Friday, May 16, 2014

View the entire Google Web album

This ride around the East Bay hills starts with the classic climb up Tunnel Rd to Skyline Blvd followed by a sweeping descent through the redwoods on Redwood Rd. The route continues south on Redwood Rd to Willow Park Golf Course. The second half of the ride includes a reverse climb on Redwood Rd to Pinehurst Rd for the beautiful run up through the redwoods to Skyline Blvd.

This hilly route begins with an immediate climb from Lake Temescal on Broadway to the Fwy Overpass; it’s 0.7 mile with gradient ranges of 5-7%. The Fwy Overpass takes us over Hwy 24 to Caldecott Ln.

Tunnel Rd up to Skyline Blvd at Grizzly Peak Blvd is 3.2 miles with an average grade 4.3%; it’s a nice steady climb that winds its way up through the hillside neighborhoods with multi-level homes.

The climb offers fantastic views of the East Bay and its surrounding hills.

The upper section of the road runs along the ridge through the eucalyptus groves to the intersection at Grizzly Peak Blvd.

We make a brief stop at Sibley Park and stay on Skyline Blvd for the next 5.2 miles; the rolling terrain takes us along the residential neighborhoods to the redwoods surrounding Redwood Regional Park, Joaquin Miller Park and Roberts Recreation Area.

We descend Skyline Blvd and continue SE along the ridge to Redwood Rd. 

The descent on Redwood Rd heading east to Pinehurst Rd is a fun 2.4 smooth miles through the towering redwoods with minimal traffic and no technical turns. This is one of my favorite downhills-for me, no braking is required!

Once you pass Pinehurst, the road ascends with gentle 1.5-2% grades for 1.5 miles and gradually increases to grades of 4-6% as you near the entrance to Bort Meadow.

Redwood Rd continues with an average grade of 5.7% with a short descent in between the climbs to the summit. 

The road levels out at the top of the ridge towards Marciel Gate.

The descent sweeps around the curves of the hills and drops down to the creek crossing to the flats on Redwood Rd.

We stop for lunch at Willow Park Golf Course.

We exit the golf course and head north on Redwood Rd to Pinehurst. It’s a 2.1 miles climb up towards Marciel Gate with an average grade of 5.4%.

The road levels out at the top followed by a descent and one short 0.3 mile bump of a climb with an average grade of 4.1%.

Redwood Rd winds down around the hill into the shaded woods to Pinehurst Rd.

The climb up south Pinehurst Rd to Pinehurst Gate is 1.3 miles with an average grade of 4.7% and one steep pitch of 8-9% as you near the top. The descent on Pinehurst down to Canyon Rd is on a narrow twisty two lane road with many blind turns-proceed with caution!

Pinehurst Rd continues north on gentle rolling terrain for the first 2.7 miles on an old railroad grade under the shade of the gorgeous redwood forest. It follows the curves of San Leandro Creek to the small community of Canyon.

It continues in and out of the canopy of trees to the hairpin turn at the gated trail head to Huckleberry Regional Preserve.

At the switchback, the road tilts up through the canyon for the next 0.8 miles with an average grade of 4.7%.

The next hairpin turn comes at mile 34.2 at the orange 10 mph sign; this is the steepest section of Pinehurst-it’s a 0.5 mile climb with 9-12% grades to the top at Skyline Blvd.

We take Skyline Blvd back to Tunnel Rd for the winding descent to Caldecott Ln and Broadway.

This is a great route along the East Bay Hills with minimal to no traffic. All the climbs come with fantastic descents and fabulous views-it all balances out! Come and ride it!

Garmin Stats:
40.4 Miles with 3811′ of elevation gain
Max elevation: 1380′
Max grade: 12%
Terrain: Very hilly with considerable climbing

Weather: Sunny and warm with temps ranging from 60F to an afternoon high of 86F. Mild NW winds with 63% humidity

Click here to view the interactive route map & elevation profile

Follow this route for today’s ride: