A Ride
The A rides are led by the Alto Velo Racing Team and feature a hard, consistent pace for 3-5 hours of riding. The Sunday A Ride is the most challenging ride offered by Alto Velo. The Saturday A Ride offers a pace between the Saturday B Ride and the Sunday A Ride and is focused on endurance. Most routes will include shorter options in case you want to join for the first part but have afternoon commitments or don't (yet!) have the fitness to hang in for the whole ride. These rides do not stop often, so two full bottles and plenty of snacks are highly recommended.
Start Point: Summit Bicycles at 392 California Ave in Palo Alto
Start Time:
Saturday A Ride: Meet at 9 a.m. Roll at 9:10 a.m.
Sunday A Ride:
October - May: Meet at 9 a.m. Roll at 9:10 a.m.
June - September: Meet at 8 a.m. Roll at 8:10 a.m.
Pace: Fast. Expect to climb Old La Honda in 21 minutes or less.
Regroups: Rarely. Highly recommended that you know the route and/or download to your head unit.
Example route: https://www.strava.com/routes/10975526
The A Rides are subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules and all participants must sign an annual waiver.
See below for details of the upcoming rides as well as past rides.
Sunday A-Ride 3/8/26 - Pigeon Point
Feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had one of these on a Sunday right? It should be really nice out this weekend, so this should be a good one. My coach wants me to do “steady endurance” pace, so this should be about 3-3.5w/kg the whole time. We’ll have a quick water stop in Pescadero after the Cloverdale loop, but minimal stopping otherwise (I don’t want to wait for 15 minutes at the top of every climb).
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3254515217037370706
Summary: 84 miles / 8,100 feet: Summit Bicycles > OLH > 84 > Haskins > Cloverdale/Gazos Creek > Hwy 1 > Bean Hollow > Pescadero (water stop) > Stage > Bike Hut > Lobitos Creek > Tunitas > Kings > Summit Bicycles
Start: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: Meet 9 a.m., Leave 9:10 a.m. (also remember DST starts Sunday)
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: George Wehner
AVA-E 3/7/26 - Bonny Doon
8:30AM START
It’s another beautifully sunny day out, and there are no races this weekend which means the ability to destroy our bodies comfortably in a type 2 fun kind of way on a nice Saturday ride. I’ve been wanting to do this route for a while so take a look at the route link that’s what we’ll be doing. There are two water stops listed below. We can choose to stop at Pesky for coffee and pastries or find something further, I just don’t know where a good place to stop is. Stop lengths will depend on how much time we’re making up on the ride so we don’t get back too late. Pace will be 3.5w/kg. Note to meet at 8:30am.
Stops:
Pesky mile 31.4
Jamison mile 71.5
Summary: Page Mill —> West Alpine —> Pescadero —> Clover —> HWY1 —> Pine Flat —> China Grade —> Big Basin —> HWY9.
109 mi, 10,800 ft
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3444442616716402214
Start/End: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: meet 8:30AM, roll out 8:40am
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Rachel Hwang
AVA-E Saturday 2/28/26 Shake Shack
It’s looking sunny for the first half of the day, so going towards the coast! Route will be up Page Mill, along Skyline, stopping in Pescadero for a really quick water/coffee break at mile 39.5, loop around Purisma and Higgins Canyon, up Lobitos/Tunitas, down Kings to Shake Shack. Pescadero will be the only water stop so remember to fill up. My goal is to get to Shake Shack at a reasonable hour. Pace will be 3.5-34.0 w/kg on climbs, together on rollers, and will regroup at the top of each major hill.
Summary:
88mi, 8800ft
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3444442616716402214
Start/End: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: meet 9:00AM, roll out 9:10am
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Rachel Hwang
Saturday A ride 2/21- Kings - Hillsborough + Emerald Hills
I don’t entirely trust the weather to not turn this weekend, but for now its supposed to be nice and with an odd wind from the south. To make use of that wind we will start our ride on the noon-ride/spectrum route over to Kings. Then descend down to 92 before doing some smaller sharper climbs in Hillsborough and Emerald Hills on our way back. Not really sure what water stops are best, but like old store if we really need it, but more likely it will be the corner of Skyline and Crystal Springs is our first water stop. We will do loops on SkyFarm and Black Mountain Road and work our way back over to Palo Alto. We can get a coffee stop in either on the way back through crystal springs or at Emerald Hills Coffee Roasters.
