Wednesday, March 19, 2014
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Today we’re on a club ride that will take us through the beautiful Vaca Valley out to the nut and fruit orchards along Putah Creek for lunch in Winters. The return includes a scenic run through the flats along the orchards and agricultural fields to the rolling hills for a climb up the east side of Cantelow Rd.
The group meets up on Rivera Rd outside of Pena Adobe Park.
We cross over I-80 on Cherry Glen Rd to Pleasants Valley Rd.
Pleasants Valley Rd is a gorgeous stretch of flat road that begins along Vaca Valley through the rich farmlands and orchards with fantastic views of the Vaca Mountains.
The rolling climbs take us through the valley with horse and cattle ranches, farms and nurseries.
Pleasants Valley continues north through large ranch homes, orchards and bee farms towards Cantelow Rd.
The gentle rolling terrain for the next 4.5 miles takes us through some horse ranches with paddocks to the pastoral lands with grazing cattle.
The road roughly follows Pleasants Creek through the open valley with several creek crossing through the orchards and green grasslands.
We head NE on Putah Creek Rd with views of the blue waters at Lake Solano and Putah Creek.
The flat terrain leads us through the vast fruit and nut orchards around east Yolo County.
We cross the Winters RR Bridge onto Main St.
Our lunch stop is at Steady Eddy’s/Rotary Park.
We reverse our way on Main St to Putah Creek Rd.
We jog around the flat lands through the orchards and ranch houses along Boyce to Halley and Sweeney Rd.
N Meridian Rd takes us out through the rich expansive agricultural and pastoral lands around east Yolo County.
We head west on Allendale Rd for 2.8 flat miles through the open fields and farmlands around Allendale.
The rolling terrain on Timm Rd, Peaceful Glen and English Hills Rd takes us south around the English Hills residential ranching communities to Cantelow Rd.
The ascent up the east side of Cantelow Rd is 3.5 miles with a series of rolling climbs. The first gentle half mile takes us under a canopy of trees out to the Catholic Retreat Ranch.
The road continues for the next mile along the back of the ridge to beautiful white estate ranch house.
Cantelow continues to climb up to the next ranching area followed by a short descent.
The 0.4 mile leading up to the right hairpin turn from the ranch house is steep with gradient ranges of 9-13%! It gradually levels out as you make the short bit up to the summit.
Stop for a minute to enjoy the fabulous valley and mountain views!
The descent on the west side of Cantelow to Pleasants Valley Rd is steep and twisty with a few blind curves.
We head south on Pleasants Valley Rd for the next 6.5 miles; the rolling climbs takes us back through Vaca Valley to Cherry Glen Rd.
We cross I-80 back to Rivera Rd.
This is a great ride along the lower foothills of Vaca Mountains, Blue Ridge and English Hills. Thanks to Bev for leading and for the birthday treats at Steady Eddy’s! “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
Garmin Stats:
43.48 Miles with 1392′ of elevation gain
Max elevation: 766′
Max grade: 13%
Terrain: Flat to rolling with one climb
Weather: Sunny and clear with temps ranging from the high 50’s to the mid 80’s. NE winds with 44% humidity
Click here to view the interactive route map & profile
Follow this route for today’s ride:
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