Santa Cruz riding!!

[redhot3368]

Hey No Cal girls!

I will be in San Jose over Labor Day weekend visiting my parents.
Hubby and I are bringing bikes and are planning on riding Friday Sept 1st
I am looking for a sweet route around the Santa Cruz area?
I would prefer not so much traffic, maybe up where all the beautiful trees are?
We are looking to do between 65-75 miles
Let me know, also if anyone is available to ride with us, that would be cool!!

Thanks much!
Karen

[tprevost]

Hey No Cal girls!

I will be in San Jose over Labor Day weekend visiting my parents.
Hubby and I are bringing bikes and are planning on riding Friday Sept 1st
I am looking for a sweet route around the Santa Cruz area?
I would prefer not so much traffic, maybe up where all the beautiful trees are?
We are looking to do between 65-75 miles
Let me know, also if anyone is available to ride with us, that would be cool!!

Thanks much!
Karen


Karen,

Does it have to be Santa Cruz or are you open to other suggestions? There's not much around there w/that much mileage that doesn't end up on either congested roads or very narrow roads

t~

[tprevost]

Hey No Cal girls!

I will be in San Jose over Labor Day weekend visiting my parents.
Hubby and I are bringing bikes and are planning on riding Friday Sept 1st
I am looking for a sweet route around the Santa Cruz area?
I would prefer not so much traffic, maybe up where all the beautiful trees are?
We are looking to do between 65-75 miles
Let me know, also if anyone is available to ride with us, that would be cool!!

Thanks much!
Karen

Karen,

Here's a really nice route... but not in Santa Cruz Area

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=383623 it has hills, trees, and good spots to stop if necessary along with some climbing.

If you really want to ride in Santa Cruz; you can get a few routes on the south end of Santa Cruz county that are really nice (not many trees but decent roads) from this site...I've done the metric a couple of times.... not many places to stop so you'd need to be more self sufficient.

Tracy

ps. Try PMing Susie, she lives in Santa Cruz and might have more suggestions

[redhot3368]

Karen,

Here's a really nice route... but not in Santa Cruz Area

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=383623 it has hills, trees, and good spots to stop if necessary along with some climbing.

If you really want to ride in Santa Cruz; you can get a few routes on the south end of Santa Cruz county that are really nice (not many trees but decent roads) from this site...I've done the metric a couple of times.... not many places to stop so you'd need to be more self sufficient.

Tracy

ps. Try PMing Susie, she lives in Santa Cruz and might have more suggestions

Hi Trac!
No it doesn't have to be Santa Cruz, but somewhere close, San Jose?
Monterey, maybe?
I just have the Friday to ride, then we are with my parents in San Jose.
I must be a real dork, cuz I can't figure that site out?? HELP!

[tprevost]

Hi Trac!
No it doesn't have to be Santa Cruz, but somewhere close, San Jose?
Monterey, maybe?
I just have the Friday to ride, then we are with my parents in San Jose.
I must be a real dork, cuz I can't figure that site out?? HELP!


It should link to a route... does it not work? I can give you an actual route if you'd like but basically it starts in Los Altos, goes up through Palo Alto and Menlo Park and around Portola Valley, then back down through Los altos, Cupertino, Saratoga, and back to the start ... probably a closer starting point than Santa Cruz...

Let me know if you're interested and I'll figure out a very rough route sheet (total miles is 57 but I don't have mileage between turns etc.) I could write all of the turns etc and when you get there you could transfer it to a map if you wanted but its pretty basic (nothing very tricky).

trac'

[Susie]

There are some great routes in the Santa Cruz area, but some require some climbing. One of my favorites is to go North on Hwy 1, do the Swanton Road Loop, continue north and take Gazos Creek into Pescadero for lunch. Then you can come back Hwy 1 past the Pidgeon Pt. light house and Ano Nuevo. That's a good 60 miles or so. If you want a longer route, you can go from Pescadero up Stagecoach to San Gregario and come back Hyw 1. That'll put you at about 80 miles.

There's also routes through the Santa Cruz Mountains along Skyline and the Summit. Eureka Canyon is always a nice ride, but you have to climb a bit.

As far as south -- I tend to avoid going through the Watsonville area. There's little to no shoulders on the roads for some stretches and the cars and farming equipment come a little too close for my tastes.

PM me and I'll try to help you pick a good route.

