Will be in NorCal this weekend
04-26-17, 06:06 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Will be in NorCal this weekend
I'm from SoCal, driving up to Clear Lake for sailing on Saturday, will be driving back to OC on Sunday, most likely coming down on 175 and 29 thru Cobb, Middletown, Calistoga, Napa, Benicia.
Thinking of throwing my bike in the car and stopping along the way somewhere for a couple hour ride before getting to the central valley. I'm doing a 12,000' century next weekend, so I'm not looking to do a major climb this weekend so I will have to try Diablo some other time.
I found a route on Strava that starts in Benicia, heads up toward Vallejo, back down over the Carquinez bridge, a climb on the Cummings skyway in Crockett Hills, then on to Martinez and across the Benicia bridge to finish up. 26 miles, 1500 feet, which is in the ballpark of what I'm looking for.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20640086
Does this sound like a good route? Any other suggestions? I don't want to drive too far off east or west of my drive home route, as it will be a long driving day already. Thanks much.
Thinking of throwing my bike in the car and stopping along the way somewhere for a couple hour ride before getting to the central valley. I'm doing a 12,000' century next weekend, so I'm not looking to do a major climb this weekend so I will have to try Diablo some other time.
I found a route on Strava that starts in Benicia, heads up toward Vallejo, back down over the Carquinez bridge, a climb on the Cummings skyway in Crockett Hills, then on to Martinez and across the Benicia bridge to finish up. 26 miles, 1500 feet, which is in the ballpark of what I'm looking for.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20640086
Does this sound like a good route? Any other suggestions? I don't want to drive too far off east or west of my drive home route, as it will be a long driving day already. Thanks much.
04-26-17, 06:08 PM
#2
Occam's Rotor
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 7,248
Mentioned: 61 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2366 Post(s)
Liked 2,331 Times
in
1,164 Posts
If it were me, I would do a ride around Clear Lake, or ride Clear Lake to Lake Berriessa and back.
04-26-17, 10:23 PM
#3
It's MY mountain
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Mt.Diablo
Posts: 10,007
Bikes: Klein, Merckx, Trek
Mentioned: 70 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4377 Post(s)
Liked 3,034 Times
in
1,645 Posts
I would do Diablo regardless.
04-28-17, 02:53 AM
#4
Family, Health, Cycling
...I found a route on Strava that starts in Benicia, heads up toward Vallejo, back down over the Carquinez bridge, a climb on the Cummings skyway in Crockett Hills, then on to Martinez and across the Benicia bridge to finish up. 26 miles, 1500 feet, which is in the ballpark of what I'm looking for.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20640086
Does this sound like a good route? Any other suggestions? I don't want to drive too far off east or west of my drive home route, as it will be a long driving day already. Thanks much.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20640086
Does this sound like a good route? Any other suggestions? I don't want to drive too far off east or west of my drive home route, as it will be a long driving day already. Thanks much.
05-01-17, 09:30 AM
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Thanks much. I brought along both the 2 bridge and a Diablo route. I did look at some routes around Clear Lake but most of the roads have little to no shoulder and not many riders so drivers aren't expecting them. I passed one rider on Soda Bay Road while driving and that was a dicey proposition.
Ended up doing the bridge loop as I was pretty worn out from a long slow light wind sailboat race on Saturday. It was a beautiful day for the ride, could not have been better, and a nice way to break up a nine hour drive with a two hour ride. At first I missed the Carquinez bridge trail entrance at the Cal Maritime Academy but I was running the route on my Garmin so figured it out pretty quick.
I liked the climb up Cummings Skyway. The descent down Franklin Canyon was nice too. If I were to do it again I would probably do the route clockwise. The pavement on Franklin is bone rattling rough where the pavement on Cummings was beautiful, so better maybe to go uphill on the rough stuff and down fast on the smooth.
Ended up doing the bridge loop as I was pretty worn out from a long slow light wind sailboat race on Saturday. It was a beautiful day for the ride, could not have been better, and a nice way to break up a nine hour drive with a two hour ride. At first I missed the Carquinez bridge trail entrance at the Cal Maritime Academy but I was running the route on my Garmin so figured it out pretty quick.
I liked the climb up Cummings Skyway. The descent down Franklin Canyon was nice too. If I were to do it again I would probably do the route clockwise. The pavement on Franklin is bone rattling rough where the pavement on Cummings was beautiful, so better maybe to go uphill on the rough stuff and down fast on the smooth.
