Northern California - Santa Clara it is

So after some very intense debating and evaluating I chose a summer job in Santa Clara. The location is near Mission College. Now I need to find a place that strikes a balance between closeness to work and ability to get a heck out of Santa Clara suburbs with minimum delay for training rides. Any recommendations? he he. I am guessing somewhere with short access to Foothill expressway for riding, and El Camino/San Thomas for commuting to work.

UD

There are no good bicycling roads in Santa Clara. In fact, Santa Clara may be the worst city in Silicon Valley for bicycling. The whole "city" is a big sprawl of industrial parks, housing subdivisions, and congested highways.

Maybe you can find an apartment in Milpitas or north San Jose and take the VTA light rail to work. Milpitas is close to some good cycling roads like Mt. Hamilton, Sierra Rd, and Calaveras.

Cupertino is also near Santa Clara and Cupertino has some great cycling roads like Montebello. Cupertino has worse public transit options, but maybe you can find a decent bicycle commute route.

I recently starting working in Santa Clara, I agree with johnny99.

Yeah tell me about it. When I used to work there, I did laps around an industrial park by Yahoo/Mofitt field during a week. On a bright side I lived right near my work.

UD

Live in San Bruno and we can do laps around the Bayhill business park after hours. I tried to get Lorri to promote a (twilight?) crit around the .9 mile loop. Then if pelikan moves here we could start our own little regular ride.

Live in San Bruno and we can do laps around the Bayhill business park after hours. I tried to get Lorri to promote a (twilight?) crit around the .9 mile loop. Then if pelikan moves here we could start our own little regular ride.

Sounds tempting, but I don't think I want to do that commute daily. Even on a motorcycle. :)

The crappy santa clara reports seem to be all about the northern part of town, where the tech parks are. The area around SCU, in the attached pic, is not like that at all; it's got a nice neighborhood feel, college-centric nightlife/shops and close access to caltrain. Plus there are lots of rentals because of the student population. To get over to decent riding from there you could either take caltrain up the peninsula or hop on Central Expy to Fair Oaks, Fremont Blvd to Foothill.

I live in Campbell and worked on Mission College Blvd for years. I cut my bike commuter teeth on San Tomas Expressway which is actually pretty decent riding w/ lots of other bikers to trade pulls with. So you might look down the San Tomas corridor for someplace to live too.

Just my $.02

You can do the Lunch Ride.

What is a lunch ride?

If you're ever riding down Newhall between Winchester and Monroe and see an ugly old broke-down mailman in the morning, wave as you go by. Shaw's is in Santa Clara, a good bike shop and he has rides that start out of there. I don't see them leaving, but I see them coming back as they cruise by.

The "Alviso" Ride. This ride leaves at 12:00 sharp on Tuesdays and Thursdays from the Santa Clara Golf Course parking lot. Depending upon conditions, the ride will either do a 3 laps around Alviso with a sprint near the end of each lap or it will be a simulated criterium in a nearby parking lot. Each ride is approximately 20 miles and both are fast.

Welcome to the hood. enjoy your stay here.

I cut my bike commuter teeth on San Tomas Expressway which is actually pretty decent riding w/ lots of other bikers to trade pulls with. So you might look down the San Tomas corridor for someplace to live too.

I live near San Jose City College and when I worked in Santa Clara (near Sun Microsystems and Rivermark), my preferred route was Lafayette St. While San Tomas was a possible route, I preferred the lower speed limits going up residental streets.

Going north from San Jose towards Santa Clara, I would take Bascom Ave., which becomes Washington St. for a block or two, before turning into Lafayette St. The route passes Shaws' Cycles and Santa Clara University.

On a slightly tangential note, I highly recommend Taqueria Cazadores (http://www.yelp.com/biz/taqueria-cazadores-santa-clara) on Lafayette St., just south of Montague Expressway, behind the Shell station. Their super enchilada with the green sauce is delicious.

I live near San Jose City College and when I worked in Santa Clara (near Sun Microsystems and Rivermark), my preferred route was Lafayette St. While San Tomas was a possible route, I preferred the lower speed limits going up residental streets.

Going north from San Jose towards Santa Clara, I would take Bascom Ave., which becomes Washington St. for a block or two, before turning into Lafayette St. The route passes Shaws' Cycles and Santa Clara University.

On a slightly tangential note, I highly recommend Taqueria Cazadores (http://www.yelp.com/biz/taqueria-cazadores-santa-clara) on Lafayette St., just south of Montague Expressway, behind the Shell station. Their super enchilada with the green sauce is delicious.

Hmmm, I wonder if I've ever delivered your mail.