The sky above me is one giant gray cloud. I eye it skeptically as I trudge up the hill from my apartment to retrieve my bicycle from a friend’s basement (where I currently store it).

I’m wearing a puffy blue jacket that I bought at a thrift store years ago. It’s not exactly “cute” but seems to be protecting me from the cold wind and damp air that surrounds me. 

I hope it’s enough to keep me warm on my first-ever bike ride in Santa Rosa. 

I’m headed to the North Bay city as part of my volunteer work with the non-profit EcoRing. Focused on empowering tourists and businesses to embrace greener forms of tourism, this is a way for me to experience one such option for myself: travel by SMART train and a bike ride along the Joe Rodota trail.

I have to admit that I hadn’t expected the rain clouds when I’d made these travel plans. Still, I’m not one to let a little rain get in my way. 

After retrieving my bike—a dark green Public bike that looks more like a cruiser than road bike—I hop onto its brown leather seat and ride down a hill to the Van Ness bus stop. 

When I arrive, I’m alarmed to see that the bus I plan to catch (the Golden Gate Transit 101) is not listed. I’m a naturally nervous person, so this sends me into a state of furious googling, trying to make sure the bus picks up at this stop on the weekends. To my dismay, the internet (which is supposed to be all-knowing) seems to be filled with contradictory information about this. 

Rather than risk standing at the stop for an hour and being late to meet the EcoRing founder in Santa Rosa, I opt to ride down to Civic Center where the internet has collectively guaranteed the bus picks up. 

Civic Center tends to be a slightly sketchier scene than my neighborhood, and this afternoon is no different. In front of the bus stop, two calm EMTs sit patiently on the side of their van as one unfortunate soul tweaks alongside the sign for my bus.

I stand back a ways and wait patiently. In just a couple of minutes, the bus arrives and I wave to the driver to let him know I want to hop on. 

It’s the first time I’ve loaded my bike onto a bus and I’m nervous. Luckily, the YouTube tutorial videos I watched the night before serve me well. Pulling up against the handle at the center of the folded rack, I pull it down and place my bike in the spot closest to the front of the bus. Then I pull up the hook that then settles down on top of my front tire, holding my bike in place.

Hopping on the bus, I press my clipper card against the little screen and take a seat.

I always love the ride into Marin.

The bus makes its way through the rainbow tunnels and then stops at a hidden bus stop at the top of the hill. Then we descend into Mill Valley and continue on all the way to San Rafael. 

The bus comes to a stop at the San Rafael transit station, and I hop off, carefully unloading my bike. Pushing the bike rack up into place, I give a quick nod to the bus driver, then turn to locate the SMART station. To my joy, it’s right across the street from the bus depot.

ABOUT SMART RAIL:

The SMART rail is a great alternative to automobile travel in the Bay Area, specifically the North Bay. Though it’s not a zero-impact form of travel, it does reduce emissions. According to its website, it reduced greenhouse emissions by 33% when compared with drives along the same route. 

It currently runs 45 miles from Larkspur to the Santa Rosa airport area. 

This was a big aha moment for me!

Realizing that I could hop on this train and arrive in Petaluma or Santa Rosa was so exciting. I don’t have a car, so this mode of transportation opened up an entirely new area within the Bay Area for me. Better yet, most of the SMART rail stations are located near bike paths, making it easy to enjoy further green travel once I arrived in my location.

After crossing the street from the bus depot, I wheel my bike up the station walkway, stopping at a little kiosk to tag my clipper card on.

“Excuse me… ” a man says behind me.

I turn to see another SMART rail rider, tagging his clipper card on the kiosk after me.

“Do you know why this charged my Clipper card $15? I’m only going to Petaluma and it says,” he points to the list of locations and the fairs associated with them, “that it should only cost $X [I can’t remember the exact fair for this location].”

I blink at him and shake my head. As frugal as I am, I’m also often oblivious to moments like these. I wonder how much I was just charged… I think to myself. 

Luckily, a couple walks up a minute later and they explain that you need to tag your clipper card on AND off at the train stations. Tagging on will start your journey (charging you the full 45-mile fare up front). When you tag off, it adjusts the charge on your Clipper Card to match the actual length of your journey.

RIDING SMART:

The train’s arrival is signaled with that classic bell toll and I step back on the platform as it whooshes by. Once it comes to a halt, I enter with my bike and search for the designated bike storage section. Again, YouTube has shown me how to attach my bike to the wall of the train, and I imitate what I saw, pulling a bungee cord around my front tire and another around my back tire.

Though a train operator is regularly patrolling the aisles and the other passengers are older travelers and young families, I still choose to sit where I can keep my bike in sight.

The ride is smooth and feels like a Wes Anderson movie or a trip in Europe. SMART is all green with cushioned seats that feel more like a gaming chair than a train chair. Plus, there’s a giant bathroom, which I definitely appreciate (if you know anything about me, you know I love a good bathroom).

The ride takes around an hour. I spend most of it trying to take in the experience. I stare out the window and watch as the scenery flashes past, rolling hills, ponds, and strange trees that have lost their leaves. It doesn’t feel like I’m in California and for a moment I wonder if I’ve actually returned to Ireland. But then train stops are announced (like Petaluma and Novato) and I remember that I haven’t left the Bay Area.

When the intercom announces my stop, Downtown Santa Rosa, I stand and move back to where my bike is secured to the wall of the train. I unhook the bungee cords and hold the handlebars steady as we arrive at the platform. 

It’s raining harder than it was earlier in San Francisco. 

I wish I’d worn a better raincoat, but it’s too late to do anything about that now. 

I step out onto the platform and immediately see the founder of the nonprofit I’m volunteering for. He’s wearing a yellow raincoat, exactly what I think of when I hear the word raincoat and is holding onto his own bike’s handlebars. 

I’m not sure he’ll recognize me from our one Zoom chats, so I walk up to him and say with almost too much force, “hello!”

(Part II: Biking along the Joe Rodota Trail is coming soon!)