Susie

[redhot3368]

It should link to a route... does it not work? I can give you an actual route if you'd like but basically it starts in Los Altos, goes up through Palo Alto and Menlo Park and around Portola Valley, then back down through Los altos, Cupertino, Saratoga, and back to the start ... probably a closer starting point than Santa Cruz...

Let me know if you're interested and I'll figure out a very rough route sheet (total miles is 57 but I don't have mileage between turns etc.) I could write all of the turns etc and when you get there you could transfer it to a map if you wanted but its pretty basic (nothing very tricky).

trac'

Trac!!
That would be GREAT!!!
Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much

Karen :) :) :)

[tprevost]

Hi Trac!
No it doesn't have to be Santa Cruz, but somewhere close, San Jose?
Monterey, maybe?
I just have the Friday to ride, then we are with my parents in San Jose.
I must be a real dork, cuz I can't figure that site out?? HELP!


Okay, here's the route...
To starting point…

280 north to foothill expressway (Los Altos). Exit Foothill Expressway, turn right and take an immediate right into parking lot (Chevron)… park near back corner (there’s a bike shop on the back side.

Take Foothill Expressway North
R at Alpine (Foothill dead ends)
L at Sand Hill (you will eventually cross over 280)
L on Portola (Sand Hill sorta turns into Portola)
R on Alpine
Left on Page Mill Road
R onto Foothill Expressway
Follow Foothill back towards starting point but continue past starting/road becomes Stevens Canyon
L at “Y” up Mt Eden Road
R onto Pierce
L onto Hwy 9
R onto Hwy 9 (this is where there is a big intersection after going through Saratoga)
L on Quito (traffic isn’t allowed to turn left here so you’ve got to watch for the street)
L on Cox
R on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road
L on Prospect
R on Stelling
L on McClellan
R on Stevens Canyon
Follow Stevens canyon back to start (remember it turns into Foothill Expressway)

Approximately 57 miles

there are some slight changes from the initial gmaps route, this one is better; it's a beautiful ride with several places to stop to use restrooms/get water/coffee break etc.

[redhot3368]

There are some great routes in the Santa Cruz area, but some require some climbing. One of my favorites is to go North on Hwy 1, do the Swanton Road Loop, continue north and take Gazos Creek into Pescadero for lunch. Then you can come back Hwy 1 past the Pidgeon Pt. light house and Ano Nuevo. That's a good 60 miles or so. If you want a longer route, you can go from Pescadero up Stagecoach to San Gregario and come back Hyw 1. That'll put you at about 80 miles.

There's also routes through the Santa Cruz Mountains along Skyline and the Summit. Eureka Canyon is always a nice ride, but you have to climb a bit.

As far as south -- I tend to avoid going through the Watsonville area. There's little to no shoulders on the roads for some stretches and the cars and farming equipment come a little too close for my tastes.

PM me and I'll try to help you pick a good route.

Susie

Thanks Susie!
I just PM'd you!!

[redhot3368]

Okay, here's the route...
To starting point…

280 north to foothill expressway (Los Altos). Exit Foothill Expressway, turn right and take an immediate right into parking lot (Chevron)… park near back corner (there’s a bike shop on the back side.

Take Foothill Expressway North
R at Alpine (Foothill dead ends)
L at Sand Hill (you will eventually cross over 280)
L on Portola (Sand Hill sorta turns into Portola)
R on Alpine
Left on Page Mill Road
R onto Foothill Expressway
Follow Foothill back towards starting point but continue past starting/road becomes Stevens Canyon
L at “Y” up Mt Eden Road
R onto Pierce
L onto Hwy 9
R onto Hwy 9 (this is where there is a big intersection after going through Saratoga)
L on Quito (traffic isn’t allowed to turn left here so you’ve got to watch for the street)
L on Cox
R on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road
L on Prospect
R on Stelling
L on McClellan
R on Stevens Canyon
Follow Stevens canyon back to start (remember it turns into Foothill Expressway)

Approximately 57 miles

there are some slight changes from the initial gmaps route, this one is better; it's a beautiful ride with several places to stop to use restrooms/get water/coffee break etc.

THANK YOU TRAC!!!!

Karen

[tprevost]

Hi Trac!
No it doesn't have to be Santa Cruz, but somewhere close, San Jose?
Monterey, maybe?
I just have the Friday to ride, then we are with my parents in San Jose.
I must be a real dork, cuz I can't figure that site out?? HELP!


Oh, if you want to check out Monterey... AdventureGirl is your gal :D