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3459792156556993862
Summary: Alpine/portola/tripp, Kings, 92, Sky Farm, Black Mountain Road, Polhemus, Ralston, Hastings, crestview, Jefferson, Canada, Whisky Hill, Sandhill
Start: Summit Bikes Palo Alto
Time: Meet 9:00 AM, Leave 9:10 AM
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Hannon Ayer
Saturday A ride 2/14- OLH-Pescadero + Cloverdale
This week we’ll head towards the coast for a loop around Pescadero and Cloverdale. We’ll do stops at Sky Londa and Pescadero for water. People can send it on Old la Honda and West Alpine if interested, but lets keep the group together on the rollers/flat sections. Weather looks ok so far, but we can modify the route if it looks like some rain will move in. Rumor has it there will be a stop at Alpine Inn at the end of the ride for interested parties.
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3456864894159130310
Summary: Sandhill, Old la Honda, Skylonda, San Gregorio, Cloverdale loop, Pescadero, West Alpine, Pagemill
Start: Summit Bikes Palo Alto
Time: Meet 9:00 AM, Leave 9:10 AM
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Steph Hart
Sunday A-ride 2/8/26 — Bohlman/Soda Springs/Hwy9 + AVRT picture day
As the race season started, it’s time to do some long steady effort! We will do three major climbs 🏔️ — Bohlman, Soda Springs (not full climb, just first 6k then we’ll go down a side road), and Hwy9 from Saratoga. Feel free to go as hard as you want on the climbs, but I’ll try to (until fail) set a steady ~4.2 w/kg tempo, with regroup on the top of each climb. We will also check out cat’s hill course and have a ☕ coffee break in Los Gatos. Lots of places you can bail on this route, and the view around Lexington reservoir is always incredible — hope to see you there!🌊✨
Note: If you are on the race team and miss the Saturday photo shot, Wil will be there at the start on Sunday too!
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3454006010880478546
Start/End: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: meet 9:00 am & roll out 9:10 am. Race team - meet 8:30 & wear team kit for photos
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Jack Liu
Saturday A Ride: Butano Gravel + AVRT picture day, 2/7/26
Hello everyone! The weather is warming up & there hasn’t been rain for awhile, which means it’s a perfect weekend for Butano, the back door into Big Basin. This is my favorite ride in the area, hands down. We will start by climbing dirt alpine, and going allll the way down west alpine to Portola State Park for a brief water stop. We will then traverse Old Haul Road, the first dirt section, down to Pescadero. We’ll briefly stop for a coffee/pastry/water - the last water stop for about 2 hours. The real fun begins after, where we climb Butano fire road, where, at its peak, you can see all the way to Monterey. After ten miles of gravel, we are spit out onto China grade/big basin, where we will climb up highway 9 to the fire station for water. After the fire station, we’ll head down skyline, -> page mill -> summit. This is a big, beautiful ride so we’ll try to make efficient stops to allow for time spent dismounting to hop over trees and taking photos at the old air field.
Note: If you are on the race team, please arrive to Summit at 8:30 & wear team kit for photos :)
Equipment: Gravel bike
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3454294432426423576
Start/End: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: meet 9:00 am & roll out 9:10 am. Race team - meet 8:30 & wear team kit for photos
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Wil Gibb
AVA-E: PM-Jamison-Soda Springs 1/31/2026
Hi all,
A little birdie told me that there was no AVA-E ride in the works for Saturday and that made me sad :(
So I came up with this little route to fill the ride shaped void in my heart :)
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3416627466380533656
~108 mi, 12300 ft
Start: 9 AM at Summit Bikes, rolling out at 9:10
Pace: Endurance on flats/rollers. 3-3.5 W/kg on climbs longer than 5 mins. Choose your own adventure on descents.
Regroups: Top and bottom of long climbs/descents
Stops: Water at Jamison Creek Rd fire station, gas station at Felton, water stop after the Lexington reservoir gravel connector.
Ride “leader”: Paddy
P.S. Soda Springs climb can be tackled/skipped by popular vote. But I’m in favor!!!
P.P.S. I heard there might be some Shake Shack-ery. So somebody please get on the front and pull so we can make it back on time
Sunday A Ride 2/1 - Team Pescadero Loop
For Sunday, we will meet at Summit Bicycles as a team and head to Pescadero via Old La Honda. We will then take in the nature on the west side of the mountain range by riding along stage, and head back to Skyline via Tunitas. From there we will descend back down King’s Mountain with caution, headed back to Summit Bicycles.
