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Rudy's Road Rankings - How the best roads in the Bay stack up to each other

Skaggs Springs Road super nice and smooth until you cross Warm Spring Springs Creek, it's all rough. Ideal for anyone riding long-legged motorcycles.
 
ScottRNelson, just got done adding all of your road suggestions. Holy crap, there's a ton out there in the Sierras!!

How on earth do you have the time to ride them all? Do you only work 2 hrs/wk or something? It would take me like a month of solid riding to do even half the roads justice.
 
rudolfs001 said:
ScottRNelson, just got done adding all of your road suggestions. Holy crap, there's a ton out there in the Sierras!!

How on earth do you have the time to ride them all? Do you only work 2 hrs/wk or something? It would take me like a month of solid riding to do even half the roads justice.
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I spent five years finding all of the ones north of Yosemite - when I lived in Folsom. The ones south of Yosemite were all ridden during a 1000 mile week when I stayed at my daughter's home in Clovis overnight, then headed out to find the next new set of roads.

And since the middle of 2015, I work zero hours per week, unless you count all of the stuff I'm doing to get my home ready to sell in a couple of months, then it's maybe 20 hours a week. :cool
 
Nice. I Rode Reliez Valley Rd to Alhambra Valley Rd to Bear Creek last Saturday, tons of Motos were out before this week's rain.

The closure of Alhambra Valley at Bear Creek is now open so you can connect to Pinole or reach Bear Creek from the West. The big sweepers around Briones Reservoir are wide and smooth.
 
the sweepers around Briones Reservoir are smooth? :wtf did they repave?

it used to be big sweepers and lots of bumps
 
Junkie said:
the sweepers around Briones Reservoir are smooth? :wtf did they repave?

it used to be big sweepers and lots of bumps
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Hahaha, the Bear Creek Road I have listed is near Santa Cruz, not Briones. Guess I'lll have to add that one and make an identifier.
 
there's a Skyline in Oakland too :rofl

but Slow Goat's post mentions Briones Reservoir so it's pretty clear which one he means
 
ScottRNelson said:
I spent five years finding all of the ones north of Yosemite - when I lived in Folsom. The ones south of Yosemite were all ridden during a 1000 mile week when I stayed at my daughter's home in Clovis overnight, then headed out to find the next new set of roads.

And since the middle of 2015, I work zero hours per week, unless you count all of the stuff I'm doing to get my home ready to sell in a couple of months, then it's maybe 20 hours a week. :cool
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Lucky dog! Looking at the map, I'd love to live out by the Sierras, but don't imagine I'd be able to find a decent job.

Retired and own a home? Gah, two things I don't think will be possible for me, or most kids my generation for that matter.

Are you selling to move somewhere else?
 
Junkie said:
there's a Skyline in Oakland too :rofl

but Slow Goat's post mentions Briones Reservoir so it's pretty clear which one he means
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True true, I figured the CA 35 would be enough to let you know which Skyline :cool
 
rudolfs001 said:
Retired and own a home? Gah, two things I don't think will be possible for me, or most kids my generation for that matter.

Are you selling to move somewhere else?
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Retired and own two homes - outright. That's why I have no spare money right now. Selling this one in Pleasanton will give me the funds to do a lot of traveling and buy a new KTM 790 Adventure when they finally come out. My "new" bike is ten years old currently.

I spent decades being poor and keeping track of each dollar spent before I finally got on top of things. You can spend money while you're young and have not much when you get older, or scrimp and save and eventually have something.

I'll be living in Idaho by the end of June and intend to explore the entire state, including as many dirt roads as possible. In a few years I hope to have a decent list of the good roads up there.
 
ScottRNelson said:
Retired and own two homes - outright. That's why I have no spare money right now. Selling this one in Pleasanton will give me the funds to do a lot of traveling and buy a new KTM 790 Adventure when they finally come out. My "new" bike is ten years old currently.

I spent decades being poor and keeping track of each dollar spent before I finally got on top of things. You can spend money while you're young and have not much when you get older, or scrimp and save and eventually have something.

I'll be living in Idaho by the end of June and intend to explore the entire state, including as many dirt roads as possible. In a few years I hope to have a decent list of the good roads up there.
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Living in the Bay it's not exactly possible to scrimp and save, because of the cost of housing alone.

How did you finally get on top of things?

I've been through southern Idaho, and it's...ok, not bad, not great, and I've heard norther Idaho is gorgeous.
 
Fish Rock Road and Spanish Ranch

Fish Rock "road"?

Well, whatever you do, do not ride that from Boonville to Gualala on an R1. Don't ask.

Secondly,If by Spanish Ranch, you mean the Oroville-Buck's Lake-Quincy Road (the tail end of 162) I own it, so....all rights reserved. But I will endorse Quincy-LaPorte...nice.
 
