Riding the dikes in the Bay Area

[cv_rider]

Not dykes, dikes! As in the levees that hold back rivers. But it was pretty fun anyway. The are a series of rivers and dikes between the SF Bay and Sacramento that you can ride along. Narrow twisty roads are built on top of them. Its something of a strange feeling to ride them, because there is a 20 foot drop off on either side of the narrow road, one side is the river, the other a field. Hardly any cars, road in good shape, very scenic. Had lunch in historic Old Town Sacramento, at my favorite German Sausage outdoor restaurant. After a bit of wandering around, headed back home. About 200 miles, was out for seven hours. A very nice time.

Some pics from the trip:
* In front of the Mothball Fleet, north of the Benecia bridge. It is slowly rusting away and releasing toxic crud into the Bay. There is a move afoot to tow two them to Texas so the crud can be released there. When that's done, there will only be 98 to go!
* Waiting for the Union Pacific to go through
* On the dike
* One of these bikes is faster, handles better, and costs 25% as much as any of the others.

 

[Wolfman]

Looks like a great day's riding...thanks for sharing.

:thumbup:

 

[Humperdinkel]

Looks like heaps of fun and i love the cheap shot at the cruisers in the last photo's description :thumbup:.....Nice looking bike you have there aswell...

 

[Hellgate]

You can keep your ships in CA, we don't need them here.

Looks like you had a beautiful day of riding. :thumbup:

 

[ChromeX]

I saw the pic and for a minute thought someone had "borrowed" my bike; then I saw the tall wind shield and ... oh it's an 07 or newer. My 06 just has factory tall and racks my side boxs which have never put on.... someday...
Now is the time to head to the levee's weather being soooo nice perfect temp and Tule fog if any doesn't last long. The good thing about riding on top of the levee's is you can see around the corners and this area has not turned into the favorites of the street racers so the CHP isn't hanging out everywhere or have places to HIDE! Oppps may have just given away a secret!
Ed
Oakland

 

[Red Wazp]

Ya the levee roads are fun. We go down and ride them north of Sac to in the winter when there is sand on the roads up here after it snows. See any birds?

 

[Cloggy]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing :thumbup: I love riding dike roads too, they have plenty of them in Holland and they have lots of great bends on them (especially the older dikes). I know what you mean about the height thing but that's great for the views on either side, and you can see any on coming traffic :thumbup:

 

[mstewar1]

Is that hwy 160? I take that route occasionally on my commute back to Sac. It's a great ride. Sure as heck beats riding 80.

There are some gnarly winds usually out near Antioch/Sherman Island, coming over the bridge. While on the levy, er dike, it's possible to get stuck behind trucks, and it's double-yellow stripe for much of the way, so that can kinda blow.

Much nicer views than one gets on 80. Much better air than interstate air. Well-surfaced, clean roadway. Punctuated with sketchy, steep, roadsides and lots of residence driveways. Don't haul a$$ and don't let your mind wander...

I swallowed a huge bunch of bug guts as something -- a dragonfly, maybe -- got sliced and diced through the chin air vent. Haven't hit a bird. Yet.

View attachment 23429

 

[Red Wazp]

it's double-yellow stripe for much of the way, so that can kinda blow.

Double yellow's are for cagers

 

[Tailgate]

You can keep your ships in CA, we don't need them here.

:thumbup:

But Hellgate, we don't have drydock/shipyard on the West Coast equipped to dismantle/salvage ships. They gotta go through Panama Canal and have you Texans do the job. You see, in CA we're preocuppied with sipping a glass of Chardonnay---can't get our hands dirty.