Except where noted, these are all road rides with decent quality pavement, and they all start from San Carlos.

Canada & back: 16.2 miles, easy
Start from Alameda De Las Pulgas in San Carlos. Head W on Edgewood road. Climb the hill, go under the Hwy 280 overpass at the crest of the hill, stay on Edgewood down the other side to Canada. Turn R (N) on Canada road. Go approximately 4 miles, mostly flat with a couple of rolling hills, to Hwy 92. Turn around and go back.

  • Note: Edgewood W to 280 can be an intimidating hill for new riders. But it really is only a small introduction to Peninsula hill climbing. It's pretty short (only about 1 mile of climbing) and not terribly steep.

    • Sandhill & back: 21 miles, easy
    Follow Canada route to Canada road. Turn L (S) from Edgewood onto Canada. Follow Canada 3.75 miles to Woodside. At the intersection with Hwy 84, turn L onto Hwy 84. After 100 yards or so, turn R onto Whiskey Hill Rd. Follow Whiskey Hill Rd to where it "T"s into Sand Hill Rd. Turn R onto Sand Hill. Follow Sand Hill Rd. up the hill. After you get to the top and start down the other side, turn R onto Portola Rd. Follow Portola Rd. a few hundred yards to the "Y"; bear L.

  • Note: Bearing L at the "Y" takes you downhill. Bearing R is flat.

    • Follow this road; it will eventually curve around to the R and merge up with Hwy 84. Continue on Hwy 84 (same road). Hwy 84 will take you back to the intersection of Canada Rd. Turn L onto Canada Rd, then R on Edgewood 3.75 miles later (then over the hill and home).

    Windy Hill & back: 25.1 miles, easy
    Follow Sandhill route to Sandhill rd -- but do not turn R onto Portola rd. Continue following Sandhill rd. (relatively flat) to Windy Hill park (on the right). Turn around and go back.
    This can also be a mtn bike ride if you continue through the Windy Hill gravel parking lot & climb the dirt trail to the top of Windy Hill. It is steep and climbs about 1500 feet in 2.5 miles. This is an average of 11.5% grade, and is over 25% in the steep sections.

    Kings Mtn. loop: 32.6 miles; medium
    Follow Sandhill route to the intersection of Canada Rd. & Hwy 84. Turn R (W) on Hwy 84. Go about 1 mile, then turn R on Kings Mtn. rd.

  • Note on the Canada -> Hwy 84 -> Kings Mtn rd transition: There is a shortcut. While heading S on Canada road, after entering Woodside a few hundred yards after going under the Hwy 280 overpass, there is a road on the right called "Olive Hill". If you turn R on Olive Hill, then L on Albion, then R on Manuella, you will "T" into Kings Mtn. rd; then you turn R onto Kings Mtn. rd. This bypass saves you approximately 0.5 miles.

    • Follow Kings Mtn. rd. up the hill to Skyline drive (5 miles continually steep climb). You will pass Huddart park at about 1/3 of the way up. When you reach Skyline drive you have climbed about 1800'.
  • Note: if you make it from the "mounted patrol" sign at the base of the hill, to the top at Skyline, in 30 minutes or less, you are making good time!

    • Turn L (S) on Skyline and you'll keep climbing for a while (though less steep). After about 5.5 miles of Skyline, you'll reach the intersection with Hwy. 84.
  • Note on this southbound 5.5 mile Skyline segment: The first couple of miles are a climb, though less steep than Kings Mtn. The remaining portion is a fun downhill stretch. The pavement quality can be a bit rough in places, but there are no big bumps or potholes. There are no hairpin turns, so if the road is clean and dry you can lean into your turns and do the entire segment without touching the brakes; you should hit 40+ mph speeds (faster on tandems) -- YEE HA!

    • Turn L (E) on Hwy 84. Follow Hwy 84 down the mountain (challenging downhill).
  • Note on this eastbound 5 mile Hwy 84 descent: The pavement is generally very smooth and grippy. Watch out for the hairpin turns. Also watch out for the cars -- lots of Sunday drivers come up Hwy 84 watching the scenery more than the road.

    • Hwy 84 will dump out in Woodside. Just stay on Hwy 84 until you get back to the intersection with Canada rd. Take Canada -> Edgewood home (as described above).

    Hwy 84 / Hwy 1 loop: 53.5 to 64 miles, hard
    Start by following the Kings Mtn. route in reverse. That means when heading out, while going W on Hwy 84 towards Kings Mtn. rd, do NOT turn onto the latter. Stay on Hwy 84 and follow it up the hill to Skyline drive (4 mile climb, about 1800').

  • Note on the Hwy 84 westbound ascent: There are a lot of cars & trucks that blow through fast and use up the entire road. Listen for the cars behind you and be ready to run off the road if necessary. Early morning is much better -- there is a lot less traffic.

