ahead draped with packed bags, the riders jouncing off their seats to invest body weight on a pedal push as they crank their way slowly uphill.

As your car whisks by, you twist up the stereo, or the air conditioner, then glance at your companions and say (or think), "Whew! I could never do that."

That type of sighting highlights the steep slope any prospective bicycle camper must face: Mount Perception.

"In truth, it's far less difficult than it looks," said June Dershewitz, 34, a freelance database analyst who's one of San Francisco's dedicated bicycle campers. "The hardest thing is just getting out the door with everything on your bike. Once under way, you barely notice the load. It becomes an incredibly freeing experience, since you've got all you need to be out on your own."

"I remember the first time I tried bike camping," Anna Sojourner said. Sojourner, 38, is an engineering geologist from the Mission District. "I was supposed to go to Angel Island with friends. I had my panniers (saddle bags) filled up with bike gear and food for three people for two days. I thought I'd never make it.

"Well, I rolled down Shotwell Street for a block and a half. Suddenly I busted out laughing," Sojourner said. "Not only was it easy to ride, I found a loaded bike is more stable, not less. By the time I pedaled through Golden Gate Park, I knew I'd never go camping using a car again.

"With a car, you don't really feel like you're camping until you finally reach a site and unload. But on a bike, in minutes, you already enjoy fresh air, and seeing animals and trees, and all the stuff you want to go camping for."

If you haven't observed or sampled the pleasures of bike touring, you can acquire a notion of what's involved -- and the sort of discoveries enabled along the way -- by checking the current stories of The Chronicle's rolling columnist, Steve Rubenstein, in the paper or at SFGate.com (www.sfgate.com/podcasts/bigride/).

Bicycle campers can access picturesque but hard-to-reach sites such as this hill in the Coast Range. HANDOUT PHOTO COURTESY RIVENDELL BICYCLE WORKS. Bicycle campers can access picturesque but hard-to-reach sites such as this hill in the Coast Range. HANDOUT PHOTO COURTESY RIVENDELL BICYCLE WORKS. Photo: Afdad Photo: Afdad Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Bike camping isn't as hard as it looks / Bay Area mass transit gives bicyclists a leg up on reaching destinations 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Sojourner has not only bike-camped more than 100 times in the decade since her revelation on Shotwell Street, she wrote a tutorial about Bay Area bike-camp techniques for the Tube Times, the newsletter of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. A key point she made is that the bay's bike-friendly mass-transit options give any pedal-powered camper a leg up on reaching far-flung destinations.

There are ferries to Angel Island, of course, but also to Vallejo, Sausalito and Larkspur. BART trains can deposit riders in Fremont (access to Mount Hamilton), Pleasanton (Del Valle Regional Park), Pittsburg (the delta) or Millbrae (the Peninsula).

Add in buses, such as Golden Gate Transit, with its exterior bike racks on many vehicles, and communities such as Santa Rosa come easily into range. Consider Amtrak trains to stations such as Truckee (access to Lake Tahoe region) and Modesto (Yosemite), and you can see that your prospects are limited only by imagination.

Many campgrounds have hike-in or bike-in sites that can be used without a reservation and cost considerably less than sites designated for vehicle camping.

You will need gear and camping accessories. But in this respect, you're especially in luck, because backpacking equipment in recent years rapidly has become ever lighter, more packable and inexpensive. A visit to a local outdoors shop will reveal stoves that fold smaller than a deck of cards, good sleeping bags that wad up to the size of a loaf of bread and tents that weigh four pounds or less and sleep two comfortably.

Acquiring stuff you need does not necessarily mean melting a credit card. There are creative ways around every problem -- and concocting solutions is one pleasure of the endeavor.

Laura Lent, 51, the collections development manager for the San Francisco Public Library, is also a longtime bike camper. She said, "People who are into speed often feel like they must have fancy equipment. But our group is far more casual. One guy attaches plastic construction buckets instead of rear panniers on his bike. They're waterproof, then when he gets to camp, he has something nice to sit on.

"I like a tent, but one person just rolls himself up in a tarp when it's damp. Calls it his burrito."

By talking with bike campers when you encounter them, tricks of the traipse can be harvested. For example, Lent swears by two bibles: the Krebs bike-route maps for Northern California (www.krebscycleproducts.com), and the "California Camping" encyclopedia by Chronicle outdoor columnist Tom Stienstra (www.tomstienstra.com). One Sojourner tip is to bring silk long johns, because they pack small, dry quickly and easily add a welcome layer of warmth. Another is to plan a last stop at a country store just before camp. There she scores fresh vegetables, heavier food items and her favorite sports-recovery drink: beer. Dershewitz says any old beater bike can be utilized for an initial launch into camping; should it lack eyelets for bolting on gear racks, simply stick some hose clamps on the frame.

