Description
Old La Honda is one of the premier climbs of the peninsula, about a 3.3 mile climb up ~1300 feet. It's a great training climb through redwoods and trees, and is made particularly special since you can get there via CaΓ±ada road following the beautiful Upper and Lower Crystal Springs reservoirs.
On Sundays the road is typically closed to cars for a good portion of it, making the ride down towards Filioli (a fancy winery) calm and quiet.
Let's meet at Fiero Caffe, an Italian-run coffee shop at 9am and head northward towards the Millbrae BART / Caltrain station. This way, those of us who wish to drive can simply drive to Fiero and park (plenty of street parking nearby on Sundays), while others can choose to take BART or Caltrain to the Millbrae or San Mateo stations.
With the electrification of the train, Caltrain now runs every 30 minutes on weekends, so you can leave SF at 7:55, 8:25, 8:55, etc and get to Millbrae as quickly as 8:16, 8:46, 9:16, etc.
If taking BART, your schedule may vary, but to get to Millbrae, remember you typically go past the SFO stop first. You could even ride over from the San Bruno station if you want, and I can provide you some options there if you'd like.
If taking Caltrain, you can actually go directly to the station in San Mateo, which will get you in at 8:24, 8:54, 9:24 etc.
If we leave Fiero between 9 and 9:30, we'll get to Millbrae within 20-30 minutes.
After descending one of my favorite descents in the Bay Area, we can stop in at the Village Hub, a small coffee shop run out of a local church that had plenty of bike parking to enjoy a latte or even an espresso tonic. From there, we'll head back the way we came to San Mateo, finishing for lunch at Fiero, where they have some amazing pasta and more recently pizza.
Bring road bikes and foot retention please, and be prepared with layers, as things tend to be chilly at the top of Skyline. Rain will likely cancel this ride.
Let me know any questions you have, feel free to message me directly on Strava or find me on Instagram via my @bicyclewatercooler account. See you there!