Recommend a 50-60 miler from Saratoga, CA

[samboo]

I live in Oakland but will be in Saratoga this weekend and want to do a 50-mile ride that starts/ends at my in-laws house near downtown Saratoga. I climb well, but don't really want to do an epic climbing day, also I'm not thrilled with a lot of Silicon Valley traffic (spoiled by Oakland/Berkeley hills I guess :) ).

It's my last training ride before the Wine Country Century in a few weeks.

I assume it'll be some stuff on Skyline and either up or down Hwy 9, but not sure what route would be ideal. Staring at maps isn't helping.

So ... can you South Bay types recommend a good route for me?

Thanks in advance.

-Sam

[spingineer]

You can take Hwy 9 up to Skyline, and if you go north, take that to either Page Mill or go all the way to 84, through Woodside, then back ... I think 84 will give you > 50 miles.

[t4mv]

^^^
That route, with a return through Portola Valley/Alpine and then working your way back through Foothill X-way/Stevens Canyon will get you about 55-56 miles. It's definitely in the mileage you want to do, and it's a pretty mellow ride to boot.

[carbonlife]

If you are in Saratoga, the way to go is B-O-B! Up Bohlman, take On Orbit for a spectacular view (oh yeah it's a little steep here too), back to Bohlman, turn left to keep climbing. At the end of Bohlman take the dirt road (on the right) for about a mile (almost all do-able on a road bike, veer right at the fork), down Montevina to the bottom, turn right, go about 100 yards to Black Road, climb up to Skyline and turn right. Skyline all the way to Page Mill, turn right and have a nice descent, turn right on Foothill. Foothill turns into Stevens Canyon, go deep until you hit Redwood Gulch (on the left) for a fun short ascent to Hwy 9. Turn left at 9, back down to Saratoga.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f155/tacksharp/Miscellaneous/B-O-B.gif

[ahpook]

nice route, carbon! i've done the 9-skyline-black side before and SEEN montevina but i didn't know where it went. b..o..b. gotta remember that.

[johnny99]

The Sequoia Century 100K route starts in Palo Alto, but it goes through Saratoga, so you could start there instead.

From the corner of Mt. Eden and Stevens Canyon in Saratoga
Take Stevens Canyon north
Continue north on Foothill Expressway
Left on Page Mill Road up to Skyline
Right on Skyline
Left on Hwy 84 down through the town of La Honda
Left on Pescadero Road
Left on Alpine Road back up to Skyline
Right on Skyline
Left on Hwy 9
Left on Pierce Road
Left on Mt. Eden back to where you started

This route has two long, not too steep climbs (not nearly as hard as Bohlman). Scenic views from two different sections of Skyline. Two long fast descents on good roads.

[oaklandcyclist]

nice route, carbon! i've done the 9-skyline-black side before and SEEN montevina but i didn't know where it went. b..o..b. gotta remember that.

+1 Thanks for the tip. GOTTA head out there and give it a go. :)

[johnny99]

Bohlman + On Orbit is a nice climb. Once you get to the top, the rest of that loop is easy.

[BlastRadius]

How's that dirt road section? Does that call for mixed-terrain riding?

[carbonlife]

How's that dirt road section? Does that call for mixed-terrain riding?

The dirt fire road between Bohlman and Montevina is about a mile, and easily ridden on a road bike with skinny tires. The surface is decent, a lot of rocks but not a lot of ruts which are more irritating. This was as of Nov. 30, the last time I was there. It's possible it got a little worse over the winter. I only had to walk about 20-30 yards up a hill, just past the open space preserve entrance. The rest I rode. If you have expensive wheels you might not want to risk them getting scratched by the loose rocks, but I didn't get a single scratch on my rims.

This is about the only way to get from Bohlman over to Skyline without backtracking. Montevina is a good road but not a great descent. Black is a nice steady climb (about 10%). An alternative to Black is to go another 100 yards along the side road next to Hwy 17 and take Bear Creek Road all the way to Boulder Creek. (Note: Skyline between Bear Creek and Black Road is single lane and very dangerous, not recommended).

[johnny99]

(Note: Skyline between Bear Creek and Black Road is single lane and very dangerous, not recommended).

I've ridden that section of Skyline many times and never had a problem. The road is about the same width as Old La Honda and gets about the same amount of traffic. Stay as far to the right as possible since on-coming traffic may appear very quickly. Groups should ride single file and spread out so that each person gets a good view up the road. Be especially careful if you are going downhill, since then it is too easy to drift too far to the left.

[samboo]

Good stuff!! Thanks everyone for the recommendations. Maybe it's not a total cycling wasteland down there after all (sorry, East Bay humor).

I think I'm going with Spingeneer or johnny99's recommendations.

B-O-B sounds great, but i googled it and the Western Wheeler's climbs page scared the crap out of me: http://www.westernwheelers.org/main/resources/BA_Climbs.html#Skyline

I worry doing that in the first 10 miles will encourage me to recover at a cafe and limit myself to 25 miles total.

-Sam