There will be a coffee stop along the way, but otherwise we will aim to keep stops to a minimum with the option to add on some more miles at the end of the ride.
66.26 mi, 6,554 ft
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3244363266010356798
Start/End: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: meet 9:00 am & roll out 9:10 am
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Jack Lund
Sunday A Ride 1/25 - HMB to Pescadero
On Sunday, we will make our way to from Summit Bicycles over to Kings Mountain then follow skyline up to 92 and descend over into half moon bay, where will will make a stop for water and baked goods. Then we’ll make our way down the coast with detours from 1 up Higgins and down Purissma creek then down stage road into Pescadero, where we will make a second stop to re up on water. We will then go up Pescadero creek to West Alpine and finally down Page Mill to finish.
I’m going to keep the pace chill for the entire ride, around 3-3.5 W/kg. If folks want to go crazy on the two big climbs, thats great and we can regroup at the top.
80 mi, 8,200 ft
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3449538991184377284
Start/End: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: meet 9:00 am & roll out 9:10 am
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Jon Wells
AVA-E: HMB-Pesky 1/24/2026
Matthew Y was just so convincing on the slack so I decided to lead this week. Up Kings, down Tuni. HMB, down 1 to stage into pescadero, up haskins and west alp, down page. I’m not Steph so I’m not going to ask for a PR lead out on the climbs, but usual AVA-E pace.
top of kings, HMB, Pescadero, others as needed. We can figure out on the way whether we want a long stop in HMB or in pesky
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3449835267345628906
Start: Summit Bikes Palo Alto
Time: Meet 9:00 AM, Leave 9:05 AM
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Hannon
Sunday A-Ride 1/18 — HW1 Pacifica to Pescadero
I’ve led variations of this route before and I’ll lead many more. We’re going North on Skyline to Pacifica, then flipping it and taking HW1 allllllll the way down the coast to Pescadero. Our orophobia can’t last forever though, and we’ll struggle up West Alpine to make it back home. It’s all about ~balance~
The pace will be chill going up the small hills in the first 75% of the ride — I don’t plan on being over 3.5 w/kg for a single second. On the flats we’ll work together and it’ll be a choose-your-own-intensity. Take long pulls at the front if you’re up to it, or camp out at the back as designated caboose if you’re bonked. Stops will include a quick water stop at Devil’s Slide, a proper coffee stop in Half Moon Bay, and another café stop at the Loma Mar Store. After Loma Mar, you have free rein — ride up West Alpine at 8 w/kg if that’s your thing.
94mi, 7,664 ft
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3447444120081429216
Start/End: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: meet 9:00 am & roll out 9:10 am
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: David Domonoske
AVA-E: Big Basin 1/17
Saturday looks sunny, so lets take advantage of the nice whether and ride Big Basin for the first time this year. Route is up Page Mill, skyline to Saratoga pass; Big Basin to Boulder Creek + Bear Creek Rd. climb, and then descend via Hwy 9.
We’ll regroup at the top of Page mill and Bear Creek. Water stops will be the fire station on Jamison Creek Rd and Castle Rock. Pace is 3.5-4 W/kg.
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3446327614522147270
Start: Summit Bikes Palo Alto
Time: Meet 9:00 AM, Leave 9:05 AM
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Steph Hart
[East Bay] Sunday A-ride 1/11 - Wildcat Canyon, Grizzly Peak
This Sunday, we’ll head to the Berkeley Hills via Redwood Road. We’ll do one loop of the Berkeley Hills Road Race route, then continue up Wildcat Canyon (the slope failure repair is done and it should be open to all), turn onto Grizzly Peak Blvd, and head back to the start. We’ll aim to maintain a good pace (~3 W/kg). You’re always welcome to push hard on the climbs—we’ll regroup at the top.
You can take BART: it’s about a 10-minute ride from the Castro Valley BART Station to the start. We’ll also pass the Orinda BART Station around 10 a.m., so you can join us there (at Camino Pablo).
