Northern California - Panoche Pass

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jonathanb715
03-29-09, 11:58 PM
I went down to near Hollister with some old friends to ride Panoche Pass. It's beautiful, with the wild flowers in bloom, lots of rolling hills and not much traffic. Plenty of wind, though!

Lots of rolling hills
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/jonathanb715/IMG_1390.jpg

Chatting with some folks from the Almaden Cycling Touring Club (or something like that):
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/jonathanb715/IMG_1392.jpg

Our turnaround point:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/jonathanb715/IMG_1393.jpg

We got to do a little climbing:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/jonathanb715/IMG_1404.jpg

The wildflowers were blooming:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/jonathanb715/IMG_1406.jpg

Aptly named Summit Ranch:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/jonathanb715/IMG_1408.jpg

Pretty nice place to ride!
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/jonathanb715/IMG_1411.jpg

A very pleasant and enjoyable ride. We went 55 miles with about 3,200 feet of climbing.

JB

arexjay
03-30-09, 12:56 AM
Is this where the Panoche Valley Road Race goes? Has anyone does this race before? How is it?
jonathanb715
03-30-09, 08:57 AM
Yes, it is. What we did is a bit shorter than the entire course, I believe. I'm not a racer, but it looks like a great place to have a race. The road does get a bit patchy in places, including on the steepest parts (it's an out and back, so you'd get to both climb and descend those parts). It was pretty windy yesterday, too, and that canyon acted like a pretty good wind tunnel - headwinds the whole way back.

It's only a 2 hour drive down there (not far from Hollister) so it's probably worth it to check it out yourself.

JB

pcrman
03-30-09, 11:14 AM
Wow, that brings back memories- I grew up in Hollister and spent a lot of time in those hills. Beautiful country, I think. Thanks for the pics! I have to get out of Sacramento and ride there.
silentben
03-30-09, 01:36 PM
Hey Jonathan, looks like you really got around this weekend between this and Mt. Vision. Looks like great cycling roads, thanks for the pics!
BigBlueToe
03-31-09, 09:03 AM
I've thought about taking that route as part of a tour around the state. Is there any place to buy groceries along the way? I was thinking about spending the night at the Pinnacles, and then heading east over Panoche Pass. I would need to buy some food somewhere. Thanks. Nice pictures. It looks like fun.
jonathanb715
03-31-09, 09:31 AM
I've thought about taking that route as part of a tour around the state. Is there any place to buy groceries along the way? I was thinking about spending the night at the Pinnacles, and then heading east over Panoche Pass. I would need to buy some food somewhere. Thanks. Nice pictures. It looks like fun.

At the corner of CA25 and Panoche Rd is a winery and a small grocery store. That's where we started. 27 miles to the east is the Panoche Inn. You wouldn't go grocery shopping there, but you can buy lunch, and they sell water and have bathrooms. Otherwise, just some ranches and random houses.

JB