Route Help: Seascape to Almaden Valley (San Jose)
toddm...@gmail.com
acros the Santa Cruz Mtns. over to Almaden Valley. I'm very familiar
with the roads around the reservoirs, but I haven't gone off the beaten
path.
>From the Google maps webpage, it looks like there is a way to cross the
mountains via the following:
Start on Freedom Blvd
Left on Hames Rd
Left on Eureka Canyon Rd
Right on Ormsby Cutoff Rd
Left on Summit Rd
Right on Loma Prieta Rd
Right on Uvas Canyon Rd
Left on Casa Loma Rd
Right on McKean/Uvas Rd
This looks like a route that will work, but I'm worried about whether
these roads actually go through as the map says they do and if the
roads are good enough to be riden on a road bike.
Also, where might be the last location to fill up on fluids? I haven't
yet mapped this out in Klimb, but hopefully I can get some help from
people here.
-Thanks, Todd
Dan
AFAIK the roads to the East of Summit Road between Mt. Madonna Road and
Old Santa Cruz Highway are all closed. From my side (Morgan Hill) I have
been up Croy Road, Little Uvas Road, Casa Loma Road and Mt Umunhum Road.
There are gates and Kooks who will threaten you if you go past the
gates. If the armed hillbillies don't get you, the pot farmers will. I
have been all the way to the top on Mt. Umunhum Rd but after passing
many no trespassing signs and gates there is a final gate with video
cameras that I did not pass.
I talked to a ranger at Uvas Canyon Park at the gate on Croy Road and he
said that they hope to open a trail to summit road.
Then the problem is that Summit Road is also gated and closed in this area.
A google search of this NG will find more information.
Mt. Madonna Road is worth doing but is steep and portions are not paved
or even graded very well. I have ridden it on a road bike but a cross or
mtn bike would be nice for some stretches.
Since most of these are actually public roads, I hope that someday
public pressure will get the county to open them. The mountain biking
areas at Nisene Marks really aren't very far from Morgan Hill but you
can't get there from here.
Dan Merrick
John Michaels
"Dan" <banquo...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:12dmflo...@corp.supernews.com...
Haven't been on Mt. Madona this year but it was packed enough on the section
downhill to Redwood Retreat to be passable for a road bike. I learned the
hard way and you have to carry a tire boot. I would go up Madona to Pole Rd
and over to Hecker Pass/Watsonville Rd. Madona is a bit of climb but is
probably your best way.
John Michaels
<toddm...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1155185769.2...@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
Checkout Don Axtell's route sheets at www.actc.org or his bikemaster
program. I haven't tried the route that you are suggesting. I have driven
part of it on Casa Loma and I don't think you can get through. Casa Loma
goes into a gated cutoff. Nice road without much of shoulder.
I think that going through Mt. Madona might be a better approach. Use Pole
Rd or you could descend the dirt side of Madona to Redwood Retreat. This
would take you to Watsonville Rd and up to Uvas/McKean.
Dan Connelly
> Checkout Don Axtell's route sheets at www.actc.org or his bikemaster
> program. I haven't tried the route that you are suggesting. I have driven
> part of it on Casa Loma and I don't think you can get through. Casa Loma
> goes into a gated cutoff. Nice road without much of shoulder.
>
> I think that going through Mt. Madona might be a better approach. Use Pole
> Rd or you could descend the dirt side of Madona to Redwood Retreat. This
> would take you to Watsonville Rd and up to Uvas/McKean.
>
>
>
>
Bill Bushnell's route atlas may be easier to use:
http://www.westernwheelers.org/main/pdf/bike_map_rev_2.1.pdf
It's the basis for klimb:
http://www.klimb.org/
which I highly recommend.
Dan
Dan
>
> Haven't been on Mt. Madona this year but it was packed enough on the section
> downhill to Redwood Retreat to be passable for a road bike. I learned the
> hard way and you have to carry a tire boot. I would go up Madona to Pole Rd
> and over to Hecker Pass/Watsonville Rd. Madona is a bit of climb but is
> probably your best way.
>
>
I rode up and down the east side of Mount Madonna Road sometime in the
past year - seems like it was early this year. It had potholes, roots
and washboard. Going up I spun out the rear tire and had to walk a
couple hundred feet in one spot. I went very slowly coming back down but
stayed on the bike. It is a very pretty area and worth the trouble.
Dan Connelly
>
> Bill Bushnell's route atlas may be easier to use:
> http://www.westernwheelers.org/main/pdf/bike_map_rev_2.1.pdf
>
> It's the basis for klimb:
> http://www.klimb.org/
>
> which I highly recommend.
>
> Dan
Another critical resource for this region is the Krebs cycling map.
toddm...@gmail.com
up to Old Santa Cruz Highway and dropping down into LG.
Bill Bushnell
Jerry <jerr...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> "toddm...@gmail.com" <toddm...@gmail.com> wrote in
> news:1155323675.4...@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:
>
> > Thanks for all the helpful suggestions...I may end up riding more
> > north up to Old Santa Cruz Highway and dropping down into LG.
> >
>
> That would be my preferred route - even though it may be longer than
> the others. Be advised that Old Santa Cruz Highway is closed between
> Aldercroft Height Rd and Lexington School so will have to go around the
> reservoir to get to the dam and the trail to Los Gatos.
The quickest and easiest route (by far) from Aptos to Almaden is up
Soquel-San Jose Rd., then west on Summit Rd., then north on Old Santa
Cruz Hwy into Los Gatos and then Blossom Hill (or Kennedy/Shannon) east
to Camden, then to Almaden. Maximum elevation is 1600ft, and the roads
are all paved. If you can't get your bike around the temporary closure
on Old Santa Cruz Hwy near Bear Creek Rd., go back up the road and lift
your bike over the guard-rail and descend on the ample shoulder of CA17.
A significantly longer but more scenic route would be to head east to
Corralitos and climb Eureka Canyon and Highland Way instead of
Soquel-San Jose Rd.
The Loma Ridge area is scenic, but it is high (~3000ft elev.), remote,
and includes about 6 miles of dirt roads. As someone else mentioned
there are locals and patrolling MROSD rangers who will send you back if
they catch you trying to get through on the sections of the road that
aren't open to the public. MROSD's long-range plan is to provide a
through route for the public along Loma Ridge. But, this has been the
long-range plan for some time now.
Fortunately, we can enjoy a virtual visit to the area.
http://tinyurl.com/9h4qd
http://tinyurl.com/fznxb
--
Bill Bushnell
http://pobox.com/~bushnell/