Ride advice: Skyline via Really Dirty San Bruno

[Adriano Castro]

I’m planning on doing Skyline tomorrow but starting with a really silly way out of the city which involves climbing 17th, Twin Peaks, Dalewood and San Bruno (the dirty way). Moreso, I’m keen on coming down the south side of San Bruno via the dirt trails to Hillside Blvd. Does anyone know if that’s at all possible on a road bike?

This is the route I was thinking: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2718928.

Tks,

AD

[Beckett Madden-Woods]

It might be possible. The ridge is very rough dirt though. I know for certain I can't even manage the ridge trail on a road bike (it's steep and sandy). I imagine the fire road off the SE is steeper yet. Also, you probably know this, but at least on paper bikes prohibited past the end of Radio Road, so you'll be poaching.

From Eric: http://app.strava.com/activities/8474950

"The ridge was fine. Doable on a cross bike, but watch for pinch flats. [...] Then the descent from the ridge south to Hillside was 1/2 fine and 1/4 pretty sketchy steep bits with lots of loose rocks, we walked spots. Overall doable by the dedicated, with a cx bike, but probably too much of a pain to become part of a regular commute."

Looking forward to a ride report! :)

--
-- follow: http://twitter.com/sf2g | terms: http://sf2g.com/terms.html | bike prep: http://sf2g.com/bike-prep.html | unsub: http://groups.google.com/group/sf2g
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SF2G" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sf2g+uns...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
 
 

[Viet-Trung Luu]

This thread -- https://groups.google.com/d/msg/sf2g/zkxFE43qZEI/hO3SPYSW044J -- probably has applicable information.

On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 8:21 PM, Adriano Castro <a...@adrianocastro.net> wrote:

[Scott Crosby]

The east way is 95% rideable with a real maintain bike with strong brakes. The south way could be entirely ridden as I recall, but would be unpleasant without suspension. Steep, rocky. Will dig up more.

It's also technically illegal post Radio road, but I don't think anyone cares.

[Adriano Castro]

On Wednesday, 19 June 2013 20:51:56 UTC-7, Beckett Madden-Woods wrote:

Looking forward to a ride report! :)

Climbing 17th, Twin Peaks and Dalewood meant that, by the time I got to the top of San Bruno, it was too late to go exploring so I bailed on my commute. I’ll be back to check it out again and will report back when I do.

Thanks everyone for your advice.

AD 

[Scott Crosby]

some pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/110115214811908801369/MtSanBrunoExploration?authuser=0&feat=directlink

east way: from the top of Radio road, you go about 1.5 miles and then you descend into Brisbane via steep rocky trail. almost all rideable, but a) would be tough without suspension/discs, and b) you wouldn't want to ride your mountain bike the rest of the way to work.

south way: start same, take Fire Road #X (can't recall which), end up on Hillside eventually, like Colmaway.  All rideable as I recall, but would suck on a road bike.

http://app.strava.com/activities/8479249

AD 

--

[djconnel]

The trail map is here:

http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/Attachments/parks/Files/Park%20Maps%20in%20PDF/San%20Bruno%20Park%20Map.pdf

It's good because it is contoured so you can get a feel for the relative steepness.

I've hiked, not ridden, the Ridge Trail and slipped and fell in my Keen sandles, which lack much traction, 3 times.  So there is some loose, steep gravel there which on a road bike could be slightly challenging: certainly no braking possible on these sections, and riding up them would be tough.   I defer to Scott on the trails extending from the Ridge Trail, but these are obviously even steeper, or at least steep over more extended distances.

On Thursday, June 20, 2013 12:50:32 PM UTC-7, impunity wrote:

some pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/110115214811908801369/MtSanBrunoExploration?authuser=0&feat=directlink

[Scott Crosby]

yeah, if you're a masochist or Danny Macaskill you could ride the trails off Ridge Trail on a road bike, but I wouldn't.

I think the most reasonable of the trails down the hill are on the south side, toward Hillside, which would put you on Colmaway and thus be a workable commute, but with knobbies, presumably.

in any case, fun ride for a saturday -- since you can't drive to the trailhead, not many people go up there. it's peaceful and quiet, with amazing views. recommended.

