Lucas Valley (clockwise) - Velocurean.com

Lucas Valley is an absolutely amazing piece of Northern Marin County. There will never be an instance that you say, “I wish I did a different ride” after getting home from this one. No matter what the season, weather or time of day Lucas Valley is always sure to please leaving you with a sense of accomplishment and a smile on your face. This 65-mile ride cuts through the quaint “downtowns” of Fairfax, Ross and San Anselmo and brings you into the peace and solitude of the hills, trees, farmlands and horse ranches of San Rafael. The cadence is constant, the road is ever undulating and the pace just begs for maximum effort. Lucas Valley should be folded in to every cyclist’s arsenal of staple rides. Simply put, it is pretty darn close to the “perfect ride,” so please go and enjoy the experience!

DIRECTIONS:

• Exit the Sports Basement parking lot and turn LEFT onto OLD MASON STREET and follow it until you come to a “Y.” Turn LEFT then immediately veer RIGHT onto CRISSY FIELD AVE. and follow it up the hill to the bike lane and turn RIGHT.
• Follow the bike lane through the parking lot and onto BATTERY E ROAD, which will take you under the Golden Gate Bridge then “U-turn” you up onto the Golden Gate Bridge bike lane and over to the parking lot in Marin.
• From the Golden Gate Bridge, drop into Sausalito via ALEXANDER AVE.
• Follow Alexander Ave. through Sausalito, which turns in to BRIDGEWAY BLVD. Stop at the lights and stop signs. Police are looking for you and will ticket you.
• Veer RIGHT onto the BIKE PATH at “Mike’s Bikes.”
• Take the Bike Path all the way to the intersection at BLITHEDALE AVE and turn LEFT.
• Take your first RIGHT onto CAMINO ALTO.
• This is a nice warm up climb. Spin up it, keep your heart rate controlled and focus on breathing and posture. There is plenty of climbing yet to come.
• At the top of the hill the road name changes to CORTE MADERA AVE.
• At the end of this short somewhat tricky descent you will come to a set of lights. Go STRAIGHT. The street becomes MAGNOLIA AVE.
• Follow this all the way to KENT AVE. You will come to a stop sign with a gas station in front of you. Veer LEFT onto Kent Ave. you should pass a grocery store on your right.
• Follow this street all the way to the end.
• Turn LEFT then a quick RIGHT at the church onto SHADY LANE.
• At the end of Shady Lane turn RIGHT then a quick LEFT at the light onto SAN ANSELMO AVE.
• Take it slow through the “down town” area. Once again, they are watching you.
• It gets a bit tricky here but if you wait a minute cyclists will come buy and just follow them. You will come to a busy street (Central Ave.) do not take this. Veer left and continue on San Anselmo Ave, which will eventually turn into LANSDALE AVE. It runs parallel to Central.
• After riding through this quaint little neighborhood you will come to a “T.” Turn RIGHT then a quick LEFT onto the busy street. You will immediately pass “Java Hut” on your right. We often stop here to fill up our water bottles and grab an espresso.
• Center Blvd. turns into BROADWAY BLVD. and takes you right though Fairfax passing the “Fairfax Coffee Roastery” on your left. Continue straight, up the little hill and past the garden shop on the left. When you come to an entrance to a parking lot continue straight onto the BIKE PATH. At the end of the path turn LEFT onto OLEMA ROAD.
• Follow Olema Road to the end, which is SIR FRANCIS DRAKE BLVD., and turn LEFT. Just around the corner is “White’s Hill” which is a climb that is always longer and hotter than you want it to be but is the gateway into the deep Marin County roads of peaceful cycling.
• Follow Sir Francis Drake to the San Geronimo Golf Course and turn RIGHT onto NICASIO VALLEY ROAD immediately after the golf course. Nicasio Valley Rd. is a beautiful, undulating road in the trees, which drops you out in to the farm/horse ranch lands. When you come to a hard “switch-back” right hand turn, turn RIGHT onto LUCAS VALLEY ROAD.
• Lucas Valley Road is absolutely beautiful. There is no other way to describe it. The road is not busy; it is undulating and curvy with the perfect amount of tree cover. It takes you past “Skywalker Ranch” for all of you “Star Wars” lovers and is essentially the “perfect ride.” Once you go up a moderate to easy climb you will come to “Big Rock.” The descent on the other side is extremely fast and somewhat technical as it has many tight “S” turns so be cautious going into them.
• After a long, flat time-trial effort at the bottom of the descent you will come to LAS GALLINAS AVENUE at a set of lights, turn RIGHT. Las Gallinas Ave will take you past the Northgate Shopping Center, which is a very heavy traffic area. After the mall the road turns into LOS RANCHITOS ROAD.
• Continue of Los Ranchitos Rd past the church on your left and up the hill along the highway where you will come to a set of lights. Go STRAIGHT through the lights and the road will once again change names, to LINCOLN AVENUE.
• Follow Lincoln Ave to MISSION AVE. and turn RIGHT. Continue on Mission Ave. to the end and turn LEFT onto H STREET then RIGHT onto 4th STREET at “Summit Bicycles.”
• 4th Street will force you onto a very busy street, which you will have to cross over and turn LEFT at the set of lights onto GREENFIELD AVENUE. Follow Greenfield Ave. all the way to the “Java Hub Café” at which point the street becomes one way and forces you to turn LEFT onto LINCOLN PARK, which turns into BANK STREET.
• At the traffic light turn LEFT onto SIR FRANCIS DRAKE BLVD. then the 1st RIGHT at the traffic light which will bring you back to SAN ANSELMO AVENUE and turn LEFT closing out the loop. Backtrack your way back to the Golden Gate Bridge.
• After you cross the bridge follow the bike path under the Bridge and stay to the left at the “Y” until you come to the intersection with LINCOLN BLVD. and turn LEFT.
• Continue on Lincoln Blvd. until you pass the Cemetery on your right at which point you will come to another “Y” in the road. At the “Y” stay to your RIGHT, which turns into SHERIDAN AVENUE and follow this to the stop sign and turn LEFT onto MONTGOMERY STREET.
• After a short, quick descent you will turn RIGHT and then a quick LEFT onto the path that brings you under the Highway down to the Sports Basement parking lot. (Note on the bike path: do not take the switchback but look for the small lane indicated by a white post.)
• the limits… right?
• At the top of Pinehurst Road you will come to a 5 street intersection. Do not take the 1^st hard right but the 2^nd RIGHT, which is SKYLINE BOULEVARD. (Refer to map for clarity) Follow Skyline Blvd. back past Grizzly Peak Blvd. at about mile 46.5 and head back down Skyline, which turns into Tunnel Road for 3 miles of fast, twisty and somewhat technical descending.
• At the bottom take a deep breath and head back to the car. Remember to be careful of the big spikes at the entrance of the park, keep left of the poles. Now go find a great place to eat on College Ave. in Rockridge!  We chose Zachary’s for pizza.