4/27 B-Ride: Portola Redwoods

This edition of the beloved B Ride will take you into a gem of the Santa Cruz Mountains: Portola Redwoods State Park. We will exit town via Page Mill Road and regroup at the top, rolling at a 52-minute pace. We will descend West Alpine and Portola State Park Road and regroup at the ranger station at the bottom. Fill up your water, and start the 20-minute climb back up to West Alpine Road, where we will regroup a third time. We will proceed down West Alpine single-file. Then, we will climb 84 back up to Sky Londa and regroup at the general store. As a coda to the ride, we will descend 84 into Woodside, and climb through Huddart Park, regrouping at the top. Our final stop will be the Village Hub Coffee Bar & Garden in Woodside. For those who wish to return to Palo Alto, descend Whiskey Hill Road and Sand Hill Road, turn right on Junipero Serra Boulevard, and left on Stanford Avenue.

Ride Leader: James Biddle (Strava)

Distance: 46 miles

Elevation: 5,700 feet

Route Link (RWGPS)

Summary: Page Mill -> West Alpine -> State Park -> West Alpine -> La Honda Rd -> Tripp -> Huddart -> Kings -> Coffee

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM from Summit Bicycles - Palo Alto

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride April 20, 2024 - Coastal Classic

Saturday is looking good, a perfect opportunity for another B ride to the coast

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location

Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40102681

~56 miles and 5,100 ft

Start Time

Meet: 9 AM

Leave: 9:12 AM

Ride Leader

Clayton

Planned Regroups:
Portola Road and Alpine Road (water)
Skylonda (water)
La Honda
Bike Hut (water)
Woodside Stores Park (water)
Sharon Park Drive

Non-Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

Ride Etiquette https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules

AV-B Ride April 13, 2024 - Flaturday

Hi AV-Bers,

The weather gods have frowned upon us once more, so we’re going to do a mostly flat ride down to Los Gatos (thanks Hannon for the route!).
We’ll head up Elena, regrouping at the base at the intersection with El Monte, before heading down Foothill to Mt Eden and Pierce where the next regroup will be at the top of Pierce. We’ll then go through Saratoga and Los Gatos to Kennedy Rd, regrouping at the top again, then head back to Los Gatos for a water stop. Our final stop will be at McClellan Ranch before taking Foothill back to Backyard Brew (assuming we’re not too wet by then).

Hope to see you there,
Louise

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route
Flaturday
55 miles, 3700 feet

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader
Louise

Regroups:
- Corner of Elena and El Monte
- Top of Pierce
- Top of Kennedy
- Downtown Los Gatos (water)
- McClellan Ranch (water)
- Backyard Brew

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

Ride Etiquette https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules

AV-B Ride April 6, 2024 - Going on a bear hunt

Hi AV-Bers!

This week we’re going to see if we can find any bears on Bear Gulch Rd. We’ll start by climbing Page Mill, then take Skyline to Sky Londa before tackling Bear Gulch. Whether or not there are bears, we can still check out the path that leads to Neil Young’s ranch. After that we’ll continue along Skyline, stopping at the top of Tunitas to regroup, and return on Cañada with a water stop at the water temple.

Hope to see you there,
Louise

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route
Going on a bear hunt
57 miles, 5820 ft

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader
Louise

Regroups:
- top of Page Mill
- Sky Londa (water)
- bottom of Bear Gulch
- top of Tunitas
- the water temple (water)
- Sand Hill & Sharon Park Dr

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

Ride Etiquette https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules

The 3rd climb is easy

This week's ride was planned to take us up 2 hills that I’ve never climbed with AV; it’s a long way to the first stop with water so please plan accordingly. The first climb I’ve not done with AV is  Los Trancos Rd just past Alpine Hills Tennis club on Alpine road. It’s a short steep climb that always leaves me wondering “what was I thinking?” We’ll stop quickly at Alpine and Los Trancos so everyone can start the climb together. Stop 2 will be another quickie at the intersection of Vista Verde and Old Spanish Trail, neither of these have water. Stop 3 will be the base of Old La Honda for another quick regroup, then up OLH and Skyline to the first water stop at Page Mill/Alpine and Skyline; down Alpine and Pescadero Creek road then up 84 to Skylonda and a nice long regroup. We’ll descend 84 to Portola, Sand Hill and back to Foothills to coffee and a burrito. There are a couple of twists and turns on this route that are uncommon on the Saturday B-ride so please download the route to your head unit if you have one. 

