Originally Posted by
prototoast
You are in luck. You basically live in the greatest cycling location in the country, as long as you've got the legs for it (lots of climbing). Just ride straight towards the coast, and voila. The only problem is a lot of the glorious, glorious fire roads in Woodside aren't bike legal.
For a few starter rides, I'd recommend:
1) up Kings Mtn Rd (paved), and then descend Purissima Creek Trail. Have some fun in Half Moon Bay, then return.
2) up Alpine to dirt Alpine, then from there you (a) hit Russian Ridge with tons of trails there, or (b) descend Stevens Creek Trail or (c) descend West Alpine to Portola Redwood State Park and Old Haul Rd
Basically, everything between 280 and Highway 1 is a cyclists paradise, and there are countless ways paved and non-paved routes can be wound together. I recommend the following reading to give you some good ideas:
Cool, thanks for the recommendations. I'll need to get in shape to tackle those hills! I've been out on the Russian Ridge Trail a few times with my mountain bike. It's gorgeous up there.
That book looks really helpful too, I'll have to check it out.