Northern California - How's the cycling in Berkeley?

Not going to lie, my graduate school choices will be helped by quality of cycling.
So, I am a roadie and and mountain biking. How is it out there?

I'm a grad student at Davis, but I do research in Berkeley, and did undergrad here. The road cycling is renowned; you have the Berkeley and Oakland hills within 2 miles from anywhere in the city. Many beautiful and challenging rides right from your doorstep. I'm not a mountain biker, so I'll let others comment; but I do know of trails in Tilden and Redwood parks, which are again just a couple miles from the city. The whole region is full of great road and mountain riding if you are willing to take a train or car ride to the start. There's also a strong cycling culture, Berkeley has many lanes and "bike boulevards," roads which have many traffic blocks that favor cycle traffic.

Where are you coming from exactly? It would help to know what you're used to and what to expect that's different.

hey tekhna - you can't go wrong with the bay area for cycling, and berkeley is central and easy access to all of it. right next door to cal is a string of regional parks and scenic country roads that stretch all the way down to San Jose. Same thing going east up to Mt. Diablo, Morgan Territory, etc....

Best part is you don't need a car. Bike bridge north gets you to Napa, Sonoma, Marin.... Or hop on BART to SF and you got Marin just over the GG Bridge. Or, while in SF, hop on Caltrain and you got access to a whole lot more open space in the peninsula.

+1 slabby and shatdow. Not sure what part of the country you're coming from OP, but pick a 2-3hr window and you can put a lot of varied routes together starting from Berkeley, and as much climbing as you wish. You won't be disappointed.

The cycling there is great! They also have an awesome cycling team. Check out calcycling.org. I did my undergrad there. I wish I had more time to ride. Now I am doing Grad school in SoCal, have time to ride but riding sucks.

If cycling is a priority, Berkeley should be one of your very top choices.

In addition to all the positives already mentioned, don't forget you can ride year-round. :D

It's the best around.

Berkeley is great.... but Stanford is even better!



* ducks for cover *

Sounds fantastic. I'm in NYC, from MN so Berkeley sounds like heaven!

You'd be minutes from views like this - Tilden Park (on top of the Berkeley/Oakland Hills ridge)

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/ElToyonal2008_08_24/DSC00213-1.jpg

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/ElToyonal2008_08_24/DSC00219.jpg

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/ElToyonal2008_08_24/DSC00224.jpg

Berkeley is great.... but Stanford is even better!



* ducks for cover *

Only if you count the placebo effect from all the extra money you are paying. :p

Only if you count the placebo effect from all the extra money you are paying. :p

Haha! :thumb:

Go Bears!!

You won't regret it. Great university (I'm biased: BA, '89), great cafes, great riding.

Tekhna, you'll love it. Beaker's post shows one of the many views you get from riding in Berkeley. Coming down Spruce/Euclid during sunset is breathtaking.

A couple reasons I can think of:

1. Awesome team...rides pretty much every day and a big one on Saturdays
2. Sweet climbs and descents...Mt. Diablo is close by etc.
3. Good weather. Not humid in the summer, not as cold as most places in the winter.
4. Generally good drivers. Berkeley's a small city and drivers are pretty respectful of cyclists, especially on windy climbs. Most actually wait until it's safe to pass.

Plus, grad students are treated better than undergrads! Even so, I love it!