The North Bay Overnighter Video

Words and photos by Leigh Foster

I left my hotel in San Francisco before sunrise and pedaled toward the Golden Gate Bridge with the rest of the early traffic. The bridge was loud, metallic, and full of commuters. Wind moved through the cables. Cars rushed past. It felt like the opposite of why I ride a bicycle. Then I crossed it.

Within minutes of rolling off the bridge deck and into the Marin Headlands, the noise dropped away. A coyote stood in the road ahead of me, calm and unbothered. It relieved itself on the pavement, scraped the ground with its hind legs, and trotted off into the brush. The city was still visible behind me, but it already felt distant.

What makes the North Bay Overnighter exceptional is how much it contains in such a small loop. You climb dry, rocky trails in open sun and then, almost without warning, you are riding above a blanket of fog with the Pacific stretched out beyond it.

The second morning, I awoke at Pantoll Campground at first light with the clouds pooled below the ridge. From there, I rolled onto Ridgecrest Drive, which is closed to cars until 9 a.m. The pavement was empty. The road traced the spine of the mountain with the ocean on one side and fog on the other. I had been told that car companies film ads there, and once you ride it, you understand why. The setting is dramatic. I filmed that section as if I were making my own little commercial, except the only engine was my legs.

From Ridgecrest, the route drops into the mist and then into the redwoods of Bolinas Ridge, where the air turns cool and damp. By the time you descend toward Samuel P. Taylor State Park, you have moved through coastal chaparral, exposed ridgeline, pasture, forest, and a lush river valley in the span of a single day. That stretch from Pantoll to camp was one of the best days I have ever had on a bicycle. Not because it was extreme, but because it kept changing. Each hour felt different from the last.

It is rare to find a route that feels so expansive without being remote. On this loop, you are never far from a town if you need food or help, yet for long stretches, you are alone. In 72 miles, the North Bay Overnighter delivers something longer trips often promise but don’t always deliver. You leave the city, move through several distinct landscapes, and when you roll back across the bridge three days later, your body is tired, and your mind is quiet. For a weekend, that is more than enough.

You can find our route guide for the North Bay Overnighter here and see more from Leigh on Instagram.

Further Reading

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