Monterrey - 17-mile Drive?

[Palookabutt]

It looks like I may be in Monterrey for a conference next year. I
thought I'd try and take a few hours while I'm there to rent a bike
and do an out-and-back ride along the 17-mile drive. (I've also got a
picture of a spot along the drive which my grandfather took about 50
years ago, and I thought I'd try to get a photo from the same
location.)

How easy is it to rent a decent road bike in that area? How is the
traffic along the drive - is there a bike lane?

Thanks!

-BC

[Booker C. Bense]

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In article >,
Palookabutt > wrote:
>It looks like I may be in Monterrey for a conference next year. I
>thought I'd try and take a few hours while I'm there to rent a bike
>and do an out-and-back ride along the 17-mile drive. (I've also got a
>picture of a spot along the drive which my grandfather took about 50
>years ago, and I thought I'd try to get a photo from the same
>location.)
>
>How easy is it to rent a decent road bike in that area?

_ Bike rental is easy, "decent road bike" might be another
story. These people seem to have a firm grip on toy rental
in the area.

http://www.adventuresbythesea.com/

_ I think they only have hybrids, but that might be just
fine. The coast roads are often quite steep[1] and a bike
you could occaisonally wander into the dirt on the side
of the road would be useful as well. I found a couple
other places by googling "monterey bike rental".

> How is the
>traffic along the drive - is there a bike lane?
>

_ Highly dependent on time of day and week vs weekend.
It's a narrow twisty road with minimal shoulders in
spots. Cars have to pay to drive the road so that limits
traffic to some extent. Get an early start and you'll
probably be just fine.

_ Booker C. Bense

[1]- 15% gradients or more are pretty common.

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[Palookabutt]

Booker C. Bense . stanford.edu> wrote in message >...
> >
> >How easy is it to rent a decent road bike in that area?
>
> _ Bike rental is easy, "decent road bike" might be another
> story. These people seem to have a firm grip on toy rental
> in the area.
>
> http://www.adventuresbythesea.com/
>
> _ I think they only have hybrids, but that might be just
> fine. The coast roads are often quite steep[1] and a bike
> you could occaisonally wander into the dirt on the side
> of the road would be useful as well. I found a couple
> other places by googling "monterey bike rental".

Looks like they indeed have Specialized 24-speed hybrids -- much
better than some rentals I've had before. For a ~34-mile ride I think
I can deal with it. (Gee, I might have found that site, if I'd learn
to spell "Monterey" correctly.)

I love challenging hills, so "steep" is OK, even if it might slow me
to a crawl.

Thanks!

-BC

[mary]

If you like challenging hills, you should come to Pittsburgh or anywhere in
West Virginia.

Tom
> I love challenging hills, so "steep" is OK, even if it might slow me
> to a crawl.
>
> Thanks!
>
> -BC

[Ken]

"mary" > wrote in news:410ff7b0$0$254$4d5ecec7
@reader.city-net.com:
> If you like challenging hills, you should come to Pittsburgh or anywhere in
> West Virginia.

You don't have to go that far. Try eastern California, where you'll find
some nice 5000+ foot climbs. Even in western California, you can find some
nice 4000 foot climbs.

[Terry Morse]

Ken wrote:

> Try eastern California, where you'll find
> some nice 5000+ foot climbs. Even in western California, you can find some
> nice 4000 foot climbs.

I know about the Eastern Sierra climbs. Got any Western California
favorites? I'm always searching for good, long climbs. How about the
roads above Auburn or Placerville?
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

[John Leo]

Terry Morse > wrote in
:


> I know about the Eastern Sierra climbs. Got any Western California
> favorites? I'm always searching for good, long climbs. How about the
> roads above Auburn or Placerville?
> --
> terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

I also love climbs and would like to hear of other good ones in
California. Since you're in Palo Alto I'm sure you know about the
mountains nearby, but I'll mention a web page I have with climbs up Mt.
Hamilton, Diablo and Tamalpais all starting from Palo Alto, where I used
to live.
http://www.halfaya.org/leo/cycling/big3.html

Of the three Mt. Diablo was my favorite, then Mt. Hamilton, and Mt. Tam
I didn't like so much. I did the first two rides multiple times. Of
course I loved the shorter climbs in the Santa Cruz mountains as well:
Old La Honda, Kings Mountain Road, Tunitas Creek, and so forth. I miss
those.

Now I'm in Los Angeles and the big SoCal climbs seem to be Mt. Wilson
and Mt. Palomar:
http://veloworx.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=114

Another good one seems to be Mt. Baldy Road:
http://www.vision.caltech.edu/pmoreels/Images/InsaneBaldyApr03/index.htm
l

I haven't done these yet do to my strange insistence to start and end
rides at home if possible, but I'll get to them. I've been mostly
exploring the Santa Monica Mountains so far, which have some superb
climbs of their own.


