It was 104 degrees in Sacramento yesterday, which made it a great day to get out of Dodge! I recently purchased two cycling books in an effort to burn more calories while seeing new sights. Kim and I chose a fun (i.e. brisk, but not death-defying) bike ride around Tiburon, CA.

Northern California is a staggeringly beautiful place and I’m way behind in exploring it. What I (and poor Kim) hadn’t anticipated was all the braking we’d be doing for flowers and succulents. You have to be a gazillionaire in order to live in a place like Tiburon, but all you need is a bicycle and a smart phone camera in order to enjoy its flora. Doable!

This 10.5-mile ride came from Moon Bay Area Biking: 60 of the Best Rides for Road and Mountain Biking (Moon Outdoors). With an elevation gain of 700 feet, the “Tiburon and Belvedere Loop” is described as “easy riding with stunning bay views”. It delivers even more to the gardener’s eye as you cruise by colorful front yard gardens, hanging baskets, overflowing window boxes, super-saturated flower colors you see only along the coast, whimsical mailboxes (is that a thing here?) and liberal use of succulents in the landscape. We ended up doing two loops… about 20 miles.

Tiburon and Belvedere Loop

Tiburon

Sunday sailing

Italy-esque Tiburon

Here I am Photographing the Golden Gate bridge and SF and as it becomes shrouded in fog!

Yes, I love waiting for you while you take flower pictures, Angela!

Color!

Orange nasturtiums

Nasturtiums, Jupiter’s Beard and ivy spilling over cement retaining wall

Orange Clockvine (Thunbergia gregorii)

Jupiter’s Beard (Centranthus ruber)

Cute mailboxes might be a thing in Tiburon. On our short trip, I passed a rooster mailbox and this adorable flower mailbox. I love the way the yellow mailbox ties in with the yellow garage door and yellow ‘Sunset Gold’ Breath of Heaven (Coleonema pulchrum). Plus, the home’s architecture is also a bit whimsical. “Modern cottage”, maybe?

2 Beach Road window boxes

Succulents!

Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives’?

Paradise Foods Succulent Planters

1 Blackfield Drive
http://www.foodsofparadise.com/

Aeonium ‘Sunburst’

It’ll be fun picking our next “Garden Biking” adventure!