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3445200163807559650
Summary: 72 miles / 6, 525 feet
Start: Castro Valley Community Park
Time: Meet 9:00 AM, Leave 9:10 AM
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Vasyl Stokolosa
Sunday A-ride 1/11 Boulder Creek-Zayante (Hutchinson)
This week we’re going to Zayante through Boulder Creek. Instead of the usual Zayante Rd, we will take the Hutchinson Rd for some adventures! Pace = ~4 (+/- 0.5) w/kg on climbs, regroup on top/bottom of all climbs and descends. Hope to see you there!
We will take a longer rest stop at Zayante market @ mile 40
80mi, 8100ft
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3444749372743569010
Start/End: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: meet 9:00AM, roll out 9:10am
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Jack Liu
Saturday AVA-E 1/10/26 - Kings & Pacifica
We’ll be doing a nice fun ride to the coast on Saturday, but not without some climbing. We’ll head up Kings and take Skyline to Pacifica, stop in Half Moon Bay for coffee and pastries, up Lobitos Creek and Tunitas before we go back down Kings into Palo Alto.
Pace will be 3.0-3.5 w/kg on climbs and we will regroup at the following areas and for water for about 5-10 minutes. Regroups:
14.7mi: Regroup at top of Kings
51.7mi: Coffee & Pastries at Half Moon Bay
67.5mi: Regroup at top of Tunitas
Summary:
82mi, 7800ft
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3444442616716402214
Start/End: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: meet 9:00AM, roll out 9:10am
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Rachel Hwang
Saturday A-ride 1/3 - Calaveras Reservoir
Hope everyone have a happy new year! While there’s a slight chance of rain this Saturday, the weather on Saturday still looks better than that on Sunday and might be you’re only chance to ride outside. To dodge the rain, we will go to east bay through Dumbarton bridge to Calaveras. We will regroup at Sunol Corners (26.7 mile) for water and food before heading to Calaveras Rd. Then a small detour to check out Marsh Rd before heading back through Dumbarton. If it starts to rain, we can cut it short through Milpitas/Alviso. As it’s mostly flat, I expect steady pace line (3.5~4 w/kg at the front) most of the time except the hilly part by Calaveras reservoir. Hope to see you there!
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3441973094323877048 - 77 miles / 3,152 feet
Start: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto. Meet 9:00 AM, Roll 9:10 AM
Ride Etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Jack Liu
Sunday A-Ride 12/28 - Pacifica & Tunitas
Hello,
This Sunday, the A-Ride heads north to Pacifica. After a quick stop there, we’ll continue down to Half Moon Bay and then roll along Highway 1 before heading over Lobitos/Tunitas and descending Kings Mountain. We’ll keep things steady at an endurance pace on both the flats and the climbs.
Hope to see you there!
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3439403907635926460 - 83 miles / 6,700 feet
Start: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto. Meet 9:00 AM, Roll 9:10 AM
Ride Etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Henry Mallon
Saturday A Ride 12/27 - Pigeon Point/West Alpine
Hello friends, for the final Saturday ride of 2025 we will go to the ocean via OLH/84, grab a snack in Pescadero, and climb back up Haskins and West Alpine. Word on the street is there may be a PR train going up OLH which you are welcome to follow, but you’ll have to wait for the rest of us doing the usual steady 3 w/kg pace.
There will likely be lots of road debris from the rain so please descend with care, so that we can make it to Shake Shack in one piece and enjoy our free milkshakes!
I hope you will join us for some sunshine by the coast!
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3439403907635926460 - 83mi / 6,800ft
Start: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto. Meet 9:00 AM, Roll 9:10 AM
Ride Etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Richard Red
Saturday A Ride 12/13 - Pescadero to Pizza Party
Hello friends, I hope you have been staying warm lately. The thought of getting to climb OLH, Haskins, and Tunitas this weekend just made me so excited!! However, you’ll have to do it with me at a reasonable pace of 2.5-3.0 w/kg (as in, like almost a 30 minute OLH) because I am in deep winter mode and can’t go any faster. We’ll regroup at the top of each climb as usual but will try to minimize stopping aside from a brief snack stop in Pescadero, because near the end of the ride we have a mysterious pizza party awaiting us on Crestview 👀 (maybe, pizza is not guaranteed, if there’s no pizza I’m down to get some afterwards if anyone would like 👉👈)
Come join us for a sunny day of climbing to the coast!
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3434401508808457992 - 78mi / 7,800ft
Start: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto. Meet 9:00 AM, Roll 9:10 AM
Ride Etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Richard Red