I'm moving back to Berkeley in about two weeks, and I'm very excited to ride the hills again after an 8 month hiatus. I'm playing around with Bikely, and drew out a route I've been thinking about for a while, going to Castro Valley via Redwood road. The questionable part is how to meet up again with Skyline again; the way I've drawn it goes under the freeway and up MacArthur for a bit. I don't know the area well, so I was hoping somebody could tell me how this preliminary route plan looks. The part I'm unsure of is the whole segment from the Redwood->7 hills turn, to the right turn onto Golf Links from Caloden St.

Thanks!
https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...ro-Valley-loop

We did that ride a couple of times, but in the opposite direction. It's not bad, but you will be dealing with some urban-ish roads with lots of traffic. I think some others may have alternatives with less traffic.

JB

The Grizzly Peak Century basically does this section the other way around: going down Golf Links and then using the climb up to the Zoo and down to reach McArthur.
I think the streets you have planned to cut from McArthur to Golf Links are very steep hills. You might be better off following McArthur to 98th, and then to Golf Links.

i've also done this route in the opposite direction a couple times. difference was proctor (before 7 hills) to walnut to qual. ... i think you can also stay on macarthur w/out zigzagging.... you can also scoot thru the oakland zoo (and get a nice view from the top) and take a right at golf links rd. ... a lot a climbing to get back to skyline. i remember thinking "i wouldn't want to do this in reverse." ... traffic around macarthur wasn't bad the times i went thru there.

Ah, interesting, I hadn't thought about the direction I drew it. I think I'll make those modifications and plan to do it the direction everybody else seems to prefer.