gw_12

Thread Hijack...

Marco,

It's worth a trip back just for the Mt Lemmon ride. It's definitely in the top 3 of my riding experience.
You start in a desert with Saguaro cactus and almost 6,000 feet later you're at a ski resort. It would be a sweet tandem ride for you and Ruth.

-Glenn

x136 

Kings is a ****load of fun, of course. Also, Diablo Northgate, Morgan Territory, 84 between Alice's and the Pescadero turnoff, Pescadero itself heading West (haven't gone the other way), 1 between the end of Stage and the bottom of Tunitas. I haven't gone down Page Mill too much, but that seems like a good one.

The only time I can remember thinking that waking up at the bottom of a ditch was in my near future was descending OLH in the pouring rain with ineffective brakes. Though thanks to that experience, I now have a set of Kool-Stop pads ready to be installed.

gw_12

And +1 for Welch Creek and Morrison Canyon for bad descents. I almost had a head-on with a pick-up on Morrison Canyon.

superunleaded

Skyline to 92 is good one for me although I like Kings Mtn more.
+1 on the backside of Sierra Road, Mt Hamilton and North of Palomares.

jonathanb715

+1 = you forgot to mention that both are out and backs, so you have to climb the damn things first!

JB

Beaker

For me, Mt Diablo, either side comes top of the list. It's got everything, great pavement, moderate grade that means you don't use your brakes much, sweeping corners with good traction and it goes on for 11miles.

Locally, I'd agree with other's who've called out South Park in Tilden - that's my speed record descent - straight sections, good visibility, low traffic and no very tight turns.

Adding another into the mix is Shepherd's Canyon from the top of Pinehurst down to Montclair - after you get past the steep, twisty bits, it's a nice slingshot.


Least favourite - probably anything v steep and twisty - as much as I like climbing it, Lomas Cantadas is a gawdawful descent. The hardest I've ever had to grip my brakes. No fun.

Ygduf

I like very few descents due to major wimpness. 84 from skyline is fun. The descents last weekend around Tam were good. Montebello I like.

Pretty much, if it's not too steep with good sight-lines around corners I can enjoy it. Hairpins on the outside edge with big overlooks are not my favorite.

silentben

Am I the only one who has never descended OLH? It's right in my backyard but I've always thought of it as essentially a one way road

kb5ql

Stop rubbing it in our faces...



(jk)

kb5ql

Favorite: Page Mill
Least Favorite: Redwood Gulch/Moody Rd.

LouD-Reno

- My Bread and butter.... the west side of Monitor pass.... routinely touch 50 mph in spots....

- A new discovery last year... the ride down from the ski area on Mt. Shasta - long, sweeping curves, awesome !!!!

- For setting all out speed records.... coming down from Stampede Resevoir dam is hard to beat.....Steep (oh yeah!!!), relatively short, relatively straight, with an easy transition to a slight uphill at the bottom.... no need for brakes here....yeeoowww !!!! (although I experienced an extreme speed wobble here once at 50+mph.. didn't fall, but messed my speed descending up pretty good for a couple of years.... all better now though )

x136 

I think there's a pretty fair consensus here that you needn't bother.

RoboCheme

Redwood road going south into Castro Valley
South Park road in Tilden
Morgan Territory south into Dublin

Least favorite:
Wildcat Canyon to SPDR (tight, crappy surface, lots of cars(

msincredible

I actually prefer the eastbound descent a bit.

Not such a fan of this one, I hate scurrying across that narrow bridge at 30 mph (which is usually my speed at the bottom due to the wind).

You'd like 9 as well as Bonny Doon.

Nope never have either.

td.tony

Where did you get your kool-stop pads? I've looked at a few LBS around here and none of them carry the salmon kool-stop pads for some reason.

x136 

I'll have to figure out some kind of loop that incorporates it and give it a shot.

Yeah, I could do without the bridge, though it's usually pretty easy to take the lane and just blast across at 35-40 or so. I usually have a harder time slowing for the Tunitas turnoff right after.

Also on my list.

x136 

REI used to carry them, but I haven't seen them there in forever. I just threw them in the cart when I was ordering some stuff from Wiggle. $8-9 per set.

msincredible

Or join me on a ride from my place. You'll love the 2 miles of ~8-11% climbing with no warm-up.

I can't get going that fast, mebbe I need to pack more in my backpack to increase my momentum.

x136 

I always love that.

Store some big rocks in that open space on the corner of Stage and 1. Take a few each time, and deposit them at the bottom. Once in a while, do some hill repeats to take them back up.

RoboCheme

I just ordered some from Biketiresdirect.com. Good prices,but you have to pay a shipping fee.

Beaker

Slightly OT but I was looking for Kool Stops, but found it easier to get hold of Swiss Stop green pads - so threw two sets on my bike instead.

MarkoPolo

One of my favorites I haven't seen mentioned is Old Santa Cruz Highway from Summit down to Lexington Reservoir. It's got smooth pavement, some nice curves that require just a touch on the brakes and very little traffic.

Least favorites: Redwood Gulch and north-side Hicks Road - it's bad enough to climb, but the combination of potholes, loose gravel, a cattle-crossing and a hairpin turn at the bottom make the descent just plain scary.

DiabloScott

South Gate is a fun descent but there are a couple of really tight hairpins toward the bottom and there's no place where you can really let it go and get a high max speed. The last bend on North Gate you can rail at full speed, crank it up to 45+ and do the pro aero tuck for almost a mile (although I never do that sit on the top tube thing).

For speed records though, South Park in Tilden when it's closed to cars.

reidconti

I actually didn't mind the OLH descent, only been up/down it once, but it was kinda fun.

Around here, Hwy9 is just epic fun. The pavement is incredible, turns aren't too tight, just lots of fun. Traffic though, of course.
I also really dig Hamilton -- at least the top part, and then again the last thousand feet at the bottom.
Monitor is also fun, hit 53mph on the side on the way down to 395.

Least favorite? I don't enjoy Page Mill or Alpine.

ericm979

I like Page Mill. For some reason I don't like Kings that much now, but it used to be my descending practice road in the 80s. Diablo is fun. The challenge of Hamilton- avoiding the rocks and sand- make it interesting but the bumpy pavement gets wearing.

My all time favorite is Ebbets east. Good pavement, nice mix of hairpins and more gradual turns. It's not so fun during the Death Ride since there are too many other cyclists, but any other time it's a blast.