+1 for a test run on a Sunday morning. not too early though like before sunrise cuz you'll have the up-all-night-still-intoxicated-drunk-drivers swirving home from a Saturday night of partying. I love Sunday mornings for test commutes.

I remember my first test ride on an old used steel road bike a couple summers ago (a step up from the used MTB I had been using). I couldn't make it the whole 17 mile way cuz I heard one of the tires popping threads! I was lucky to get home before the tube bulged too far through the sidewall.

BTW - using google terrain - it looks pretty level going through those valleys.