Northern California - Suggest me a new ride.

I'm absolutely sick of riding the same stuff over and over again in the east bay. I went from Sausalito to Point Reyes and back today which was a great ride. All was good until I climbed Panoramic Highway.

Anyways, tomorrow is my day off and want to log some more miles. Driving from Berkeley will be a necessity, I'd even be willing to go to Sacramento if it meant an epic ride. Can anyone suggest a good ride? My coworker suggested this:

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/petaluma/531535575422

Would this be a good ride? There a certain way I should go? I kinda want to do a century since I've never done one... may save that till next week though.

I've ridden a little in South Bay but never got a really AWESOME ride out of it. I'd kinda like to stay north of the bay. Thanks for any input!

Mount Hamilton.

Epic ride. Well, you could ride the Folsom Lake Loop starting in Folsom. About 55 miles, close to 5000 feet. Traffic shouldn't be too bad during the work week. http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Folsom-Lake-Loop182295

Perfect!

Folsom it is!

I've ridden a little in South Bay but never got a really AWESOME ride out of it. ...

Um, where did you try riding? Lots of great places to ride ...

Montebello
Saratoga Gap
Big Basin
Mt. Hamilton

and if you venture towards the peninsula, there's Old La Honda, King's Mountain Road ... and the ride down the coast to Pescadero, and the climb up Tunitas.

Could do the Shannon/Kennedy/Hicks plus Metcalf loop.. That thing is a grinder..

Could do the Shannon/Kennedy/Hicks plus Metcalf loop.. That thing is a grinder..

You're leading that this weekend, right?

:roflmao2::lol:

What ride did you do and how was it?

I'm absolutely sick of riding the same stuff over and over again in the east bay. !

My goodness, this is pretty darned close to cycling heaven! Sounds like we're getting a little spoiled :rolleyes: I don't what the "same old stuff" is that you've been riding, but there's lots of great roads all over the East Bay. Assuming that it's the Oakland Hills that you're tired of, come a little further east and try Morgan Territory, or check out the Livermore Hills, or go do Calaveras/Palomares/Sierra Road, or check out Mines Road or.........

If all that fails, Ron had some good ideas on the peninsula in his post.

JB

Could do the Shannon/Kennedy/Hicks plus Metcalf loop.. That thing is a grinder..

Ty,
Do you have a bikely route of that? I might want to do that this weekend.

I did Folsom. OW! I went counter-clockwise around the loop that you posted. It wouldn't have been bad had I not ridden 65 miles yesterday too. I've never been in so much pain after a ride... and then I had to drive back from Sac in horrible traffic. Super nice bike shop at that parking lot though, I was pretty impressed.

Counter-clockwise was the right direction. That's a tough ride. I'm planning to give it another go in the Spring. I had to take a few breaks up the Foresthill grade the last time. I'm hoping to make the hills without having to stop and relearn how to breathe!

The shop is a good one. I stop by there a lot.

Sorry Ron, I was asleep at the wheel. I'll muster up a bikely for ya, sometime Wednesday morning. I'll give you some options and give you a cue sheet with some hazards and stuff pointed out. I wont be able to make it, I just started a job for the weekends, literally today. Hence my posting at midnight :(. I'll get you a bikely though, no worries:) YOU WILL HATE ME FOR THIS RIDE :-P!!

The ride you have in the original post is considered a great ride. Hilly, narrow roads in places, but so pretty, especially in the spring or when things green up. I have ridden portions of it during other rides, and driven over all of it. Very nice.

http://calcycling.org/?q=view%2Froutes&filter0%5B%5D=1

Hope you haven't done these too much.

Counter-clockwise was the right direction. That's a tough ride. I'm planning to give it another go in the Spring. I had to take a few breaks up the Foresthill grade the last time. I'm hoping to make the hills without having to stop and relearn how to breathe!

The shop is a good one. I stop by there a lot.

One thing I noticed with that ride was the lack of water. It must have been 80-90 degrees the whole ride and half the time I was thinking, "Oh god, please be a town somewhere." I finally got to Cool, California which I had no idea existed. My Garmin barely even recognized it. I drank 5 water bottles on the ride and then a recovery drink afterwards... probably should have drank even more.

Oh yeah, there was the absolute SCARIEST bridge you have to cross up on the northern part. Do you ride on the road there or use the walking path? I used the walking path and just walked it, that freaked me out big time though, I hate heights.

We used the walking path. There's no other safe way to cross that bridge. Good drop though!

Yeah, I'd forgotten about water. We stopped in Cool for water, then again in Auburn.