THE DETAILS: 

WHEN: March 8-10th, 2024.  

Friday, March 8: Meet up at Daly City BART Station (or choose your own start location)  in the morning (time TBD). Ride 25-35 miles to our first campsite, Half Moon Bay State Beach  (24 miles) 

Saturday, March 9: Ride from campsite to Green Oaks Farm (32miles) 

Sunday, March 10: Ride from Green Oaks Farm to Santa Cruz (25 miles) 

  Afternoon celebration of Justin’s life in Santa Cruz (details to come) 

In order to make this ride accessible to as many people as possible, there will be different levels of support. If you’re a person who has lived on your bicycle for months and you have all the camping gear your heart desires, you can ride with the group in a self-supported way. If you’re someone who has always dreamed of bike touring and hasn’t done it, this is your chance!  You can do a supported (aka a vehicle carries your stuff) ride, and know that if you run out of energy there will be a friendly face to scoop you up and carry you to our destination.  The levels of support are below, and you can let us know what you’re interested in on the sign-up form here.  

The California Field School (the youth bike touring project that Justin helped start) leads trips from SF to SC a few times a year, so CFS will be coordinating the supported version of the journey.  No matter what level of support you’re looking for, we’ll all hang out along the way and camp together, so you’ll be able to hang out with old friends and make new friends.  

LEVELS OF SUPPORT

BIGGEST BEAR HUG - Sign up for this level and California Field School (CFS) will provide:

• Bikes (if needed), helmet, bike gear 

• SAG (support and gear support) to carry your belongings (and you if needed) from place to place

• Food

• Camping gear (tents, sleeping bags, etc.)

Someone getting a biggest bear hug could just show up with their belongings and demonstrate that they can ride a bike, CFS will take care of the rest. (Or you could have your own gear and bike, but you want to have access to van support and a group food situation).  

GROUP HUG - If you're an experienced bike tourer, join a group of like-minded folks for a self-supported group ride. If you're in a group hug, you can self-organize (or we'll help you find folks to connect with). In a group hug, you'll find a group of people who are interested in sharing meals on the road and are down to carry all their own gear.  

FRIENDLY WAVE - If you're allergic to group organizing/otherwise don't want to deal with group logistics, you can be part of the group and take care of your own needs without needing to coordinate with anyone else.  

There will be designated mechanics and medics on the road, so everyone will be supported in case bikes or bodies get banged up, and there will be a separate organizing effort to coordinate getting people to the start/end of the ride.  

Right now, we need to know how many people are interested in which levels of support, so please fill out this interest form by January 20th so that we can figure out what we need to make this ride happen.  

Questions! You have them!  Here are some answers that are based more or less on experience. 

What if I have to work on Friday? 

First of all, down with capitalism, up with fun! Second, you can absolutely meet us on the road (or at Green Oaks Farm) on Saturday.  If you ride all the way to Green Oaks on Saturday from Daly City BART Station it’s 55 miles, which is an entirely reasonable number of miles to ride in one day, if you are a person who does that kind of thing.  If that sounds not at all reasonable but you still want to do it, we will cheer you on! And we will also help you find a ride if you want to meet up down the road.  

What if I want to start the ride from San Francisco/Marin/somewhere else and not Daly City? 

You do you, friend! You can start wherever you want. It’s nice to start at a BART station for ease of access from points East, but people are welcome to organize multiple starting points that converge in Pacifica.  More on alternate start locations to come, once we know who wants to ride. 

What if I am riding with my two adorable but demanding children who are going to be slow and also needy? 

Children and all their wildly absurd needs are welcome! Probably sign up for the “Bear Hug” option so you can throw them in the van when you need to?  The goal is for children and their parents to be able to join the ride and also have a good time, which will be a miracle so we’ll see if we can pull it off. 

What is the route like?  Will we get to ride Planet of the Apes? 

The route is (mostly) along the ocean, and (mostly) spectacularly beautiful. It is also (mostly) on Highway 1, which is a highway (it’s right there in the name) so cars go pretty fast. There’s a pretty good shoulder for most of the way, and we’ll get off the highway whenever we can. You CAN ride Planet of the Apes (Montara Mountain Rd, the beautiful old stagecoach road that climbs over Montara Mountain between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, adding about 1,000 ft of climbing and some spectacular views to the first day).  You do not have to, but if you’re up for it, it is highly recommended.  The route (with elevation) is here, and is definitely subject to change. 

How will I know where to go?  

You can go wherever you want! But also we’ll give you directions, both analog (actual honest to god pieces of paper) and digital (googlemaps links).  There will be ride leaders who will be around if you’re interested in enjoying the scenery and not paying attention to turns. You can also go whichever way you feel like. 

What do I pack? 

Justin made a bike touring gear list, y’all, and it is a treasure.  For some reason there are only 10 Ibuprofen pills on it, which seems wildly out of character, for Justin. It’s here, use it to pack (if you’re doing self-supported touring). 

When is the talent show? Can I sing all the songs from my new album? 

Excellent question! It honestly depends entirely on how tired/loopy/energetic everyone is feeling, and also how many songs you’re prepared to sing.  You’re the only one who knows how much you’ve been practicing!  

How will I get to San Francisco for the start and/or Santa Cruz for the end? 

Boy do we wish we knew.  The actual logistics of transporting you all and your bicycles to the start and end of the ride seem...daunting. If you are reading this and you are excited about being the person who organizes this part of the ride, please get in touch! You will be everyone’s hero!  

Do you need money? 

Wish we didn’t, and yet we do - to pay for campsites, food for the bear hug people, and logistics like gas and tolls etc.  The California Field School (which is a project of the Hub for Sustainable Living) will accept contributions to help make this ride possible, and will transfer anything left at the end to the Hub Resilience Fund.  You can donate here! Put “Justin ride” in the memo so we know what it’s for. 

What if I don’t want to ride but I want to cook/make pretty flags/drive a vehicle/plan a party at the end? 

Great! We want to eat your food/fly your flags/ride in your car/dance at your party! Fill out the signup form and tell us what you want to do!  

What if it rains? 

We will get wet, and it will be an adventure.  

When will we play capture the flag? 

We will play the entire time, in an epic bicycle based moving capture the flag game that Oakland will definitely win*.

*just kidding about playing on bikes, we will play after we arrive at camp.  Not kidding about Oakland winning.