The Bay Area boasts another resource for those drawn to top-flight bike touring and camping: Rivendell Bicycle Works in Walnut Creek (www.rivendellbicycles.com). Using four bays in a corrugated steel building, Rivendell makes (among other models) the Atlantis, a long wheelbase, steel-framed wonder that totes loads elegantly down road or trail. Dershewitz and Sojourner are both Atlantis pedalers.

"Wear wool, sit on leather, ride lugged steel," reads a cryptic sticker on the Rivendell shop door. It summarizes the philosophy of founder Grant Petersen, 52, who persists in making slim but stout frames brazed together with lugs (metal sleeves) in a cycling world now mired in a love-fest with welded aluminum alloy and moulded carbon-fiber frames, as well as a swelling tide of titanium widgets.

"People might call me a Luddite, or hopelessly retro," Petersen said. "I'm not doing this to be old-fashioned, but because the stuff is proven as a better value.

"Leather saddles simply feel more comfortable for long rides. Our merino wool jerseys outperform synthetics in just about every area you can think of. And lugged steel is extremely strong, reliable and shock-absorbing.

"Most people nowadays think cycling's got to be some Tour de France scene. Go ultra-light, dress in tight Spandex, carry a Camelback full of sports pop drink and sports candy bars," Petersen continued. "Well, I've got nothing but respect for Lance ... but I don't necessarily think that relentless focus on going fast on pavement fosters a lifelong love of bicycling."

Alternatively, Petersen presents a Rivendell gear line that blends his whimsy with hard-nosed practicality -- bikes with numerous eyelets (bolt mounts) for adding racks; packs of tough canvas and wool to attach to the racks; and comfy clothes of cotton and wool to stuff in the packs.

One standout is a seersucker shirt. It looks like a dress garment, but functions as a breathable, cooling sun and wind shell that's made of cotton fabric stout enough to provide some protection in event of a fall.

Besides his goods, Petersen offers a few tips to potential bicycle campers. One is to toast bread before making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a snack; that keeps it from getting soggy. Another is to bring a bag of frozen vegetables; they'll keep themselves fresh while they thaw in time for dinner.

His best tip is to begin camping with a run that he calls an "S-24-O" -- a sub-24-hour outing. Such an overnight needn't be a huge production, it's easy to recover from errors in packing or navigation, and it's a manageable re-initiation into a magical activity many adults might remember only dimly from youth: exploring this wide, wild world on your very own bike.

Roll-playing

Bike-friendly camps

Angel Island State Park -- Famed for its views of the bay and Golden Gate Bridge, the island can be accessed by ferries from Tiburon, Vallejo or San Francisco (see 511.org). Once there, you find abundant historical displays, a small concession with good eats and even mountain-bike rentals ($30/day) and an active docent organization that offers guided bike tours (angelisland.org) or will customize them on request ($2.50 donation per rider). There's a 5-mile perimeter road (paved, gravel) and a 3.5-mile fire road (graded dirt) and nine campsites scattered around the island. Camp fees are $10/site/night, Sun.-Thurs, or $11 Fri.-Sat. Reservations: (800) 444-7275 or ReserveAmerica.com. Park info: (415) 435-1915, (415) 435-5390, or parks.ca.gov (click on Find a Park).

China Camp State Park -- This 1,512-acre park occupies the end of a peninsula that thrusts into San Pablo Bay, 4 miles east of San Rafael in Marin County. It has 15 miles of trail, mostly multiple-use. There are 30 campsites in an oak forest, next to coin-operated showers and bathrooms. Camp fees are $25/site/night. Reservations available at the contacts listed above. Park info: (415) 456-0766, or www.parks.ca.gov (click on Find a Park); or www.bahiker.com/northbayhikes/chinacamp.html.

Half Moon Bay State Park -- A half-mile west of Highway 1 in the town of Half Moon Bay lies the 4-mile strand of golden sand that curves around the bay. The park has Francis Beach campground, with 52 sites. A visitor center is open on weekends. Camp fees are $25/site/night. Restaurants, shops and grocery stores are available in town. Reservations available at the contacts listed above. Park info: (650) 726-8819, or www.parks.ca.gov (click on Find a Park); www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/halfmoon.html

Bike-touring workshops

Bay Area REI stores will present a series of seminars next week on rigging bikes for travel. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, at the Berkeley REI, Sam Bailey and Guntram Jordan of Detours Sports Inc. will give a slide show and talk, "Cycle Touring: tips for paring down your load." Besides discussing techniques, the two will temp you onto the open road with pictures of their favorite tours. Cost: free. (510) 527-4140. This workshop will repeat at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the San Francisco REI, (415) 934-1938, and again at 7 p.m. next Thursday at the Saratoga REI, (408) 871-8765.