Originally Posted by
johnny99
I haven't looked at this year's route, but in past years, the Primavera has had a more scenic route with less traffic. The Primavera has a couple more hills, but nothing really serious. The Tierra Bella does have better food.
One man's ceiling is another man's floor.
The Primavera includes the Calaveras and Palomares climbs. To me, they are pretty serious.
I've never done the Tierra Bella, but I've done most of the route it takes. You climb up to some abandoned hot springs, come back down across the valley and climb up to and around Uvas Reservoir.
I've done the Primavera (last year) and it starts in Fremont, goes up Calaveras (the wall), down through Sunol, and then up and over Dublin Grade to the north side of Palomares. From there, it's up the 6 mile Palomares climb (very steep towards the top) and then down to Niles Canyon and home. Very scenic, and much of it without a lot of traffic. Very well supported, too.