Originally Posted by
jinws
And by HTFU, I'm sure he meant you should try Sierra road, or maybe Tunitas. You my friend are surrounded by some great climbs, it's good to be in the South bay.
Sierra rd off of Piedmont in North San Jose? It looks intriguing, I shall try it sometime, it also sounds like a much more reasonable grade. I have no idea where Tunitas is. I must get permission from the wife to let me do rides other than commutes to work
Originally Posted by
weavers
how funny, i live in the same area, cupertino and i ride 53/39 with a 12/25 in the back. i can get up mt. eden just fine. i might have to stop cause my heart is beating so hard i can't breath, but i see no reason to walk. i mean i'm an amateur. then again i'm 22, a dance teacher and in good shape.
but i know i can't get up Montebello Rd with 39/25. where is the 17% grade? i really need to spend the money on a compact crank, and someday a wider cassete, i'd just hate to lose the cadence on an 8 speed. someday i'll go up Mt Hamilton.
Indeed, same here, I'm 30 now, used to mountain bike a lot when I was 22-25, stopped riding for a while until this year--20%+ used to seem so easy with the 22t granny
(even though I was going something like 2mph)--see below for information on Toll Gate rd. Same here, I won't walk, but I do have to *stop*.
Originally Posted by
Scorer75
Or, you could get a compact.
Or, swap the cassette for one with a 27 or 28.
Me cheap, no spend mo' money. $2k for the bike was enough!
Originally Posted by
Bostic
You went right by 6th street which leads to the toughest climb in the area, Bohlman & On Orbit. A good reference is cycling.stanford.edu and
http://www.actc.org/billygoats/bgoats.php. Yesterday we did a ride that included the ring of fire from the PA bikes website.
Yeah, I saw Bohlman and On Orbit mentioned in that Susan's D-ride bike route I linked, >20% grades!!
I also just found
http://cycling.stanford.edu/
Tollgate Rd Tollgate Rd runs between Saratoga Heights Rd (off Pierce) and Congress Springs Rd (aka Hwy 9) or vice versa. Consider Saratoga Heights and Tollgate as one. Each direction starts with a climb, much more strenuous in the reverse direction, a wall really, 16-17% for about 200 meters. The pavement is smooth, surrounding mansions and vistas are enjoyable, a welcome diversion from standard routes overall.