San Jose is a big city with lots of congestion and traffic, so you want to start your ride as close to home as possible. If you live near Hamilton and don't have time to make it all the way to the top, you could do the Quimby-Clayton loop. Or Sierra-Felter-Calaveras. Farther south, there's Metcalf-San Felipe. On the west side of San Jose, there is Shannon-Kennedy-Hicks.