9/20 East Bay Hills Ride
 

My turn to host a ride.

It is quite scenic on low traffic roads. Highlights will be riding thru Canyon under the redwoods, climbing Pinehurst to Skyline (short but steep) and Grizzly Peak, the views from the top of the Oakland/Berkeley Hills, plunging down Wildcat Canyon, the 3 Bears, and the nasty climb on Rheem at the end of the ride. Total mileage is around 53 miles for 4,700 feet of climbing.

Start at Lafayette BART station @ 7:30. (or a bit later if more convenient).

Route:
South on Moraga Rd. and St. Mary's Road to downtown Moraga and Pinehurst.
Northwest on Pinehurst under the redwood forest thru Canyon and up to Skyline over Oakland.
North on Skyline, then Grizzly Peak over Berkeley.
East on Shasta Road and East Park Drive thru Tilden Park.
East on Wildcat Canyon down to the San Pablo Reservoir.
Northwest on San Pablo Dam Road.
North on Castro Ranch Road.
East on Alhambra Valley Road.
South on Bear Creek Road, up the 3 Bears and back to Wildcat/San Pablo Dam intersection.
South on Camino Pablo Road thru Orinda.
South on Moraga Way.
Northeast on Glorietta.
East on Rheem with a nasty short hill and a steeper descent on the other side.
North on Moraga Road back to Lafayette.

After ride gathering in downtown Lafayette, plenty of places to choose from, I am thinking about Papillion on the plaza just across Sharp Bicycles.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...heem-Lafayette


IN:
beaker
brentley
BlastRadius
gpelpel
Houdini (a.k.a. taxi777)
Lanceoldstrong
pohlf ???
ROJA

So Far I'm in! It will be nice to ride with you George...I'm getting bored with the W. Bay climbs, need a break.
Hope you get a big turnout.
Pete

That's a little early, but it could be done if SF folks catch the second train at 6:51 (civic center).

http://www.bart.gov/schedules/quickp...time=6%3a31+AM

Start time could be a bit later, 8 or 8:30 if more convenient.

Love riding in this area.

Unfortunately, I'll be in Oregon during this time.

Great ride, but I won't be making it - we've got not 1, not 2 but 3 soccer games that day!

JB

Not to take away from this ride for those in the Bay area, those that are a little closer to Sac, we have a scheduled laid-back style ARBT ride also on that date. See post: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=443363

Don't know how I missed this post -- thanks Pete and co. for pointing this out to me today. I'm in.

Good deal, see you there!

I will try to make it- sounds like a good ride.

UPDATE: Still hoping to make it, but not 100%.

I just realized the ride is the same weekend as the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival. So there will be a lot of activities in Lafayette at the end of the ride. Sharp Bicycle usually has an outdoor display with free bike adjustments and discounted goods, there will be some wine testing, all within feet from the cae I was planning us to relax.

This is the same weekend as my Church Festival weekend. With the 7:30 start, I may still make this ride and be back in time for the Festival. :)

Totally In on this one.
 

I am totally in.
Heck, that is my back yard. I look forward to it.

Great route, thanks for putting this together.

If anyone is looking for a ride in the area this weekend, I am thinking about checking out GPC's ASSR on Saturday. Details at http://grizzlypeakcyclists.org/rides/current.html. I will probably go for the 55- or 65-mile option.

Definitely considering it. I'll be just back from Vegas, and need to check out the east bay a bit.

Normally I'd be in, but I have to drop off my son at his school in San Diego that weekend. Moraga Rd. north to Lafayette? A little too busy for me, especially with the torn up road near Campo.

Sounds like the St Mary's Road detour would take care of that? It's been a few weeks since I rode down there, but I think that avoids all the roadworks.

From the Rheem/Moraga Rd. intersection to Lafayette the road work is now limited to 2 small spots. One is about 100 yards long just off the intersection and the second about 100 yards at the top of the hill. Both are small detours around the work areas on good pavement. The descent to Lafayette has been resurfaced (not final yet) and is actually smoother than it used to be before the work.
So I wouldn't be concerned by these and we still have the option of continuing on Rheem until St. Mary's Rd. if we prefer but it will involve a nasty additional climb, not long but steep at the end.
For the very tired legs there's also the option of riding to the end of Glorietta until Lafayette avoiding all Rheem climbs.

I hear you on that one. Glorietta is my usual way back to Lafayette when I ride out that way. I like the corkscrew descent. I attached an elevation profile for Glorietta from Moraga Way to Mt. Diablo Blvd.

Also then we can hammer down Mt. Diablo Blvd past the resevoir, it is a fast run into town.

But I am up for whatever.

Actually, it was the amount of traffic on Moraga Rd. that concerned me. I shouldn't have mentioned the torn up road. But it doesn't matter since I won't be there.

Have a good time and be safe.

If you are running a late you still have the option to bail out at the Orinda BART station cutting the ride by about 8 miles.

What will the overall average speed for this one be?

Brentley,

Come on out and ride with us, I am pretty big at 6ft. 194lbs so I don't climb like a speedy Europro but there will be others there that I am sure are some kind of mutants they climb so fast. We all find our own pace.

My experience with casual group rides is that they usually string out into 3 groups after a few miles.

The rabbits out in front somewhere around 20 MPH, the pluggers like me in the middle averaging 15 MPH, the caboose group brings up the rear a their customary relaxed pace. (note all this is on the flats - not climbing)

All 3 groups re-group periodically at summits, crossroads and rest points.

I hope I see you there!

It will be a no-drop, social ride. We will have several rendez-vous points (viewpoints, water refill).

Stop ideas:
- Top of Pinehurst to take a breather.
- Top of Grizzly Peak to enjoy the view (pictures).
- Inspiration Point on Wildcat (water and view).
- Briones Park Entrance (water, restroom).
- May be Orinda Village.
- Corner of Rheem and Moraga Rd for last regroup before the descent to Lafayette.

d'oh, this month's autocross got rescheduled to 9/20... won't make it :-/