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route
The 3rd climb is easy
55 miles, 5500 ft

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader
Clayton Keller

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride March 23, 2024 - Los Gatos Start to Umunhum

This weekend is the Cat’s Hill Classic Race in Los Gatos and the B-Ride start/finish will be temporarily relocating to Summit Bikes in Los Gatos to give the chance to cheer on club members racing in the various categories. The Alto Velo Race Team will have a tent setup by the circuit so please take the opportunity to head over and support the various races before and after the ride.

Taking advantage of the temporary change in start location the B-ride will be heading to Mt Umunhum for a short but climb heavy route.

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles, Los Gatos

Route
Lost Gatos, Quicksilver, Umunhum

42 miles, 5100 ft

https://www.strava.com/routes/3203086267494332442

Start Time
Meet: 930 AM
Leave: 9:35 AM

Ride Leader: Simon

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride March 16, 2024 - Alpine, OLH, and Star Hill

This edition of the beloved B Ride will take you up several spectacular climbs in the Mountains of Southern San Mateo County. We will take our standard base terrain route North on Page Mill to Arastradero before climbing to the top of paved Alpine Rd. This will be our first regroup before continuing onto Old La Honda (our largest climb of the day). We will traverse Skyline from there to our next stop at Skywood Trading Post for water, food, and bathrooms.

We will then ascend Skyline and regrouping at the top of Tunitas Creek Rd. From there we will cap off the ride with an out and back on Star Hill Road, one of the best “roads less traveled” of the San Mateo Mountains. After regrouping at Tunitas and Skyline we will make our way to Backyard Brew via Kings, Mountain Home, and Sand Hill.

The weather looks fantastic and the pace will be forgiving.

-James

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route
Alpine, OLH, and Star Hill
51 miles, 5200 ft

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader: James

Regroups:

1. Top of Alpine

2. Skywood Trading Post

3. Top of Tunitas

4. Top of Star Hill

6. Tripp and Kings

7. Backyard Brew

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride March 9, 2024 - Montebello and the 9

Hi AVB-ers!

The forecast looks promising for Saturday so we’ll attempt to make it up to Skyline. Let’s hold a steady pace to keep the group together going through Los Altos Hills and Foothill, then feel free to go as fast as you want up Montebello because we’ll be regrouping at the top. After that, we’ll descend to a water stop at Stevens Canyon Picnic Area, before climbing Redwood Gultch and the I9. We’ll then make our way along Skyline, descend Page Mill, and go to Backyard Brew for coffee.
If the weather turns shitty I may end up changing the plan.

Hope to see you there
- Louise


The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route
Montebello and the 9
52 miles, 6000 ft

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader
Louise

Regroups:
- Top of Montebello
- Stevens Canyon Picnic Area (water)
- Skyline fire station
- Top of Page Mill
- Bottom of Page Mill at Arastradero
- Backyard Brew

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride March 2, 2024 - Rain cancelation

With wind and rain forecast for today and tomorrow, it’s not looking promising for riding outdoors.
Feel free to do the rain route if the weather clears up, but we won’t have an official leader.

Otherwise, if you’re on Zwift, Matt Flanzer has created a Saturday AV-Z ride starting at 9am here

AV-B Ride February 24, 2024 - Coastal Classic

Saturday is looking good weather wise so it seems like a perfect opportunity for another B ride to the coast

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location

Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40102681

~56 miles and 5,100 ft

Start Time

Meet: 9 AM

Leave: 9:12 AM

Ride Leader

Simon

Planned Regroups:
Portola Road and Alpine Road (water)
Skylonda (water)
La Honda
Bike Hut (water)
Woodside Stores Park (water)
Sharon Park Drive

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

Ride Etiquette https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules

AV-B Ride February 10 2024 - Kings and Flintstones

Hi AVB-ers!

