FrenchFit 

Question: I've been riding this route solo for years but gave the Collier Canyon/Livermore route up when the Isabel-84 construction began. How do you all navigate Isabel through all that construction..does the group just take the lane?

Beaker

The groups I've been in tended to solo up or maybe go two abreast, but not really taking the lane, I think you want to let cars past on that stretch. It wasn't too bad, and the group rides fast enough that the construction doesn't last that long. I felt safer in a group of 50+ than if I were riding it solo, cars tend to give the group a little more room IMO.

therealemoney

If one was coming from Livermore, and wanted to latch on around tassajara and highland what time would you shoot for? Don't want to drive up to danville for the start...

BenRidin

Jeeese...instead of driving to the start, why can't you ride your bike over to Danville. Trust me, your legs will welcome the warm up and then the warm down back home...

therealemoney

Not looking to put in 90+ miles...22 miles there, 22 miles back plus a 50 mile ride? Just want to spend 2-2.5 hours on the bike. Although a solo ride there, and group ride back into Livermore seems do-able...

Beaker

I'd say between 25 and 30mins after leaving Danville Peet's is a good guesstimate, depending upon the group. One thing to bear in mind is that you would effectively have missed out on the warmup part of the ride and when the group turns onto highland you should be ready for the hammer to be dropped.

sdgrannygear

Can anyone compare this to the other local rides, say spectrum ride in terms of difficulty?

therealemoney

So I rode from Peet's in downtown Livermore, and caught on with the fast group about 9:40 at Camino Tassajara and highland. I had decent warmup time, but I didn't get any hard efforts in during the warmup, so I got dropped thru the rollers when they dropped the hammer. I rode for a ways with someone else who got dropped. We latched back on when we cut thru Concannon to Isabel/84. Then I got dropped again near the end of Collier Canyon, turned right on Highland and headed back to Livermore. About 3 hours ride time and 52 miles, which is what I was shooting for...Need to stay attached a little longer next time

That's a fast group of dudes!

Beaker

Nice - sounds like you latched onto the regular HoP group, "need to stay attached longer next time"....sounds familiar