# Niles Canyon question



## makeitso (Sep 20, 2008)

I'm new to road biking and I'm seeing Niles Canyon recommended as part of people's rides in the forum so earlier this week I decided to bike up to my parents house in Livermore but, to my dismay, Niles Canyon is as I remembered it with some areas with all of 6" of shoulder room. Getting buzzed by two trailer semi's in some of these areas freaked me out! Am I just a chicken and need to get used to it or is there another way from getting to Fremont to Sunol / Pleasanton? I know it's only probably a total of two miles you have to deal with no shoulder each way but unlike the bridges and underpasses I can't just 'interval' though these sections knowing that @ 25 mph the traffic won't mind staying behind me for that short period if some does close the gap, as I usually wait for gaps to do the bridges. The rest of the ride outside of the small section from Palomares to Foothill Rd was great though.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

It's not a good road for beginners for the reasons you mentioned. A short ways up it there's Palomares Rd., which is a nice ride. It ends at 580, where there's a road that parallels the freeway and ends in Pleasanton. Other than that there's Calaveras Rd, which goes from Milpitas to Sunol - another nice ride. A bit out of your way, though.


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## cyclingthroughlife (Aug 2, 2008)

There is no clean way without doing a detour. In addition to the narrow shoulder in places and no shoulder at the bridges, the rumble strips in the middle of the road discourage drivers from swinging over to the left and giving cyclists more room as they pass them. I've been riding for over 20 years in all types of traffic conditions, and I will honestly say Niles Canyon scares me (especially the section where you are crossing the bridge and cars try to pass you). I will only ride Niles Canyon during certain times and I would definitely not do it during commute hours. If you do ride Niles Canyon again, I recommend that you ride it early on the weekends, not at all during commute hours during the weekdays, and in certain narrow sections like the bridges, ride in the lane and make the cars wait for you to get past before trying to pass you.


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## makeitso (Sep 20, 2008)

I made the mistake of going up @ 10:30 AM and back @ 2:30 PM on a Tuesday so maybe if I ever try again it'll be early morning on a weekend. Glad to see that it's not just something that I'm supposed to get used to! 

It's unfortunate that there's nothing else (within reason.. like tacking on 10 miles) to get over to that side. Now if it weren't for the no bikes sign @ the top of Mill Creek so I can go exploring up that way in search for another way to get to Calavaras.


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## jasonwells4 (Aug 7, 2006)

Hard to imagine anyone recommending Niles Canyon to a new rider.

It was not too bad when I was going south during the week around 7 to 7:30am though. I hate the drains under the bridge. My biggest fear was large trucks that couldn't give you room if they wanted to.


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## Superunleaded (Jun 19, 2006)

or you can go north on Mission all the way to Carlos Bee by CalState of Hayward and take Five Canyons to E Castro Valley Blvd to Dublin Canyon Rd. I'm not sure how many miles that'll add to your ride though.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl


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