Date: Saturday, February 19
Meet time: 9:30 a.m.
Ride-out time: 10:00 a.m.
Meeting place: Three blocks west of the Mountain View Caltrain and VTA station, in the overflow parking lot at the corner of Evelyn Avenue and Franklin Street. (map)
City: Mountain View
Rain policy: Heavy rain cancels
Category: 3 - moderate-fast pace (12-15 mph)
Terrain: 3 - rolling hills with some steep climbs
Miles: 61
Description:
This time, we head up the Peninsula to the Crystal Springs Reservoir, although the ongoing dam closure has led to a couple of interesting changes in this year's route. We start by heading up through Portola Valley and Woodside to our first rest stop. After that, it's the long but very popular cycling route up Cañada Road to Highway 92, followed by a little bit on lower Skyline Drive to Bunker Hill Drive and a nice, long descent into San Mateo.
That's where it gets interesting. We'll take the part of Alameda de las Pulgas that rarely shows up on training rides. The climb past Hillsdale gets quite steep (we're talking "San Francisco steep") in places, although there are plenty of breaks where you can pull over and catch your breath. The reward is a nice descent into our second rest stop in Belmont, followed by a mostly easy return down Alameda de las Pulgas all the way into Menlo Park, and then along the Bryant Street bike boulevard through Palo Alto and back to Mountain View.
Total climbing for this ride is about 2,400 feet.
Leaders: Chris Thomas, Ally Kemmer, Genevieve Breed, Thomas Fortin, Terri Meier, Amir Barzin, Paul Vargas, Randy Files
RSVPs are requested but not required. 