Quote Originally Posted by bikerz
So, I think now I can plan a tough route "out the door" from my house - through temescal and up Tunnel rd, skyline to redwood, along canyon, through orinda, onto the "Dam rd", around Alhambra and the 3 bears, up wildcat cayon ( ) then along grizzly, or back through orinda and up pinehurst ( ) , back along skyline and down snake to home. That will be a long ride, with a lot of climbing! One day!
The route you describe above isn't too much different than the longest route of the Bike Against the Odds except of course starting and stopping at lake Merritt. That ride is 65 miles and 6000 feet of climbing. Here's the route:

Starting at Lake Merritt we'll climb Broadway to cross Highway 24 where it picks up Tunnel Road. We'll take Tunnel Road to Skyline, and continue left on Skyline at the intersection of Joaquin Miller. We'll turn left onto Redwood Road for a descent through the Redwood forest. From there, we'll turn left onto Pinehurst Road. There is a one mile climb on Pinehurst before descending to the intersection of Canyon Road. Turn right on Canyon for a short climb and descent into Moraga. Turn left on Moraga Road, which turns into Camino Pablo when the road crosses under highway 24. Continue on Camino Pablo/San Pablo Dam Rd. and ride on gently descending hills into El Sobrante. The route then turns right on Castro Ranch Road and climbs through a residential area and descends to a right turn on Alhambra Valley Road. The next turn is a right on to Bear Creek Road which climbs “the three bears”, and returns to the intersection of Wildcat and San Pablo Dam Road. We'll cross San Pablo Dam Road and climb Wildcat to Inspiration Point in Tilden Park. Continue on Wildcat to a left turn onto South Park for a VERY STEEP climb to Grizzly Peak Blvd. Turn left on Grizzly Peak and stay on it as it climbs through Berkeley into the Oakland Hills. Continue on Grizzly Peak until it ends at a left turn onto Skyline Blvd. Stay on Skyline to Snake and descend into Oakland via Mountain and Park Blvd.