Best Descents of NorCal?
 

What are your favorite roads to descend on, and what are your least favorite?

My favorite: Kings mountain road

Least favorite: Quimby road

I haven't tried Mt. Diablo yet, but Mt. Hamilton was pretty fun since the descent goes on for so long. I still like Kings mountain road because of its turns and steepness, just perfect for my skill level right now. Quimby road is still way too steep for me, and the pavement is sketchy in a lot of parts.

Least: OLH
Most: I think it's called Pine Flat, but not that Pine Flat. The descent for Ross Hllclimb http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...e/664914375985

There's so much I have not seen in the bay. But my favorite so far is Diablo down South Gate. Hamilton (front side) doesn't do it for me... at all.

Some of my favorite peninsula descents:

- Kings Mountain
- Skyline from Bear Gulch to Alice's
- Page Mill
- Hwy 9
- Pine Flat (the other one) / Bonny Doon
- Edgewood Rd from 280 to Alameda

Some of my favorite Bay Area descents:

- Bear Creek Road south from Papa Bear
- Wildcat Canyon from Tilden to San Pablo Dam Road
- Redwood from Skyline to Pinehurst

Least Favorite:

- Niles Canyon (is that a descent? whatever - I hate it anyway)

South Park in Berkeley. Fun.

Page Mill is pretty thrilling.

In addition to the ones mentioned above I'd like to submit the down-hill portion of Morgan Territory - that was a fun one for me. :)

One that stands out in my mind as one of the best ones is Monitor down to 395. I think it also stands out as one of the worst because it was during the DR, and I knew I'd have to climb back up.

In the SFBA, I think Page Mill is really a nice descent on many levels; on Hamilton, only the first part coming off the top to the bridge, and 9 would be OK too, if there were no other traffic.

Not really thrilling, but technical enough to test your braking skills: Snake Rd in Montclair.

I like 84 from Skylonda to Woodside, but then I'm a chicken descender. I also like 84 going West from Skylonda to Pescadero Road - no brakes, just speed.

Kings is nice but I worry about the cars coming up passing cyclists.

OLH just plain sucks - I've descended it three times - the first two times I tried to climb it, and didn't realize how close I was to the top, and once when I overheated and nearly passed out halfway up. I wouldn't go down that road unless I had to.

Page Mill scares me - too many tight off-camber turns.

Mt Hamilton was surprisingly little fun, but then I was descending it in a cold fog, the road was wet, and there was sand on the road at every turn.

But the highest speed I've ever attained on a bike was 45 mph on the Alameda de las Pulgas, just north of 92, passing Aragon High School. Lucky for me, the light at the bottom stayed green.

I like Page Mill and Kings Mountain.
Least favorite is OLH. It might also has something to do with me nearly getting killed there, and on another occasion destroying my bike...

Here's how much I hate descending OLH - back about 10 years ago, I was climbing West OLH when an attractive young woman caught up with me, and we rode to the top together. She was dressed in full pro kit, so I stole a peak at the name on her toptube. Shari Kain.

SHARI KAIN! TWO TIME NATIONAL CYCLOCROSS CHAMP! And she was riding at MY PACE! I can only assume she was on the slowest of recovery rides, or having a really, really bad day!

We get to the top, and she says she's going down OLH. I hate that descent SO MUCH, I said no and took 35 to 84.

THAT is how bad OLH is to descend.

For a simple, pure-speed run try Evora Rd going east toward Pittsburg/Baypoint in Contra Costa.
From the top of the Willow Pass Grade on down.

I hit 53.2 MPH down that on Saturday. It is so long and straight it is like cycling down a ski run.
Pavement is really nice eastbound. Climb it from the west, descend it headed East.
The pavement on the climb side (West Side) is not so hot. I would not descend that direction plus the sun would be in your eyes.

Forgot to mention, I enjoy descending both sides of Haskins Hill on Pescadero Rd (good thing as it is now my backyard). :p

:lol: :lol:

One of my most favorite is from the top of Sierra Rd down Felter/Calaveras - one of my least favorite is from the top of Sierra Rd down Sierra Rd.

Other favorites -
Final descent of Mines Rd down to Livermore
Diablo - either side with a slight preference to Northgate
North Side of Palomares Rd
South side of Morgan Territory Rd
Patterson Pass heading east
Corral Hollow heading east
Vasco Rd into Brentwood
Page Mill
Hwy 9
Felton Empire Rd

(Eastern Sierra Nevada)
Horseshoe Meadows Rd
Onion Valley Rd
Lee Vining Scenic Byway (120 from Tioga Pass to Mono Lake)
Monitor Pass - both sides
Carson Pass to Woodfords (personal top speed)

BTW, it's not in Nor Cal, but if you ever get the chance to climb and descend Mt Lemmon in Tucson Az, don't pass it up. The main climb is 24 miles with moderate grades. That means 24 mile of "no brakes" descent on the way back down.

Closed road above Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands: Crummy pavement, not all that steep, but a nice view.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1309/...7fc7d8bb_o.jpg

Fave : Mount Diablo Top to South Gate (apart from the last bit)

Heavenly descent after they repaved it. If only they would sort out that last bit through the houses.

Least fave : Mount Hamilton

Bumpy, Bumpy, Bumpy, gravely and slow traffic.

You can hit nearly 60MPH down Altamont Pass if you want pure wind assisted speed :-)

Done it several times.

Mt. Tam after the seven sisters
Edgewood Rd.
The short Camino Alto descent going north in Marin

My favorite longer descents are Page Mill Road and Kings Mountain Road.
Fastest descent is Los Trancos Road in Portola Valley.
Mt. Hamilton would be OK if it did not have those 2 climbs during the "descent".

I used to live there (when I went to UofA). I'm sad I wasn't serious into riding back then :(

+1 for the north side of Palomares Rd. :thumb:


There are only a few descents that I really dislike ...

Welch Creek Road (off Calaveras Rd near Sunol) and Morrison Canyon Road (off Mission Blvd in Fremont) probably top that list. Too steep to be enjoyable, and bad sightlines.

I guess the Tahoe area is considered part of NorCal. So my vote goes to Monitor Pass for good visibility, good road surface, wide turns allowing keeping high speeds for long periods, and awesome views.

Most favorite:
* Claremont in Berkeley -- has it all
* South Park Drive -- if only it were longer
* Route 9 -- near perfect except for the high chance of getting killed by a car someday
* To the dam in Fairfax (not sure the name) -- great turns
* Highway 1 coming out of Crescent City -- long, straight, great pavement

Least favorite:
* OLH -- fractured collarbone
* Anything in Marin on a sunny Sunday when the idiots come out to play in their cars