--
John Leo
http://www.halfaya.org/leo/

[Jack Kessler]

There's a doozy on the Lost Coast Century in southern Humboldt County. The
ride begins where Mattole Road intersects Highway 101 in Humboldt State
Park. It goes out to the ocean and along the coast for a while and then
goes inland up Endless Hill.

If you'd like real cardiac challenge, try going the other direction,
starting from Ferndale. Then the hill is even better, rising from Honeydew
back to Humboldt State Park.

If your medical insurance is paid up, try riding over Sonora Pass in the
Sierra on Highway 4 (or is it 89? - somebody help me out here). Even the
most superduper of cars have to do it in first gear because of the steepness
and the altitude.

It can only be done in summer because the road is closed in winter, by which
is meant from late October on.



"John Leo" > wrote in message
. ..
> Terry Morse > wrote in
> :
>
>
> > I know about the Eastern Sierra climbs. Got any Western California
> > favorites? I'm always searching for good, long climbs. How about the
> > roads above Auburn or Placerville?
> > --
> > terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/
>
> I also love climbs and would like to hear of other good ones in
> California. Since you're in Palo Alto I'm sure you know about the
> mountains nearby, but I'll mention a web page I have with climbs up Mt.
> Hamilton, Diablo and Tamalpais all starting from Palo Alto, where I used
> to live.
> http://www.halfaya.org/leo/cycling/big3.html
>
> Of the three Mt. Diablo was my favorite, then Mt. Hamilton, and Mt. Tam
> I didn't like so much. I did the first two rides multiple times. Of
> course I loved the shorter climbs in the Santa Cruz mountains as well:
> Old La Honda, Kings Mountain Road, Tunitas Creek, and so forth. I miss
> those.
>
> Now I'm in Los Angeles and the big SoCal climbs seem to be Mt. Wilson
> and Mt. Palomar:
> http://veloworx.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=114
>
> Another good one seems to be Mt. Baldy Road:
> http://www.vision.caltech.edu/pmoreels/Images/InsaneBaldyApr03/index.htm
> l
>
> I haven't done these yet do to my strange insistence to start and end
> rides at home if possible, but I'll get to them. I've been mostly
> exploring the Santa Monica Mountains so far, which have some superb
> climbs of their own.
>
>
> --
> John Leo
> http://www.halfaya.org/leo/

[Terry Morse]

Jack Kessler wrote:

> There's a doozy on the Lost Coast Century in southern Humboldt County. The
> ride begins where Mattole Road intersects Highway 101 in Humboldt State
> Park. It goes out to the ocean and along the coast for a while and then
> goes inland up Endless Hill.
>
> If you'd like real cardiac challenge, try going the other direction,
> starting from Ferndale. Then the hill is even better, rising from Honeydew
> back to Humboldt State Park.

Thanks, I've heard good things about that ride. I almost did the
Lost Coast Century this year, but I couldn't find anyone else who
wanted to go. Maybe next year.

> If your medical insurance is paid up, try riding over Sonora Pass in the
> Sierra on Highway 4 (or is it 89? - somebody help me out here).

Sonora Pass is Highway 108. It's a very fun climb, although there is
no food or water on the east side. I did it last year on day two of
our "Kiss of Death" ride. Starting in Markleeville, we took Monitor
Pass to Hwy 395. Then south on 395 to Sonora Junction, over Sonora
Pass, and back to Sonora and our waiting cars. Some of the riders
were pretty tired after finishing the pass.

> Even the
> most superduper of cars have to do it in first gear because of the steepness
> and the altitude.

Some photos from last year's ride over Sonora Pass:

http://bike.terrymorse.com/kod0306/pages/P6290132.html

> It can only be done in summer because the road is closed in winter, by which
> is meant from late October on.

For road closure dates, here's a good page to bookmark:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/clsdates.htm

--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

[Rick Warner]

"Jack Kessler" > wrote in message news:<8Nb%c.124279$9d6.26684@attbi_s54>...

> If your medical insurance is paid up, try riding over Sonora Pass in the
> Sierra on Highway 4 (or is it 89? - somebody help me out here). Even the
> most superduper of cars have to do it in first gear because of the steepness
> and the altitude.
>
> It can only be done in summer because the road is closed in winter, by which
> is meant from late October on.

Sonora Pass is Hwy 108. Hwy 4 crossing is Ebbets pass. Hwy 89 is
Monitor Pass. CalTran policy is to try to keep the passes open
through October, but deep snow will cause closure. First snow storm
in November closes pass without regards to amount of snow.

A lot of folks like to ride over Sonora. Terry Morse, who posted
earlier in this thread, has posted ride reports in the past about
rides over this and other passes. Mike J. of Chain Reaction posts
reports on about a yearly basis of his rides over the pass; he appears
to have taken off links to his Sonora ride reports, but there is one
for Ebbets: http://www.chainreaction.com/ebbetts2001.htm.

- rick