    • Continue W on Hwy 84, past Skyline and head down the other side of the hill. Follow Hwy 84 down for about 7.5 miles until it flattens out, and keep going.
  • Note on Hwy 84 westbound descent: The pavement is smooth & grippy, great for fast descents, but some of the turns have gravel & dirt -- be careful when cornering. During the descent you will encounter a traffic light controlling one-way traffic through a washed out section of the road.

  • Note on Hwy 84 road quality, 8/25/01: Westbound, the flat section of road from the bottom of the hill to Stage road (about 5 miles long), has extremely poor road quality. It appears it has been torn up recently by Caltrans. The good news is that the preliminary paint markings indicate they are going to have a wider bike lane after they resurface the road!

    • A few miles later (14.25 miles after the summit of Hwy 84 & Skyline) you will reach the intersection of Hwy 84 with Stage rd. There is a grocery store on the right hand side of this intersection. This is the half way point of the ride. Turn R (N) onto Stage rd. It will climb up through a few switchbacks and "T" into Hwy 1.
    Turn R (N) onto Hwy 1. Follow it down a steep hill (35-40 mph speeds). Near the bottom of the hill it crosses a bridge. Immediately after the bridge is Tunitas Creek rd. Turn R (E) onto Tunitas Creek rd. Tunitas Creek will meander past a few farms & ranches, then the pavement will get bumpier and you'll reach a "Y" fork. The fork has no sign. Turn R at the fork. Keep following Tunitas Creek and it will soon start climbing. You will climb for about 6 miles and some sections are very steep 15-20 % grade.
  • Note on Tunitas Creek: The pavement quality is poor and parts tend to be wet, even in summer. The steepest part of the climb is in the middle, where it reaches 15-20% grades in some sections. When the climb starts flattening out, you are just past the half way point.

    • Continue straight across Skyline dr to Kings Mtn. rd. Take Kings Mtn. rd down.
  • Note on the Kings Mtn. rd descent: The pavement is mostly smooth but has bumpy parts. Also, there are TIGHT hairpin turns and the road tends to be wet in the corners in the bottom half of the descent -- so watch out!

    • Kings Mtn. rd will "T" onto Hwy 84. Turn L (E) onto Hwy 84 to Canada road, then take Canada -> Edgewood home (as described above).
    Note: this route can be extended by riding along Skyline between Kings Mtn. Rd. and Hwy. 84. The longest such route (64 miles) is to ascend (West) Kings Mtn. Road to Skyline, then S on Skyline to 84, then descend (W) on 84 to the coast (Hwy 1), then N to Tunitas Creek, ascend E on Tunitas Creek to Skyline, S on Skyline again to 84, then descend (E) on Skyline to Canada Rd.

    Hwy 84 / Hwy 1 big loop: 75 miles, hard
    This is similar to the above ride. When you get to Hwy 1 from Hwy 84, stay on Hwy 1 North all the way to Half Moon Bay (do not go up Tunitas Creek Road). When you get to HMB, take Hwy 92 E to the top of the big hill where it meets Skyline Drive. Turn S on Skyline, follow it for about 13 miles until it hits Hwy 84. Take Hwy 84 down as described in the above ride.
    This is a brutal ride with over 5,000' of climbing, tougher than most century rides! Yet with the beautiful scenery and ocean coast riding, the hours go by nicely.

    El Corte Madera loop: Mtn bike ride, 40 - 50 miles, hard
    Take the Kings Mtn. loop to Skyline Drive, turn S on Skyline and go about 2 miles to the CM02 turnout on the right hand (W) side of the road.
    This is El Corte Madera.
    Enter El Corte Madera and have a few hours of fun on the single track, technical and steep trails. It is very easy to get lost in here, but it's so great that getting lost can be fun.
    When you make it back out, continue S on Skyline to Hwy 84.
    Descend Hwy 84 E to Canada road and head back home.

    Mt. Diablo, North face ascent: Mtn bike ride, 15-30 miles, hard
    Don't let the low mileage fool you. This is pure climbing!
    Start from the Mitchell Canyon (North) entrance to Mt. Diablo park and ride straight into the park. Follow the signs to Deer Flat. Starting from about 550', you will climb to 3000' in about 4 miles. This is an average of about 11.5% grade, containing some sections much steeper. At Juniper Camp, take the paved road to the summit. Just short of the summit you will reach a sharp left turn called Devil's Elbow. Here, take the single track trail down to Prospecter's Gap road. This single track is mostly rideable, but technical in parts. At Prospecter's Gap Road, bear right and hit the "North Summit". This is the summit with all the antennas on it. Then, head back down and go around the N side of Diabo on Prospecter's Gap Road. This will start out flat but switch to a downhill grade toward Meridian Ridge, to Mitchell Creek Park, back to where you started.
    If you're feeling energetic, do it again!
    Or, for a real man's ride, when you reach Juniper Camp, you can head down the S side of Diablo on the Summit Trail, or the Burma Trail, then go back up over the summit again, back to where you started.