The weather is looking nice and sunny for Saturday (touch wood) so let’s take advantage of it. For this route I was inspired by Hannon’s Kings & Hills ride a couple of months ago, but decided to add a detour to see the Flintstones house. We’ll start out by climbing Kings, then descend Skyline and 92 to regroup at Crystal Springs. After that, we’ll take a tour of Hillsborough and regroup at the Flintstones house, before taking the hilly way home via Crestview and Emerald Hills.

Hope to see you there
- Louise


The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route
Kings and Flintstones
56 miles, 5300 ft

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader
Louise

Regroups:
- Roberts (water)
- Top of Kings
- Crystal Springs (water)
- Flintstone house
- Lake Rd Trail (water)
- Top of Crestview
- Top of Jefferson

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

Ride Etiquette https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules

AV-B Ride February 3 2024 - Up Page Down 9

It seems like we will have a weather window for our Saturday rides so lets get a good one in. We will climb up Page Mill by way of Moody and then take skyline to Hwy 9 for the descent into Saratoga. After Saratoga we will sneak through the neighborhood onto Mount Eden and then through Stevens Canyon to Foothill and h

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location

Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route

Up Page Down 9

49 miles 4800 ft

Start Time

Meet: 9 AM

Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader

Hannon

Regroups:
Top of Page (water)

Top of 9

Saratoga (water)

Stevens Canyon Reservoir

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

Ride Etiquette https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules

AV-B Ride January 27, 2024 - Coastal Classic

Saturday is looking fairly positive weather wise so it seems like a good chance to head to the coast.

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location

Summit Bicycles, California Ave

Route

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40102681

~56 miles and 5,100 ft

Start Time

Meet: 9 AM

Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader

Simon

Regroups:
Portola Road and Alpine Road (water)
Skylonda (water)
La Honda
Bike Hut (water)
Woodside Stores Park (water)
Sharon Park Drive

Non - Members:
Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

Ride Etiquette https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules

AV-B Ride January 20, 2024 - Hopefully Skyline

The planned route for the ride is out to Redwood Gulch, 9 and West Old La Honda but with the weather forecast shifting when rain is due this may get changed depending on the conditions on the day.

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles

Route
RWG/9/WOLH

https://www.strava.com/routes/3131849625119253010
55 miles, 5,000 feet

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader
Simon

Regroups:
Stevens Canyon Road and Mt Eden Road
Firestation 21 on Skyline
Page Mill and Skyline
Skylonda
Skylonda again
Portola Road and Alpine Road

Non-Members

Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Blank forms may be found on our website at: https://www.bikereg.com/alto-velo-guest-waiver

Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride January 13, 2024 - Flaturday

Happy New Year AV-Bers!

More rain projected for this weekend so we will be staying on the (mostly) flats today, but heading south instead. First we will go up through Elena onto El Monte, then Foothill into Stevens Canyon to do Mt Eden and Pierce. After Regrouping top of Pierce, we will ride down through Los Gatos to do Shannon Road onto Kennedy, back through Los Gatos and Saratoga to get onto Foothill by way of McClellan Ranch to head home.

Regroups at:

Corner of Elena and El Monte (water nearby at the Foothill track if needed)

Top of Pierce

Downtown Los Gatos (on the way back, water here)

McClellan Ranch (water)

Hope to see you there!
Hannon

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles

Route
Flaturday
55 miles, 3700 feet

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader
Hannon

Regroups:
Corner of Elena and El Monte (water nearby at the Foothill track if needed)

Top of Pierce

Downtown Los Gatos (on the way back, water here)

McClellan Ranch (water)

Backyard Brew (unless we’re all soaked by that point)

Non-Members

Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Blank forms may be found on our website at: https://www.bikereg.com/alto-velo-guest-waiver

Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride January 6, 2024 - Racing the Rain

Happy New Year AV-Bers!

