cfforum

Davey, I tried your new route this evening and added a few twists; spectacular ride my friend!

I took off about 4:30pm from Livermore Park in Folsom. It was one of those evenings I just needed to get in some steady miles with some climbing so I left the Garmin GPS and the heart rate monitor at home and just went out riding with not much of a plan at all.

My Specialized Allez Comp was begging to do Beatty so I went down McAdoo to Iron Point and then up to, and over, Costco Hill. A left on Sophia Parkway led me to Alexandra, then two rights put me on Beatty.

As I crested Beatty and work my way up Katie Way, onto Powers and over to Wilson Blvd I remembered that DaveyD mentioned a new route to me and, since it was easily reachable from my present location, I decided to try it out.

I bottomed out on Wilson, went right on EDH blvd and then left on Serrano Parkway. I must be getting really old because as I was getting into rythm on Serrano in my 42/23 gear combination my head started playing a Barry Manilow song, appropriately titled, "I write the songs". What the ...? I made a note to myself to check my closet when I returned home to see if I had any pairs of Rockport shoes in there, if so, I will need to start checking the obituaries every morning to see if I should bother getting out of bed.

By then I reached the top of the climb, rolled over the otherside and climbed rest of Serrano to the end where I made a right, headed down the Bass Lake rd and began the new route that DaveyD related to me.

About half a mile down Bass Lake road I made a left on Hollow Oak and began a nice climb up past Angels View road, crested out, and descended quickly down to the end of the road. ??? Which way do I go? That's when I remebered that DaveyD said he had the same issue when he first rode the route. I knew there was a way out so rode around a little and found the way out.

As you're descending Hollow Oak you should make a right on Samuel and follow it around. On your right there is an Emergency Access Road that is nicely paved and about 1/2 block long; it connects the new neighborhood to an an older one. As you exit the Emergency Access Road it becomes Castana Road. I followed it all the way to the end and turned Left on Country Club road. A mile or so later I turned left again on Cambridge and rode in the shade of the trees all the way up to Green Valley road where I turned left.

While descending on Green Valley road I felt like I needed a few more miles and a few more hills so I turned left on Deer Valley Road (not that way we usually go on Deer Valley road, but the opposite direction: south). This is a gated community with walk through gate on the right that is not locked. It's easy to get through.

I went through the gate and climbed to the top of Deer Valley and then made a right on Jane Way. I rode to the end of Jane Way and made a left on Clarksville road; going about 100 yards and coming to another gate that does not open. No worries, I lifted my bike over and set it down on the other side - making a note to be sure my water bottles were close up tight next time so that I would dump sticky mix/water all over my head next time.

I then climbed over the fence (easy work, it's perfectly constructed for easy climbing, it's also not too dificult to slide between the barbwire section of the fence just to the right of the gate.

Once on the other side I was now in Serrano Country Club and turned right on Greenview road. I followed Greenview to Greyson Creek where I made a right, then left on Errante drive and left on Sangiovese drive. A Cadillac passed me and I decided to sprint after it and take a tow down to the gate that leads out onto Appian Way. This worked out perfectly as the Cadillac opened the gate and I was able to slip out right behind it.

I went left on Appian Way, the right on Sophia Parkway and left on Green Valley.

Then the usual route back to my home near Livermore Park.

I'm definitely doing that ride again. A good hill climbing route without getting beat up too much. I felt better when I got home than I did when I left; perfect!

Since I didn't take electronic crap with me I can't say for sure what the ride stats are, but I would guess this route was about 38 miles with 3,800 ft of climbing; more or less 100 feet per mile.

Thanks DaveyD for pointing out that route to me; you're a real trail blazer!!

Hey - this is great. I can point out the routes and Steve can ride 'em! that way I don't break a sweat!

Just kidding - good stuff. I had to drop a gear and recover a couple times while reading your write-up it was so vivid.

I don't understand why they don't put some kind of pedestrian/walk-through type access between Serrano and that Deer Valley neighborhood. I have passed it a few times in Serrano and wondered why it was gated off. Guess both sides trying to protect themselves against "riff-raff" like us.

thanks Steve,

d

[quote="DaveyD"]...I don't understand why they don't put some kind of pedestrian/walk-through type access between Serrano and that Deer Valley neighborhood...[/quote]

I agree. It's a fire department access point; that part I understand. I can also see why you wouldn't want traffic rolling through the established "rural" neighborhood on Deer Valley (trafiic heading from Serrano to Green Valley road). But why not have a pedestrian gateway?

It's no obstacle to me, I just lift my bike over the gate, then myself, and off I go.

It's a great route though. Next time I'll ride it with my Garmin and capture the tracks which I can then output to a Google maps and post it up for everyone.

I may beat you to it That way I'll be the world record holder for that route until ANYONE else in this group wants to knock me off.....

I've done that loop several times down Bass Lake and then down the little alley/access road from the new neighborhood to the old neighborhood. However, rather then turning on Cambridge, I've kept going on Country Club drive to Cameron Park Road. Turn left on Cameron Park, then Right on Meder. Meder winds around to Ponderosa which I then turn left on and ride up to Green Valley road. I hate that part of Green Valley from Lotus Rd Cameron Park so I always do the Dear Valley loop in reverse back in to town.

The South Deer Valley section would be new for me though. I'll have to try that next time. Being 6'5", I should have no problem lifting my bike over a fence. Speaking of that, if you don't mind lifting your bike over a fence, then you need to try the old road in El Dorado Hills take Tong Rd off of Silva Valley past the Korean Church onto the old private road that connects to Old Bass Lake Road. It is a great little climb on a very old road. It is a great little route, and gets you to the top of Serrano without as much climbing (or at least seems that way) if you want to avoid the hills.

Mark we were going to see your Meder to Ponderosa and raise you Lotus to Luneman - Jurgens- Deer Valley - Starbuck.....which we did.

There is, however, a nasty 20% gradient on the climb out of Weber creek that flat out beat me today. Now I have to get back and do it again because for the first time in 2 years I had to walk my bike for the last 1/3 of the climb. Really makes me mad...... I said I won't go back there but now I have to show myself I can do it.

Okay DaveyD, I'll see your Luneman road and raise you a Georgetown.

One day, while planning a Georgetown ride and soliciting a little creativity from Curtis and Scott M, we came up with the following additions to the Alexandra Hill Climb loop:

We added the Aberdeen climb, Malcolm Dixon Road, Deer Valley, Jurgens/Luneman, Prospector Grade, Marshall rd, Georgetown, Hwy 193 to Cool, a descent into the confluence, a climb out of the confluence and a drag race down Auburn Folsom road.

Ride map, elevation graph and description: http://www.cyclefolsom.com/webforms/rid ... Georgetown


Statistical Summary
Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 6:22:35 4:10 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 5:26:44 3:34 pace
Distance (mi ) 91.60
Moving Speed (mph) 16.8 avg. 54.0 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +10,283 / -10,300
Avg. Heart Rate 149 bpm Zone 4.1
GPS Signal Quality Good GPS+Barometric Altimeter

Well I either have to fold or go all-in and I'm not sure I'm ready to add Oxbow or something like it to up the ante.

So for now, I'm going to fold..... I'll wait for the next hand to see what cards people are holding

.

Guys - we went through the Castana - > Hollow Oak Emergency Vehicle pass on Saturday and they have a big new gate in place. Luckily, there is a pedestrian pass through on the side so you can walk through it, but you have to dismount. would have been totally bummed had they blocked it off entirely.