Wednesday, May 20, 2015

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This route goes through the residential neighborhoods and business district inMontclair to the popular climb up BBR to Joaquin Miller and Skyline Blvd. It drops down through the redwoods on Redwood Rd towards Pinehurst Rd and continues on with a climb up through Chabot Regional Park to Redwood Canyon Golf Course for lunch. The ride reverses its way on Redwood Rd for the climb up south Pinehurst Rd to Skyline Blvd.

Begin at the Lake Temescal parking lot off Broadway in Oakland.

The Landvale Station Trail goes along the SE edge of the lake to Broadway Terrace.

Meander through the Montclair neighborhoods on Duncan Way to the business district on Mountain Blvd.

La Salle Ave crosses over Hwy 24 to Trafalgar Pl for the climb up Monterey Blvd. Monterey Blvd runs parallel to Hwy 24 towards Lincoln Highlands with gradient ranges of 4-6%.

Cross over Hwy 24 on Joaquin Miller Rd for the short climb up to Hedge Rd.

The turn on Hedge Ln leads to a popular local cycling route known as BBR; Burdeck, Butters and Robinson. The 1.7 mile stretch through this Oakland neighborhood meanders around the beautiful Butters Canyon.

The short steep climb on Butters has gradient ranges of 8-10%; the single narrow lane road rolls through the lush natural growth along the canyon.

Robinson Rd gently winds back out onto Joaquin Miller Rd for the short climb up to the top at Skyline Blvd.

The roll down Skyline leads to the fabulous descent on Redwood Rd. Redwood Rd heading east towards Pinehurst Rd is a fun 2.4 smooth miles through Redwood Canyon. The sweeping turns travels underneath the towering redwoods with minimal to no traffic-this is by far one of the best descents around the East Bay Hills-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 twisty descent on Redwood Rd drops down to San Leandro Creek and continues south to Redwood Canyon Golf Course.

Lunch stop at Redwood Canyon Golf Course (formerly Willow Park) The golf course is now part of the East Bay Regional Park District at Lake Chabot Regional Park.

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 bump of a climb.

Redwood Rd winds its way down 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-usecaution!

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.

The rolling terrain on Skyline Blvd leads to the descent on Tunnel Rd.

Descend Tunnel-enjoy the spectacular bay views!

Descend Caldecott Ln to Broadway for the return to Lake Temescal.

This is one of the best route variations around the East Bay Hills; it’s scenic, short and hilly!

Garmin Stats:
37 Miles with 3556′ of elevation gain
Max elevation: 1285′
Max grade: 12%
Terrain: Extremely hilly

Weather: Overcast skies, breezy and cool. Temps ranged from the mid 40’s to the low 60’s with brisk SW winds.

View the interactive RGPS route map & profile

Follow this route for today’s ride: