From Summer Menu

Summer Menu

1. Hike-Inn Breakfast: Enjoy hot pancakes after a short hike to the West Point Inn on Mt. Tam (June 17, July 8, Aug. 12, Sept. 9). www.westpointinn.com
2. Who’s Your Crawdaddy? Lounge Louisiana style at the Isleton Crawdad Festival on the California River Delta (June 16 & 17). www.crawdadfestival.org
3. River Music: Relax on the Russian River while listening to stellar blues musicians like Buddy Guy and Little Richard (June 16 & 17). www.russianriverfestivals.com
 
4. Hair Ball: Catch the musical “Hair” at Mt. Tam’s outdoor Mountain Theater (June 3, 9, 10, 17). www.mountainplay.org



5. Apple Pie Americana: Take in the Mendocino 4th of July parade – consistently noted as one of the best in the country. Hang out until July 7th to enjoy the town’s salmon barbecue (the largest in the world); later that evening watch fireworks over the ocean at Pomo Bluff in Fort Bragg. www.gomendo.com
6. Golden Rush: Watch a small gold rush town burst to life at one of the top mountain bike festivals in the West: the Downieville Classic Mountain Bike Festival. Enjoy the street festival with live music and the famous river bike jump: a wooden ramp set up on the Yuba River (July 13 – 15). www.downievilleclassic.com
7. Rings of Fire: Gape at the fire sculptures and a fire interpretation of Homer’s Odyssey (new this year) at The Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival in Oakland (July 11 – 14). www.thecrucible.org
8. Vine-Ripened Features: Top off your wine country trip with a movie under the stars: Wine Country Film Festival (July 19 – Aug. 5). www.winecountryfilmfest.com
9. Biking Under the Influence: Costumes, bikes, and beer collide in Golden Gate Park at the Tour de Fat (July 21). www.newbelgium.com
10. Bountiful Sip and Sea: Taste wines, crack oysters, and shake your hips at the Bodega Seafood Art & Wine Festival (Aug. 25 & 26). www.winecountryfestivals.com


Sponsored Topic

Mike's Bikes, the Bay Area's premier bike retailer, wants to help you find the answer to this summertime question: what's your bike personality?
This week's bike personality: The All-Purpose Adventurer.

You want it all: Rocky trails, gravel paths, and coastal bikeways. You like comfort and flexibility when riding the rolling hills in China Camp and think fat tires are perfect for a Sunday afternoon spin around Golden Gate Park. The sights, the sounds, the feeling of being in the woods on a bicycle is your cure-all for stress. Yes. You want it all.

Sound like you? You're "The All-Purpose Adventurer." And the Mike's Bikes ride for you: the Cannondale F6. This jack-of-all-trails can take on whatever you feel like throwing at it. Reliable and strong, the Cannondale F6 is also lightweight, with a Rock Shox suspension fork that gives you confidence taking on the singletrack in Marin or the wide fire roads at Wilder Ranch. And you'll love the lockout, allowing you to turn off the suspension on your way to the trail. Dependability is the name of the game with the Cannondale. So go ahead: take on any terrain. Double-dare.

Mike's Bikes has six stores in Northern California: Sacramento (916-446-BIKE), San Rafael (415-454-3747), Sausalito (415-332-3200), Berkeley (510-549-8350), San Francisco (415-241-BIKE), and Palo Alto (650-858-7700).