Eric may have some input as well.

--

[Bret Lobree]

Wait...there's a parking lot at the top and no gate, are you sure you can't drive to the trail head? fwiw, the Summit loop trail is ridable (up and down) though not legal.

[Peter Chang]

2013/6/20 Bret Lobree <blo...@gmail.com>:

> Wait...there's a parking lot at the top and no gate, are you sure you can't
> drive to the trail head?

you could but i don't think you're allowed to park up there.

tehn again (like scott said) there's no one up there so it's not like
anyone would notice/care. on the other hand, it's not like we're
riding umma-gummas these days, the tires will probably be ok riding
up.

\p

[Adriano Castro]

The more we talk about this the more I want to try riding the damn thing. I’m only interested on the south side trail, the one that drops you at Hillside, as a connection to Skyline.

--
-- follow: http://twitter.com/sf2g | terms: http://sf2g.com/terms.html | bike prep: http://sf2g.com/bike-prep.html | unsub: http://groups.google.com/group/sf2g
---

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "SF2G" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/sf2g/r72byTXHkyY/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to sf2g+uns...@googlegroups.com.

[Scott Crosby]

well there's a gate blocking Radio Rd. off Guadalupe -- are you allowed to drive up it via the underpass (under Guadalupe)?  I thought it was closed to civilians... but I dunno.

anyway, the Summit trail is accessible from the bottom of Radio near the parking area, but I'm talking about the Ridge trail, which starts at the terminus of Radio Rd. (up up up from there).  the difficult riding is from the end of Ridge Trail into the unmarked oblivion -- to Brisbane (east) or Hillside (south)j.  take a gander at the map Dan sent.

getting to the start of Ridge Trail is taxing for sedentary people in any case, so few people seem to do it :)

[Bret Lobree]

Yes you can access the RR parking lot from the underpass. I haven't done Ridge trail and was just suggesting Summit as an additional option because, well, more dirt. A MTB'er I've met up there twice suggested that at some point they will open the Ridge trail to bikes and add a path down the south side that is bike legal...I'm assuming this will happen...never...

[Christine Ryan]

Thought I saw some poles or some such that were sort-of blocking that road from the parking lot (the south side one, after the underpass)... I remember thinking they might not keep a vehicle out, but maybe they're symbolic??

[Beckett Madden-Woods]

It's perfectly legit to drive up to the top (via the underpasss). I've done it many times to start a hike at the ridge. It's open during park hours, and you can park at the summit.

[Eric Altendorf]

Yeah, I've been up RR on the weekend a few times and there's always a couple cars up there.  And you can park.  Actually I drove up there with my parents one time.  You have to pay the $6 park fee though.  Maybe it's closed at night?

There's some fun exploration, but yeah, easier to do exploration on a weekend rather than on your trip to work.  Also, while I'm all for crazy fun commutes, aesthetically, throwing something this technical in the middle of an otherwise vanilla road ride feels a bit like going for a nice walk and getting your nipples pierced while you're at it "just because".  If someone could concoct a full on technical ride that spans a considerable part of the commute it would be interesting, but that quickly gets infeasible due to distance (ammon's mudway isn't nearly that technical, and it's still too long to be particularly practical).

but it's fun to check out ... let us know what you think.

On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 2:41 PM, Bret Lobree <blo...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Jacky Schuler]

Mudway???

[Eric Altendorf]

Ammon's Midway -- google it :-)

[Jacky Schuler]

That looks awesome! Probably a ride for a weekend for me though.

-- jacky

I'm riding my bicycle across Zambia to fight AIDS and poverty. Please support me with a donation.

[Jason Thorpe]

On Jun 21, 2013, at 6:13 AM, Jacky Schuler <jackys...@gmail.com> wrote:

That looks awesome! Probably a ride for a weekend for me though.

Ammon and I did this one last year:

    http://app.strava.com/activities/33110457

...quite a lot of the mud was frozen, tho :-)

-- thorpej