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12-16-08, 01:53 PM
For anyone who has ever ridden past the signs for Star Hill, Swett, or Bear Gulch roads without exploring them because they're dead-ends, well now is the time! I tentatively planned this for Saturday January 10th to try and not conflict with holiday plans.
This very hilly route does 3 major dead ends, a couple minor ones, and one optional short but oh so steep dead end climb at the end of the ride for the masochists in the group :D
Bikely route here (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Woodside-Deadends)
The ride starts in Woodside and heads north on Canada road for a quick visit to Runnymede road which turns into Raymundo Dr. Raymundo has a small hill and this should be a good way to get the legs warmed up before tackling the first climb of the day, Kings Mountain road.
Once cresting the top of Kings, the ride crosses Skyline and descends Tunitas Creek for just a mile or so before turning left on Star Hill. We'll take both Star Hill and Native Sons roads down to their respective gates and then turn around and climb back up again. Imagine these roads to be like Tunitas Creek but smoother, narrower, and with even less traffic.
Then it's back up to Skyline and south for a couple miles to the next descent which is Bear Gulch road which was featured in the recent Low Key hill climb series. Descending, it starts out at a mild grade until pitching down very steeply until you hit the gate at Neil Young's property. Unlike the redwood shrouded Star Hill and Native Sons, Bear Gulch gets out in the open and can have amazing views of the ocean. On the climb back up to Skyline, there is a minor detour onto another dead end, Allen road, which only involves 200 feet of elevation change, a welcome relief.
Finally, we'll come down East Hwy 84 to complete the loop. Anyone who still wants more climbing can head over to Summit Springs road for an average of 13.3% of fun. Pastries and coffee at Woodside bakery :)
The stats on bikely are 44 miles and 6800 feet of climbing. But since this is basically a small loop with several spurs, you could easily reduce the climbing by just eliminating one of the spurs or only going part way on it.
This very hilly route does 3 major dead ends, a couple minor ones, and one optional short but oh so steep dead end climb at the end of the ride for the masochists in the group :D
Bikely route here (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Woodside-Deadends)
The ride starts in Woodside and heads north on Canada road for a quick visit to Runnymede road which turns into Raymundo Dr. Raymundo has a small hill and this should be a good way to get the legs warmed up before tackling the first climb of the day, Kings Mountain road.
Once cresting the top of Kings, the ride crosses Skyline and descends Tunitas Creek for just a mile or so before turning left on Star Hill. We'll take both Star Hill and Native Sons roads down to their respective gates and then turn around and climb back up again. Imagine these roads to be like Tunitas Creek but smoother, narrower, and with even less traffic.
Then it's back up to Skyline and south for a couple miles to the next descent which is Bear Gulch road which was featured in the recent Low Key hill climb series. Descending, it starts out at a mild grade until pitching down very steeply until you hit the gate at Neil Young's property. Unlike the redwood shrouded Star Hill and Native Sons, Bear Gulch gets out in the open and can have amazing views of the ocean. On the climb back up to Skyline, there is a minor detour onto another dead end, Allen road, which only involves 200 feet of elevation change, a welcome relief.
Finally, we'll come down East Hwy 84 to complete the loop. Anyone who still wants more climbing can head over to Summit Springs road for an average of 13.3% of fun. Pastries and coffee at Woodside bakery :)
The stats on bikely are 44 miles and 6800 feet of climbing. But since this is basically a small loop with several spurs, you could easily reduce the climbing by just eliminating one of the spurs or only going part way on it.