Originally Posted by sstorkel

I live in the area and ride many of these roads frequently. When you get to Woodside Rd., I'd suggest taking either Whiskey Hill Road or Mountain Home Road to Sand Hill Road which quickly changes name to Portola Rd. Climb Old LaHonda Rd. toward Skyline Blvd. The climb is around 3.2mi and averages 7-8%, with a couple of steeper sections. The road is narrow and winding, but there is little car traffic.

Cross Skyline and descend Old LaHonda Rd. until it merges with Highway 84/LaHonda Rd. LaHonda Rd often has no shoulder and there can be a decent amount of car and motorcycle traffic, especially on weekends. Because of the car traffic, I generally try to get off it as soon as possible. If your goal is to head south, consider turning left onto Pescadero Rd. just after the Apple Jacks biker bar.

Fair warning: Pescadero road is steep in places, but there's very little car traffic. It's pretty popular with motorcyclists on the weekend, however. Follow Pescadero Rd. into the town of Pescadero (@ the junction with Stage Rd). Have lunch at Duarte's Tavern or the Arcangeli Bakery. The bakery has a nice picnic area hidden behind the store. Their home-made artichoke garlic bread is great! Duarte's looks like a dive, but they have great soup and pies.

When you're done with lunch, take Cloverdale Rd. to Gazos Creek Rd. until you join up with Highway 1. If you don't plan to have lunch in the town of Pescadero, you can take the Butano Cutoff to save yourself a little bit of riding.



It's been a long time since I've ridden in that area, but I don't remember any specific prohibition against riding across the dam. There's not a bike lane, but not a lot of traffic, either. If you run into trouble, take Crystal Springs Rd. east, then follow Polhemus Rd. southeast. Just after Polhemus crosses Highway 92, you can take the Ralston Ave. Bike Trail over to Caņada Rd.