1-2 ND (No drop Ride) 30-50 miles
The starting place is Panera at the Walnut Creek Country Wood Shopping Center at the corner of Treat Blvd. X Bancroft Road in Walnut Creek. There are 680 freeway exits on Ygnacio Valley Blvd and Treat Blvd. that will take you to Bancroft Rd. about 3 miles east of the freeway.
Parking: Please park in the greater Countrywood Shopping Center parking lot in an unoffensive space as we don’t have the shopping center’s permission. There is a restroom in Panera but please buy a pastry or coffee, etc. for legitimacy if you use their facilities.
Route: We will take Iron Horse Trail to Olympic Ave. At that point, we will go on South Main Single file to Rudgear Rd., left under the freeway, and make an immediate left (south) onto Danville Blvd. It’s a flat run to Mt. Diablo Blvd. In downtown Danville we’ll turn left here and make our way single file about 2.5 miles to the left turn at Mt. D. Scenic Blvd. This is where the terrain gets more challenging and the road narrows. It turns into Southgate Rd. Your host will stay with the hindmost, others can go faster if desired. This is the most famous climb in the County and the vistas are the reason. Your host will stay back and stop as often as needed for the heart rate of the non-climbers to subside. The wild flowers will be blooming and the brooks will be babbling. We will regroup at the Junction where there are bathrooms nearby on Summit Rd. After a ten minute break we’ll head down Northgate Rd. to Castle Rock Rd. Descending tips will be offered free of charge and judgement. We’ll turn right on Castle Rock, after the LDS church, ride short way then roundabout and left on Walnut Blvd. back to the Panera.
This is a no drop ride, geared to appeal to riders who can comfortably ride 50 miles at 13 MPH, average. Potty stops will be made as needed. The route for each week will be posted in advance.
Ride host: Joe Allen Tel: 925 708 7692 joeallengc@comcast.net
