Oof. Berkeley Hills Are Steep.
 

I am house sitting in Berkeley for two weeks over the holidays, and knowing that I would be frequently dining with my Berkeley friends, I decided to bring my bike and ride in the hills every day, in hopes of making the holidays calorie-neutral.

I lived in Berkeley for years, but have been away for some time, and my memory of the Berkeley Hills was faulty. It is a lot steeper here than I remembered. I brought a road bike with a 53/39 and 12-21.

As a result, I am suffering. I can ride the north-south roads fine, but the east-west ones that climb straight up into the hills are tough. Yesterday I started at the Marin Circle and went up Los Angeles, Euclid, La Loma, Centennial and was trying to get to Grizzly Peak. I made it as far as Lawrence Hall of Science.

I even went to Missing Link in hopes of finding a different 7 speed freewheel for cheap, but they are closed for the holidays.

Well, lesson learned. Next time I come down here with a bike, it'll be a mountain bike or at least a road bike with a granny triple.

Tunnel Rd. might be your easiest option. It brings you up to Skyline from which you can reach the south end of Grizzly, head north and then return home via Marin.

Hell, when I lived in Berkeley, I used to do those hills with a backpack full of books and a triple cap from Cafe Roma in one hand and a Top Dog in the other. ;)

That's bit of a haul from Marin circle - I'd try Los Angeles and then take a left on Spruce and follow that all the way to the 5-way intersection with grizzly peak and wildcat.

Try mikes bike down the street see if they are open. Also as others said, tunnel is the easiest way out of Berkeley. All others are kind of steep.

Spruce or Tunnel or Euclid are your obvious choices. Maybe Shasta but that's borderline. Centennial, Claremont, South Park, Lomas Cantadas should probably be off your list, though I don't think any of those really requires a MTB or granny triple.

BTW, here are my measurements for average gradient over the entirety of a climb:

[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]Marin: Arlington Circle to Grizzly Peak Blvd.
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]680' in 0.75 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]17.2% average grade[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Moeser: Ashbury to Arlington[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]650' in 1.0 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]12.4%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Centennial: Haas Clubhouse to Lawrence Hall of Science[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]700' in 1.10 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]12.0%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Lomas Cantados: Vista del Orinda-El Toyonal to top[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]600' in 1.05 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]10.8%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]South Park: Wildcat to Grizzly Peak Blvd.[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]700' in 1.41 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]9.5%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]McEwen: Carquinez Scenic Dr to top (not Hwy 4)
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]525' in 1.12 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]8.9%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Claremont: Russell to Grizzly Peak Blvd.
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]900' in 2.02 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]8.5%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Shasta Rd: Tamalpais Rd to Grizzly Peak Blvd.
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]490' in 1.13 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]8.2%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Joaquin Miller: Mountain Blvd to Skyline Blvd
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]470' in 1.20 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]7.4%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pinehurst: hairpin to Skyline Blvd.
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]400' in 1.27 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]5.8%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Spruce: Rose to Grizzly Peak Blvd.
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]500' in 1.71 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]5.6%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mt. Diablo: Athenian School to Summit
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]3365' in 11.37 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]5.6%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tunnel: hydrant XIII to Grizzly Peak Blvd.
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]750' in 3.00 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]4.7%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wildcat: San Pablo Dam Rd. to Inspiration Pt.
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]600' in 2.42 miles[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]4.7%[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Is there anything you DON'T have data on? I just barely got through the power meter thread...

Well, you can see why I generally try to keep my posts to a sentence or two.

nah man type on… just spill it

Thanks! Interesting data.

If only I had a few more cog teeth, or several fewer pounds, or . . .