Calling all Marin County Hill-climbers

[ericmurphy]

Does anyone have a good source of grade info for the hills in southern and western Marin? I'm specifically thinking of the hills around Mt. Tam, like Panoramic Highway, the East Peak, Ridgecrest Blvd., etc. I do a lot of riding around there, and I'd like to get some idea of the elevation gains and the grade percentages in the area.

A free Clif Bar to the first response from soneone who actually rides regularly in Marin. :-)

[MarinRider]

I think I qualify for this as I ride up to Tam at least 3 times a week.

Up to East Peak from Fairfax via Bolina Fairfax and Ridgecrest is 20 miles and 3300 feet. The most consistent climbing part is on Bolina Fairfax from Alpine Dam that climbs 950 feet in 2.2 miles at 7% average.

From Stinson Beach to East Peak is the most steady consistent road at 7.8 miles and 3100 feet. 6-7% average.

Other options? Climbing from coast side of Bolina Fairfax to Ridgecrest is 4.5 miles and almost 2000 feet. The first 2.5km is the steepest at 8-9%. This is the route of the Tam Hill Climb race in the fall.

Anything else you wanna know?

[SteveE]

by Grant Petersen, along with Roads to Ride South are the best books for cyclists in the Bay Area. The first book, Roads to Ride, covers Alameda. Contra Costa, and Marin counties. Roads to Ride South covers San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties. Most of the road commonly used by cyclists are covered in these two books. The book is organized by county. There is an overview map of the described roads. Within county the roads are in alphabetical order. Each road includes a short text description, a road elevation profile, and mileage. Extended gradients in excess of 5.5% are highlighted. Important cross streets and intersections are annotated on the road profile, enabling the reader to put together his/her own route.

Unfortunately, these books are out of print. I found my copies at a used bookstore in Mountain View. They wer published by Heyday Books of Berkeley, California in 1984 and 1985. ISBN 0-930588-07-x and 0-930588-17-7.

Also, the KLIMB.EXE program, (available for free at www.klimb.org), allows the user to interactively put together a route and keep track of the distance and elevation gain for the route. The elevation profile is only gross ascending or descending between two nodes/intersections. It doesn't help you to determine the steepest sections of a climb. Nice software, though.

[weisan]

ericmurphy,

If you like to play with numbers on grades and gradients, I have a new toy for you.
It's the Ciclosport CM 434 computer that comes with an altimeter.
http://www.xxcycle.com/cgi-bin/shop.pl?Screen=detail&REF=1390&FROM=froogle

I got it a month ago, and the two screens I used the most are the % grade and power wattage output. ; )
I don't think the readings are super accurate to the point that they can be used as the official numbers, but they should be close and do give you a fairly good idea of the terrain you are riding on.

weisan

[ericmurphy]

I think I qualify for this as I ride up to Tam at least 3 times a week...Anything else you wanna know?

Looks like you get the Clif Bar!

Yeah, a couple of hills. Elevation/slope on Bolinas Fairfax from Fairfax center to the peak just past the golf course? Elevation/slope from Stinson Beach to Pan Toll Station via Panoramic Highway? I know the elevation at the intersection of Pan Toll and Ridgecrest is 1,940, and I know the dam is 653 feet, so I estimate most of my elevations from those points. Also, what's the elevation of the East Peak parking lot? I think the mountain is 2,550, but it's hard to tell how far below that the parking lot is.

In general, does one compute slope by dividing elevation change by distance? In other words, if it were an even 1,500 feet to pan toll station and an even five miles from Stinson beach, would that be a slope of 5.6%?

I heard the record for that hill climb to Tam is 39 minutes and change. Damn, that's like 18 MPH!

Thanks for the info...I'll put it all down in my ride log. :-)

[jeffg]

the best is Krebs cycling maps. I know there is one map that covers most of the area from SF Peninsula, Santa Cruz, Mount Hamilton, Livermore, etc. "Soth San Francisco Bay & Monterey Bay Areas." It shows traffic, grades, water stops, etc.

There is also a map for North San Francisco Bay & Wine Country. I have used these to find my way on long rides and plan wonderful routes.

best,

Jeff

:banana:

[John H.]

Eric,
I climb Mt. Tam a lot- as much as 30,000 feet on some weeks.
I agree with Marinrider on the grades, but I don't think the elevation goes to 3,100 feet. Maybe 2,800, but you have to climb- drop a bit and climb again.
I was riding with a guy with an altimeter and he was getting 2,300 feet from Stinson beach up to the old Military base (we call it the gold balls because it looks like big golf balls from a distance).
Longest climb is Mill Valley to golf balls, steadiest (and most bang for your buck) long climb is Stinson to golf balls (about 10k), Bolinas to Ridgecrest is just over 6k and it is marked every kilometer.
See you out there,
John H.

[ericmurphy]

Eric,
I climb Mt. Tam a lot- as much as 30,000 feet on some weeks.
John H.


Wow...30,000 feet...isn't that, like, ten or fifteen times a week? I'm lucky if I get out there twice a week. :-)

I think the peak of Mt. Tam is 2,550...seem to remember seeing that somewhere. So I'm estimating the parking lot is probably 250 feet below that...say, 2,200 feet or so.

But remember, when you're talking total elevation gain, you have to include all the climbing you do, not just how high the highest part is. For example, if you start at Mill Valley (basically sea level), climb to four corners (let's guess and say 1,200 feet), down to muir woods and back up to the highest point of Shoreline (say 600 feet), down to Stinson (sea level again), back up Panoramic to the East Peak (2,200?), you've got a TOTAL elevation gain of 1,200 + 600 + 2,200 = 4,000 feet, if I've done my math right.

Happy climbing!