I just moved to San Jose recently, and I'm looking for some good places to ride. Any tips on some good routes?

Also, know of any group rides in the area?

*edit* Should specify, I'm looking for road routes.

Thanks!

Didn't say what kind of ride... start at the Hellyer Velodrome, there are trails leading away north and south....

Highway 9 up through Saratoga and explore...

Mt. Hamilton and points east...

Coyote Reservoir and points SW...

KeS

Best ride within the city limits is Mt. Hamilton.

Mt. Hamilton is actually IN San Jose? I would never have thought that.

KeS

What kind of routes do you want to ride? Hilly? Flat? Coastal?

How many miles?

The Western Wheelmen and ACTC have rides almost every day, at a variety of speeds, distance, and verticality.

Anywhere. Just go.

That's what I've been doing, but having to stop every 30 seconds at an intersection gets old. I guess I'm looking for the best way to escape the city.

As for distance, 20-30 miles would be nice. I'm up for whatever kind of terrain, flat would be nice, but hilly could be better training.

I'll definitely check out those groups.

Thanks for the help!

Whether you go east, west, or south to leave civilization quicker depends on what part of town you are in.

I prefer to go west/south towards Santa Cruz because of the greenery.

One of my favorite "easy" rides in SJ is the Sierra/Felter/Calaveras loop. If you're feeling up to tackling a rough climb, then get to Sierra Rd. (about 5 miles from downtown) climb to the top, and then just take it all the way down. Sierra becomes Felter, Felter becomes Calaveras, and then Calaveras spits you out in Milpitas. From there, take Piedmont back into SJ (I think about four miles from the base of Sierra). If you want to ride, but don't want to deal with the grueling hill that is Sierra Rd, then just do this in reverse. It's a really great 30ish mile ride (depending on your starting point) ideal for weekdays when you don't have much time. For longer rides do MT. Hamilton, Portola Valley, Hicks Rd. One of the cool things about SJ is you can just point your bike in the direction of the hills (which wholly surround the area) and ride, and you'll find a decent road ride.

Take Almaden Expy out towards Harry Rd, then turn left on to McKean. You can take that all the way down to 152 West, if you like, or you can cut over at Bailey Ave (just past Calero Reservoir) and take Santa Teresa back to Almaden.

Alternately, there's Hicks, Shannon and Kennedy Roads that wind you through the Los Gatos hills, which are good rides. Hilly, but good.

hahaha i know the feeling.

SJFixed has some rides and is a good resource for riders in downtown San Jose and surrounding areas. they are down with all bikes, not just fixed. They do rides on tuesdays which are 20-30 miles and are pretty fast paced if you're looking for that

www.sjfixed.org