Bike Ride
Calaveras Rd

Itinerary

The itinerary is not set in stone! It's just a rough idea of the timeframe involved. We can always change things on the fly if we're tired or want to play more :)

Meeting Location

Depending on how long a ride we want to do, we can start at different locations:

• Shorter less steep ride:
  • Google Maps: Top of the "Calaveras Wall" (park on side of road)
• Longer steeper ride:
  • Google Maps: Ed R. Levin Parking ($6 vehicle fee)
  • Google Maps: Calaveras Rd & Piedmont Rd intersection (park on side of street)

Biking Route

There are a few variations in terms of starting point, ride distance, elevation, and destinations for this ride. From the bottom of Calaveras Rd to the top of the "Calaveras Wall" is 2.7 miles, 938 ft elevation gain. It's a tough segment that our boys can't do yet. Hmmm, I'm not even sure I can, LOL. Biking with our boys, we park at the top of the Calaveras Wall. From that point on, Calaveras Rd is a series of rolling hills for around 3.5 miles in partial shade on a very quiet road with beautiful views of the surrounding hills and Calaveras Reservoir. That's followed by a nice 6.5 mile descent down to Welch Creek Rd. Or, alternatively, we can turn off earlier onto Geary Rd and bike 1.7 miles to the Sunol Wilderness Visitor Center where they have picnic tables and lots of hiking trails nearby.

The best time to ride this route is earlier in the morning when the air is still fresh and cool. The ride back is a longer climb, which is nicer in the earlier cool hours than later in the day when it's warmer. There are also fewer cars earlier in the morning, although even later in the day there aren't that many cars.

Bring food to eat lunch. Either we find a spot to eat at the intersection of Calveras Rd & Welch Creek Rd, or we bike to the Sunol Visitor Center and eat lunch there. After the ride, we might take the boys to a dessert place in Milpitas as a reward :D