Road Bike Rides in the Bay area
These road rides are located in and around the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Happy Riding!
Skyline - Pinehurst - Redwood - This is the granddaddy of road rides in our area. Quiet roads, great turns, and hills that are easy enough for beginners and still intense climbing for pros. We recommend you definitely pick up EBBC's East Bay riding map, which we sell. There are various routes to get up to Skyline, and of course the length of ride can vary also. Here are two of the most popular climbs:
Getting there - Tunnel Rd: Go over the Park Street Bridge - Embarcadero - Right on Oak - On Grand Ave. around Lake Merritt - Stay on Grand Ave. turns into Pleasant Valley - Right on Broadway - Stay and veer right when Broadway crosses Hwy 24, you'll go parallel to 24 for a mile - Cross Hwy 24 - Left at end of overpass - Hairpin right up Tunnel. From there, you'll reach Skyline Blvd. You can then continue for a few miles and take a left down Pinehurst, right on Redwood, leads to Skyline Blvd again. You can then veer right back into Skyline Blvd or go straight down Joaquin Miller Blvd.
Getting there - Fruitvale: Go over Fruitvale Bridge - Fruitvale turns into Lyman as hill begins (Dimond Park will be to left) - L Tiffin, R Waterhouse, L Leimert Pl, Hairpin R to Leimert Blvd - Veer right on Mountain Blvd, go up hill - L on Joaquin Miller - Go over Hwy 13 overpass, quick right through bike lane, emerge Burdeck - Becomes Butter - As you go down you'll take left onto Crestmont Drive, you'll hit a short monster hill to Skyline Blvd. From there, you can take left and go down Joaquin Miller (for short ride), take left then right onto Skyline Blvd (you can take right on Pinehurst), or take right then left down Redwood (you'll take a left on Pinehurst).
Three Bears - This is the most well-known loop in the East Bay, and for good reason. About a 30-mile loop, it becomes a 45-mile trek if you ride from Alameda. The "three bears" are hit in succession if you take a clockwise route on Bear Creek Road - Mama is a long grinder of a hill, Papa is shorter but a bit steeper, and Baby is an easy end back home. Definitely a must-do for all road cyclists.
Getting there - Alameda: Get up Skyline (the quickest is up Tunnel), and left on Wildcat Canyon - Stay on Wildcat until main intersection w/Tilden Park on the right & Campus on the left - Right on Shasta Road to Wildcat Canyon - Left on San Pablo Dam Road - Right on Alhambra Valley Road - Right on Bear Creek Rd - Back up Wildcat Canyon OR Left on Camino Pablo to Moraga Way - Right on Canyon to Pinehurst - Go left or right to other side of canyon.
Getting there - BART: Take Orinda BART and go up Camino Pablo, which turns into San Pablo Blvd.
Mt. Diablo - If you want to feel like a "King of the Mountains" champ, go up Mt. Diablo, the most visible mountain in the East Bay at almost 4000 feet above sea level. Surprisingly, despite its intimidating name and sight, it contains zero steep climbs until the very last 500 feet to the peak. Long, yes, and hot during summer mid-days. There are two routes up the mountain, north gate and south gate. North gate is a bit longer with more climbs, but closer to Walnut Creek BART.
Getting there - North Gate: Take Walnut Creek BART or Hwy 24 exiting Ygnacio Valley Road - Right on Walnut Ave to roundabout - Head into the road & take Left on North Gate Road.
Getting there - South Gate: Take Hwy 24 to 680 South - Exit Left off El Cerro Blvd - becomes Diablo Road - Left on Mt. Diablo Scenic Blvd.
