SF Bay Area Biking

[Toddtwenty2]

Hello,

I just moved to the bay area from the midwest (mid-peninsula between SF and San Jose). I'm very happy to be moving to a more sunny and moderate climate, and I can't wait until my bikes get here with the moving company.

I was wondering if any of you kind souls from the area would mind suggesting some of your favorite routes to ride for both road and mountain biking? So far I'm planning my first ride with this handy website http://bayarearides.com/.

Thanks,
Todd

[majl]

Welcome! You've moved to the right place for cycling - road, MTB, cross, it's all here. And the peninsula is at the heart of it all.

For road riding, this club has some great route sheets http://velogirls.com/resources/routes.php

For MTB, check out the MPOSP maps: http://www.openspace.org/preserves/

So many great interconnecting trails and preserves that will suit the MTB rider looking for a 5-mile loop to a 60+ mile outing.

For cross, here is the link to the local blog - season starts in the fall and they will have all the race dates and times as they are published: http://ncncacx.blogspot.com/

[foo_fighter]

I think there was already a thread on this, but I hope you like climbing.

Search for these climbs: Old La Honda, Montebello, Redwood Gulch, Kings Mountain Road, Tunitas, Hwy 9, Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Diablo, Bohlman-On-Orbit-Bohlman,Sierra, Quimby.

Here's a fav of mine: http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/resources/ring-of-fire/

Pretty much any ride that goes out the coast and back over skyline would be good.

For a quick flat ride, the Portola loop around Portola Valley near Stanford is nice.

For Mountain biking: Soquel Demonstration Forest and Skeggs for hardcore rides. Any one of the open space preserves for easier rides(These are rideable on a cross bike).

One cool, thing I plan to do this year is the twilight ride at Laguna Seca, where they let you ride around the track.

[Toddtwenty2]

Fantastic! This is great information. It looks like Pulgas Ridge is the closest OSP to me (Burlingame). I'll check that out first.

Thanks so much.

[Toddtwenty2]

I apologize if I missed the thread, I'm fairly new to the forum.

I enjoy a good climb as long as there is a descent to follow

I will certainly check out the ring of fire loop. Thank you for the suggestions.

[bironi]

I did a week of cycling in the mountains of the Bay Peninsula a couple years ago. My hosting buddy bought a map at a local shop of the South SF Bay & Monterey Bay Areas. It is the best I've seen. Here is a link.

http://www.krebscycleproducts.com/

[Toddtwenty2]

I did what I should have done to begin with, and searched the forum before posting. This thread was very helpful, and the pictures have me calling the moving company as we speak to see where they are en route.

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showth...light=bay+area


This is also helpful for routes:

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showth...=san+francisco


And this has me interested in visiting a few bike shops:

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showth...=san+francisco

This is a very handy forum...

[Toddtwenty2]

Thank you for the link to the maps Bironi. These look perfect. I'm off to visit a bike shop today to see if they have any... otherwise I'll be ordering the Santa Cruz mountains map off of the website.

[jds108]

I ride with this group: http://www.westernwheelers.org/main/index.htm who usually start rides in the Palo Alto area

And down in San Jose you have: http://www.actc.org/

These are not hammerfests, and people go out of their way to welcome newcomers. If you're into that sort of thing...

-Jeff

[cnighbor1]

do a search for grizzy peak cyclists. Go to cue sheet Nearly every ride you can do in the bay area and with cue sheets
do our 100 mile ride in may great ride
come up to walnut creek we will climb 4000 feet mt diablo together (or maybe not together)
Grant petersen has two books out they show all hills rides in the bay area they are not part of a bike trip Just one road going up with profile
Do Mt hamiton all 4000
and off road a great ride also
cnighbor2@yahoo.com

[cnighbor1]

head up into hills behind you by foot power great hikes up there

[cat6]

http://www.amazon.com/Roads-Ride-Sou.../dp/0930588177

It's dated, but the roads still exist. She picked it up at a garage sale when we lived in the Bay Area. It's written by Grant Peterson, who she was and probably still is unfamiliar with. She just saw bikes and forked out a whopping dime to bring it home for me. Kind of neat. You can find plenty of rides online, but for $5 this might make good bathroom/bedside ride inspirer/planner.

[geoffkaplan]

i find these 2 sites helpful:
http://cycling.stanford.edu/

http://calcycling.org/routes/all-routes/

[bironi]

Originally Posted by Toddtwenty2

Thank you for the link to the maps Bironi. These look perfect. I'm off to visit a bike shop today to see if they have any... otherwise I'll be ordering the Santa Cruz mountains map off of the website.

I'm envious, that's is some of the best cycling anywhere. Enjoy.

[benitosan1972]

i was raised in San Francisco.
i live in San Mateo.
i work and go to school in San Jose.

i ride everywhere in between,
welcome to the area & forum,
let me know if i can be of any help.

i've ridden everything i could find around here,
road, cross, mountain, fixed, bmx, big wheel, LOL
IMO, the best riding around is found here, whatever your preference, or experience it all
in a single ride you can go from forest to countryside to mountain to beach to urban city, that's pretty cool