Made a bunch of updates and added everything I could find in southern California. Working on filling out the Sierra Nevadas and northern California now. Should be soon :)
 
Done.


discoganya said:
Can you add?

11 Pines Road
9 Mile Canyon Road
Adobe Canyon Road
Alamitos Road
Alba Road
Alderpoint Road
Alisal Road
Alpine Road
Annette Road
Arroya Seco Road
Artichoke Road
Auberry Road
Austin Creek Road
Avery Sheep Ranch Road
Back Ranch Road
Bald Hills Road
Bay Hill Road
Bean Creek Road
Bean Hollow Road
Bear Creek Road
Bear Gulch Road
Bell Springs Road
Berryessa Knoxville Road
Bitterwater Road
Black Bear Road
Black Mountain Road
Black Road
Blackrock Road
Bloom Grade Road
Blue Lakes Road
Bohemian Highway
Bohlman Road
Bolinas Road
Bonetti Road
Bonny Doon Road
Breckenridge Road
Browns Valley Road
Burr Trail Road
Buzzard Lagoon Road
.
.
.
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Still haven't done kings mountain? It's how you get from Woodside to skyline very quickly. Jump over skyline and get to another decent road from there too.

Best midweek during midday. Weekdays gets some commuters. Weekends gets morons and lots of raging cyclists.

I think it's a crap road for motorcycling tho. Even for sporty cars, it's a bit sketchy. Some of the turns corkscrew so fast that you'll scrape violently on the way up or down at speed. Same with the bumps... Not an issue on a bike so far.

Just be wary of the bumps. The shade hides them well and that road changes every year with new bumps. Going modest speed, not an issue. It's when you're going fast that you'll lose some teeth.

Great to hill climb or smoke your brakes on the way down! I've definitely come down with my brakes smoking all over the place. Thought they caught fire! ��
 
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bradlys said:
Still haven't done kings mountain? It's how you get from Woodside to skyline very quickly. Jump over skyline and get to another decent road from there too.

Best midweek during midday. Weekdays gets some commuters. Weekends gets morons and lots of raging cyclists.

I think it's a crap road for motorcycling tho. Even for sporty cars, it's a bit sketchy. Some of the turns corkscrew so fast that you'll scrape violently on the way up or down at speed. Same with the bumps... Not an issue on a bike so far.

Just be wary of the bumps. The shade hides them well and that road changes every year with new bumps. Going modest speed, not an issue. It's when you're going fast that you'll lose some teeth.

Great to hill climb or smoke your brakes on the way down! I've definitely come down with my brakes smoking all over the place. Thought they caught fire! ��
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Thanks for the info!

I've done King's Mountain plenty of time, just never with the mindset of rating it. That's why the comments columns has "TO RATE" instead of "TO DO". I won't rate a road unless I specifically ride it with the intention of rating it, so that I'm paying attention and making mental notes.

IMO it's great for a particular type of motorcycling - supermoto:ride
 
Just to help confuse or de-confuse things in the Bay Area: Bear Creek Road and Hwy 35 and Skyline have some overlap. Starting from the South, State Highway 35 is actually Summit Road for the first few miles; this section is mostly single-lane. Shortly after the intersection with Zayante Road, 35 becomes Bear Creek Road for about one mile. Only after that is it actually named Skyline Blvd. The first few miles of Skyline = 35 is a single lane road that is very narrow and windy, and probably not fun to ride (most curves are blind, and there is significant traffic). Only after the intersection with Black Rd does the "good" part of Skyline begin.

Conversely: Bear Creek Road starts at Hwy 17 near Lexington Reservoir, and for the first 3 miles it is a pretty fun narrow winding road, now with a nice park with hiking trails. Then it becomes Hwy 35 for about a mile, and that section is annoyingly windy (not fun because of all the car traffic). Then Skyline splits off, while Bear Creek continues on towards Boulder Creek (first along the vineyards), and that section is fun again.

Finally, the two parts of Summit Road are very different in character. West of 17, it is part of Hwy 35, mostly very curvy and a single-lane road. East of 35, it is two-lane, pretty straight, and kind of boring to ride (with a school and a few churches along the way, so going fast is a bad idea, sheriff and CHP enforce heavily in that area).

I don't know how you can reflect these details in your spreadsheet.
 
Meh.
We don’t ride short segments and then teleport.
 
treelogger said:
The first few miles of Skyline = 35 is a single lane road that is very narrow and windy, and probably not fun to ride (most curves are blind, and there is significant traffic).
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I hug the right side on that stretch. It's not uncommon to meet F-250's cutting corners on your half of the tarmac.
 
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