The current forecast is for rain starting around noon on Saturday, so let’s see how much of this route we can do before it hits. I’ve kept it local, so there are a few bail-out points if it rains earlier than expected.
🔼 Altamont 🔽 Page Mill 🔼 Alpine & Joaquin 🔼 Huddart Park ▶ the Maze 🔼🔽 Jefferson

Hope to see you there!
Louise

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location
Summit Bicycles

Route
Racing the rain
~46 miles and 4,000 ft

Start Time
Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader
Louise

Regroups:
- Page Mill and Arastradero
- top of Joaquin
- Tripp after descending Kings
- top of Jefferson at the fire station
- Backyard Brew (unless we’re all soaked by that point)

Non-Members

Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Blank forms may be found on our website at: https://www.bikereg.com/alto-velo-guest-waiver

Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride December 23, 2023 - Page and Bohlman

Hello AV-Bers,

The rain has cleared so it’s time for another free post-ride coffee AV-B! Let’s start the holiday week off right by taking a trip down to Saratoga via Page Mill. From there we’ll have a ‘choose your own adventure’ climb up Bohlman where those looking to trim some elevation can opt for an earlier turn-around point on Bohlman before we regroup in Saratoga for water. We’ll round out the ride on Foothill and finish at Backyard Brew for some free post-ride coffee.

Looking forward to seeing everyone out there!
- Tanner

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location

Summit Bicycles

Route

Page and Bohlman
~54 miles and 6,600 ft

Start Time

Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader

Tanner

Regroups:
- Top of Page Mill

- The firestation on Skyline

- Saratoga (water)

- Corner of Stevens Canyon and Mt Eden

- Backyard Brew

Non-Members

Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Blank forms may be found on our website at: https://www.bikereg.com/alto-velo-guest-waiver

Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride December 16 2023 - OLH, Portola State Park and West Alpine

Hello AV-Bers,

Make sure you have your climbing legs ready because this week we’re going to be tackling three climbs: Old La Honda, Portola State Park Rd, and West Alpine. Descending West Alpine was pretty chilly when I did it last weekend, so I’m hoping climbing it will be a bit more pleasant. We’ll regroup at the top and bottom of each climb and finish at Backyard Brew for coffee.

Hope to see you there!
- Louise

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Start / End Location

Summit Bicycles

Route

https://www.strava.com/routes/3170491067898423704
~50 miles and 5,700 ft

Start Time

Meet: 9 AM
Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader

Louise

Regroups:
- corner of Alpine & Portola
- Sky Londa (water)
- La Honda
- Portola State Park
- top of West Alpine
- Page Mill and Arastradero

Non-Members

Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Blank forms may be found on our website at: https://www.bikereg.com/alto-velo-guest-waiver

Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride December 9 2023 - Kings, Hillsborough, Crestview, Emerald Hills

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

I wanted to do Kings last week but it was rained out, lets try again. Get your legs ready though because I don’t like Cañada so we are taking the hilly way home.

Start / End Location

Summit Bicycles

Route

https://www.strava.com/routes/3168099222079228966

~53 miles and 5,000 ft

Start Time

Meet: 9 AM

Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader

Hannon

Regroups:
Roberts (water)

Old Store (water)

Top of Kings

Crystal Springs (water)

Top of Crestview

Cordilleras+Ralston (quick)

Top of Jefferson (quick)

Non-Members

Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Blank forms may be found on our website at: https://www.bikereg.com/alto-velo-guest-waiver

Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.

AV-B Ride December 2 2023 - Joaquin, Kings and Swett

The AV B Ride is subject to Alto Velo's Ride Rules (read them!)

Twist on the Kings and Swett ride this week with a Joaquin appetizer.

Start / End Location

Summit Bicycles

Route

https://www.strava.com/routes/3165388773709426160

~55 miles and 5,000 ft

Start Time

Meet: 9 AM

Leave: 9:10 AM

Ride Leader

Simon

Regroups:
Portola Road and Alpine Road (water)
Portola Road and Alpine Road Again (water)
Kings and Skyline
Top of Swett
Water Temple (water)
Sharon Park Drive

Non-Members

Alto Velo welcomes non-members to join us on our rides. However, non-members must have a Waiver on file with the club. Blank forms may be found on our website at: https://www.bikereg.com/alto-velo-guest-waiver

Filling out the waiver is only required one time per year.