jeffy1021

Since I am getting off earlier than normal today, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some climbing in. Typically, if I ride home from work (or vice versa) I go through Alameda which is a good ride, but also completely flat. I was thinking of going Tunnel Rd -> Skyline -> Redwood Road. A friend told me that he doesn't recommend doing Redwood Road solo because of traffic and the possibility of cars not seeing you as they fly around the corners. I do have a bright tail light and a red top (not high vis though). The only other time I've done Redwood Road was on a weekday morning starting from CV. I only ended up doing about half of it before turning around and it didn't seem that bad. Any thoughts?

The Tank

I commute regularly on Redwood from Pinehurst into Castro Valley on weekday mornings. The traffic is actually fairly light and the roads have a decent width so cars usually pass with plenty of room. It shouldn't be any problem. Have fun!

jeffy1021

Thanks for the feedback. Do you know how the traffic is in the late afternoon / evening, say 5-6PM?

The Tank

Sorry, I only take the road in the mornings.

Beaker

I've only driven up Redwood once, but it was late afternoon on a weekday - I was taking a detour from the San Mateo bridge back up through Moraga. The road seemed pretty quiet to me, so I'm guessing you shouldn't have too much to worry about.

Dchiefransom

On descents you will be going faster than the cars can.

brentley

the tunnel to skyline to redwood loop is a frequent training ride for me.

1. at comute time home you will have some folks who want to go faster than 35 on the downhill but they are rare and usually pass pretty wide.
2. I cut off at pinehurst so I don't do the climbs on redwood but i bet it would have just as much light traffic.

hopefully you are logging in to say you were fine, had I read this earlier I would have said that I would ride a part of the ride with you.

powpow

No worries on Redwood Road. Light traffic, nice scenery, good climbs. It's one of my favorites.

jeffy1021

Well, you guys were right, the traffic was light and the scenery was nice.

I suck at climbing! I must have stopped about 6 times over the the 33 miles and 3300 feet of climbing to catch my breath, eat something, and drink water. I even cramped up once. Tunnel Road was actually not too steep for the most part, it's just kind of long. When I got to Broadway Terrace, I seriously contemplated going back down the hill and catching BART home. But I told myself, I'm not going to become a better climber by avoiding hills, so I rode on. My low gear is like 32 gear inches and my bike is about 20lb, so I pretty much have myself to blame. I've been trying to stay seated and keep my cadence up, but I think I just need more training to get better. I will probably ride hills again in smaller doses in the future, this was a bit much for a newbie climber.

brentley: good thing you didn't come with me. you would been like, this guy is a terrible climber =).

Oh, the whole ride took about 3 hours!

mwu

Wow, what a noob!

numnutz

Hey, 11mph with all those hills is nothing to be ashamed of. Keep up the good work!

Beaker

Nicely done, jeffy. We all started somewhere. For me it was conquering Mama bear on the 3bears loop 2 yrs back. Never looked back. Come join us on an East Bay hills jaunt sometime.

jeffy1021

One of these days! Judging by the ride reports and pictures I see posted, it seems like you guys have a blast. The scheduling never works out for me unfortunately.

brentley

I was a noob in 1982 but at this point I am all about participating and having fun.
Once you got to broadway terrace you had done the toughest part of the tunnel climb (it is easier to the top at grizzly).

it would have been fun. let me know if you are going to do this ride again.