Lincoln Hill Bike Path Exposed

Though its official opening isn't until September, cyclists and pedestrians can enjoy the new Lincoln Hill bike path right now. The trick is finding it.

I only found it by accident, after riding home from Grand Avenue near Dominican University the other day. Rather than take the Linden Avenue tunnel, which is dark and scary, I rode up on the pedestrian path. There, under the freeway, I found a brand new (secret) bike path onramp with no signs saying "Keep Off". 

I went for it. I passed several construction workers, but no one told me to get off the path, so I'm assuming you can go for it, too.

Now I'll tell you how to find it, and also what to look out for, because this path is safer than road travel in many ways and loads of fun in the danger department in others.

The two main entrances are its northern entries at the end of Merrydale Avenue off of North San Pedro Road and its southern entrance off of Mission Avenue in downtown San Rafael. The latter isn't so easy to find at all, and its design is actually kind of crazy.

The Merrydale Avenue entrance is as steep as the road always was - a real bum buster - and why few cyclists ever take that route anyway. Once at the top, however, you are rewarded for your efforts as you continue straight along the new path without ever having to ask yourself, "Do I stop to catch my breath, or risk crossing Lincoln without getting hit?" This is never a decision anyone wants to make oxygen deprived, and now you don't have to.

From there, it's smooth sailing for those heading to downtown San Rafael, San Anselmo or further westward. It's smooth sailing until you reach the end of the path. Here you are faced with a new conundrum:  where the heck am I? The path lets you out into cycling's no man's land: Heatherton and Mission Avenues.

This intersection is the first traffic light after exiting south on Highway 101 for motorists. If you ever end up on a bike here, you are either lost or have a death wish.

Just to add a little more challenge, the path here has been engineered so that negotiating by bike from the bike path to the road is impossible unless you possess mad skills around 180-degree turns and can track stand with your front wheel cocked at 90 degrees. Something I can't do and skill I doubt many of the casual cyclists, for whom the path was built, currently possess.

Is this a built-in safety precaution? Walk your bike, as the signage dictates you must, or fly over the curb and into traffic and die.

Then, you're on the street, ready to go. Except, there is no clear path to continue on after this. You're on your own, on a busy street, with no signage telling you how to get anywhere, and no bike lane.

This is too bad, because the bike path is a fantastic improvement over riding up and down Lincoln. While its views of Highway 101 aren't the most serene, and the only way to ingest more carbon monoxide would be to stand on the freeway itself, the path does take you by some backyards, so you can still snoop into people's lives - if you're into that kind of thing.

Best of all, you bypass most of the dangers and stresses of cycling on Lincoln Avenue, with all its cross streets and flinging car doors. There are several connections along the path, making it easy to get off on cross streets along the way.

For northbound travelers, your best bet is to actually continue on Lincoln Avenue, and then turn right onto Pacheco Street, and intercept the path there.

For those heading southbound, you'll have to decide exactly how you would like to risk your life. And you may find yourself skipping out on the brand new bike path.