Bohlman/On Orbit, Black Road &
China Grade. Only 55 miles, but plenty of classic steep grades!
(If you're looking for something a bit
longer and starting from Woodside, check out our
"Boony Doon Century" page)
Like so many
of the rides on this website, this one is a "greatest hits" version,
a ride whose features would be commonly found in a 100+mile epic
ride, but it's been condensed to 55 miles of just the good
stuff. We started our ride at Saratoga High School, less than
a mile east of the Saratoga/Highway 9 intersection.
You start out on Highway 9 through Saratoga, and, for a very brief
period of time, you're looking forward to an alternative to the
traffic.
Brief
because, in no time at all you're making a left turn onto 6th Street
and heading up. Way up. Strange that I've lived on the
Peninsula all of my life, and this was the first time I'd ever been
up this near-legendary climb. For Sal and I, it probably felt
harder than it really was because we had no warm-up to speak of,
just straight up this wall. Yes, the views are incredible, but
so is the stinging from the salty sweat streaming into your eyes.
At one point it got so steep that I honestly thought I might have to
get off the bike and walk for a bit... this was definitely a hill
worthy of the lowest-possible gear (and I'd "temporarily" switched
my 12-27 to an experimental 12-26 six months ago and was
thinking about how much easier it would be with that slightly-lower
gear!).
At the end of
Bohlman, most people head back down the hill. Not us. On
the map, it shows a dirt road that runs across the ridge and down
towards Lexington Reservoir. The left photo shows the dirt
road that goes off to the right, just before Bohlman ends. You
head down this a ways to the gate shown in the right photo, and continue
on through.
No need for a
road bike to be scared of a little dirt! Besides, it's only
for a couple of miles. At one point there's a fork in the
road, with the main road seeming to go left and a less-traveled
section going to the right. Head right. If you go left,
it appears you can still get down to Lexington Reservoir, but it
will be a very long, entirely dirt road. Head right and you'll
shortly find yourself on Montevina, a narrow, twisty road that winds
through a neighborhood whose price of admission is in many multiples
of millions of dollars.
There are a couple stretches of flat road on this ride, but not
many! Your next hilly encounter will be Black Road, seen on
the right. Below Sal has found water at Lakeside School, about
a mile up the climb.
Alba, Jamison
Creek, Felton-Empire, China Grade... they've all got pieces of road
that look just like this section on Black Road. What makes
them worth climbing is the beauty of the surroundings and a relative
lack of car traffic.
Black Road
ends up on top of Skyline, your second significant hilltop of the
day. This part of Skyline bears little resemblance to what you
find further north, as the road is so narrow and twisty that even
motorcycles tend to shun it. Thus the perfect road for
bicycles!
After heading south a few
miles on Skyline you descend Bear Creek towards Boulder Creek.
This is a fairly fast, straightforward descent.
At Boulder Creek is the
obligatory stop at Johnnie's Supermarket. The well-stocked
cooler with cold drinks is immediately to the right as you walk in.
From Boulder Creek you
head north a bit on 236, but instead of riding through Big Basin...
...you take the China
Grade cutoff. A nice, scenic alternative to the
heavily-trafficked 236.
But the BOD (Bridge of
Death) awaits! Cross this creek and you'll find yourself on
the third significant climb of the day.
This is my second time up
China Grade with a camera, and I still don't have a photo that
really shows how steep it is. You'll have to take Sal's word
for it.
China Grade takes you to
the top part of 236, avoiding the loop through Big Basin. This
is the end of 236, where it hits Highway 9 at Waterman Gap.
From Waterman Gap to the
top of Skyline is a 6 mile climb, with no significant steep parts.
After Bohlman, Black Road and China Grade, it's easy!
Approaching the
intersection of Highway 9 and Skyline. It's literally all
downhill from here.
And back in Saratoga to
end the ride. 55 miles, and about 7100 feet of climbing.
Above is a profile produced by the
excellent
"Klimb" program, which can be used to map most of the more
popular road rides in the SF Bay Area.
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