Northern California - East Bay road bike routes, union city/fremont

i live in union city and i just got my windsor hour bike about 4 weeks ago. At first i could barely make it around coyote hills without drinking all of my water and being soaked in sweat, now i usually ride 15-20 miles every morning. I usually just ride the paved trail next to the creek down towards niles canyon then down to coyote hills then back home, but im getting tired of seeing the same old scenery every morning.

Anyone have any good route suggestions? im willing to drive a little bit for some good scenery. I still get a little nervous riding on public roads by myself, especially ones where people drive twice the speed limit (union city blvd..) so i haven't explored much through the public roads yet. Im just trying to make a route through union city and fremont that has the least amount of traffic. if you live in the same area i would love to see your own bike route as a guide to help me make my own. thanks!

Also, what east bay mountain road has the least amount of elevation change? im guessing calaveras from driving experience, but im not sure. Reason being my bike is a fixed gear :p

Have you tried looking through bikely.com for "union city"? The nice thing with bikely is you can see an elevation profile for every ride. Also useful if you want to scope out a few potential rides of your own.

I've not ridden that far south very much, but know a lot more routes further north of you from Moraga up to El Sobrante out towards Walnut Creek. The nicest route that I started riding on out there is the 3 bears loop - but I wouldn't recommend trying it on a fixie when you're just starting out (I don't think I'd want to do it on a fixie come to that) - unless you're overly modest in your climbing abilities.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/The-Bears


Perhaps some of the BF'rs who ride out towards Livermore/Pleasanton (BBM?) might have more insight.

thanks for the link. i've never even heard of bikely.com until now, i cant believe ive gone even this long without knowing about it.

Where will you be starting out in Union City? Many of our rides start out in the Raley's shopping center at Newark Blvd and Jarvis.
If you modify this route by coming over Union City Blvd and turning right on Paseo Padre, it takes you down into the business area across from where Mission Blvd connects with 880.
On this route sheet, turning right on Paseo Padre from Union City Blvd(Ardenwood), Paseo Padre will become Thornton when you cross the overpass over 84.

L THORNTON
R WILLOW
L CENTRAL
R CHERRY
BC BOYCE
BC CUSHING
R FREMONT BLVD
L WARREN
R LAKEVIEW
L FREMONT BLVD
REGROUP PICNIC AREA
L FREMONT BLVD
L CUSHING
R BUNCHE
L BOSCELL
X AUTOMALL
REST STOP STARBUCKS
R BOSCELL
L STEWART
R BOYCE
BC CHERRY
L CENTRAL
R SYCAMORE
L JARVIS
L Gateway
R Thornton

L-left
R-right
X-cross
BC-becomes

This one goes up to Mission Coffee on Washington by Mission. There are bike lanes for you on most roads, but you still will be riding around traffic, which should help you get used to it. For this one, turn left onto Paseo Padre coming from Union City Blvd.

L PASEO PADRE
L ISHERWOOD
BC QUARRY LAKES
R OSPREY
R ALVARADO NILES
RS NILES BATHROOM
L NILES
R MISSION
R WASHINGTON
RS MISSION COFFEE
R WASHINGTON
R PASEO PADRE

RS-rest stop

There's a bathroom on the left side of the road in downtown Niles by the parking lot for the train station. Continue going the same direction that you were before on Niles, and following that it turns left under the railroad track and comes up to Mission. Just after you cross Stevenson on Mission it goes under a narrow railroad bridge. Time the gaps in traffic so you can move out and take the right lane while under the bridge. If you're nervous about that then just get on the sidewalk after crossing Stevenson and walk through the pedestrian tunnel to the other side of the tracks. It's also a narrow lane going over the bridge after turning onto Alvarado-Niles.

I recently rode the Bay Trail from Oakland to Fremont. I did a few side trips, like out to Eden and Edwards National Wildlife areas and then rode to BART to get back to Oakland (where I live). You could do the same, it's a very scenic ride and almost all of it bike trail on the Bay. Do you have EBBC maps? They're pretty handy to keep in your bag.

http://www.ebbc.org/?q=maps/map.html

Check this route that starts in front of Krispy Kreme. About 30 miles and you can add miles by going into the trail of Coyote Trail or Don Edwards park towards the foot of Dumbarton bridge.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Siclista-soup-4

or check this out:
http://bayinsider.ktvu.com/recreation/guides/biking/

thanks a lot for all the routes guys :thumb:. i usually start out from around the intersection of dyer and alvarado blvd.
ive been meaning to plan a route to automall for a while now, and that route is perfect, Dchiefransom. the reason i wanted to plan a route to automall is because my church is right next to city beach, so i've been wanting to bike there on sundays hahaha.

i went on calaveras rd. last weekend, turns out the climb was a lot steeper than i thought. definitely not doable with my 48/15 gearing. i did manage to make it about 1 mile past the alameda county line going southbound, even though i took a break every 5 minutes.. although i must say that with a fixed gear and 48/15 gearing, the downhill was a blast. its even more fun that driving it in my miata, which is something i never thought i would ever say.

I can see City Beach from my house :thumb: not really :)
That posted route is the default ride of the Siklista California (http://siclista.blogspot.com/) if no ride was posted for that weekend. I will change that route once the Warren/880 overpass is done and will most likely include the Kato Road loop to add more mileage. Check the blogsite once in a while and post up if you are up to the groups ride and I'll come out with my fixie (http://batillog.blogspot.com/2008/11/fixie-thing.html).

-jack

td.tony
the ride at Alvarado and Dyer with a roll time of 8:30am is set for tomorrow. I'll bring my fixie just in case you show up. If not, I'll use a geared bike. Hope to see you there by Krispy Kreme.

-jack

dang, wish i would have checked earlier haha. i've never been on a group ride before, ive been wanting to go on one. I also have a free wheel now.

t, it was a late decision to do the route. maybe next time.
if you can PM me your number, i'll give you a buzz next time we do a ride around Fremont.