East Bay Roads

Anyone know of any good canyon roads in the Eastbay (Pleasanton, Danville,
Livermore area)?

 

To the west there's Niles Canyon and Palomares Rd.

North from Castro Valley is Redwood Road. That takes you
up to Oakland/Berkeley/Orinda, several more interesting roads
up that way, Skyline, Grizzly Peak, etc. Look at a map. All
the squiggly lines between, say, Pleasant Hill and Berkeley are
interesting. Grizzly Peak has famous views and also 'The Wall'.

South from Niles Canyon rd. is Calaveras Rd, but I don't recommend it.
It's very narrow, bad pavement, and idiots in sports cars come around
blind corners in the other direction, taking their half out of the
middle. I've had a couple of close calls there.

Around the backside of Mt. Diablo is Morgan Territory/Marsh Creek Rd.
Kind of a cow-trail but it would be fun on a dual-sport. I rode it
this last Winter after a heavy rain and it was covered with mud from
the creek. And the pavement is decrepit.

For my money the best canyon rds are across the bay. It's not that
far to go, but then that's easy for me to say since I live right near
the Dumbarton.

 

I kinda like Calaveras myself. Never really had a bad scare,
though I'd agree you need to be careful not to hang out too
close to the centerline.

Also Mines rd, Mt. Hamilton and Del Puerto. Watch out
for deer.

 

Plus the pavement is not the best for much of the route, so you can't
lean over too far.

Where is Del Puerto?

 

Del Puerto forks off of Mines and runs out to 5 in the valley.

 

I haven't been riding in a while but the only time I encountered close
calls on Calaveras is during 4~6pm on weekdays. Seems lots of people
take this back road to bypass the freeway and had a few people drift
over their lane.

I ridden Redwood road in the fall and noticed that there is a large
mount of gravel across the lanes. Not sure if it's only during the fall
and winter season but it's worth noting you might encounter some
slippery areas.

Rob

 

Redwood Road was repaved about 2-1/2 years ago by "gravel sealing" it. That's
been the source of most of the gravel that remains to this day.

 

What condition is Mines Road in these days? The last time I rode it a few
years ago the pavement wasn't in very good shape. Is the cafe at the junction
with Del Puerto still there?

 

I haven't been over mines since last summer. The cafe was still there.

The pavement wasn't all that bad. What I recall as a little iffy was
patches of loose sand dirt and gravel on the road, especially
on Mt. Hamilton but also in the apex of a few turns. Maybe
a few cattle guards for good measure.

 

I rode Mines on Saturday. I didn't feel that I could trust the
traction on very many corners to get my bike leaned over very far.
It's probably best on a Motard, but there were a large variety of bikes
at The Junction. Del Puerto Canyon was in better condition.

All of the roads mentioned so far are good choices, but all have gravel
or sand on them occasionally, so you really have to pay attention.
Redwood Road was probably the cleanest of all that have been mentioned,
when I rode it a few weeks ago.