# RWC area 3-500 foot hill



## heythorp (Feb 17, 2005)

Looking for a local hill to do repeats on. It can be road or dirt. 

I live in Redwood City and I am looking for a hill that has very little traffic. 

-500 feet. would be ideal. 
~5-10 minutes. 
Constant grade 

Thanks for the suggestions.


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## singlespeed.org (Feb 14, 2006)

I used to use the part of Canada Rd above the water temple, but that is maybe a minute to minute and a half to climb, so not as long as you are looking for.

How about the road through Huddart park? Enter at Greer Road and climb up as far as you want. Bottom bit is closed to all cars except for county park vehicles. Upper is open to cars, but doesn't get much traffic.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

singlespeed.org said:


> How about the road through Huddart park? Enter at Greer Road and climb up as far as you want. Bottom bit is closed to all cars except for county park vehicles. Upper is open to cards, but doesn't get much traffic.


That's a pretty good choice. You can descend down the lower stretch of Kings Mountain to make a loop. There is one part in the middle that's quite a bit steeper than the average. I think Francis has used this for hill repeats in the past.


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## Peninsula Ryan (Aug 2, 2002)

Jefferson Road towards Canada...but there is some traffic. Lots of options there in Emerald Hills.

In San Carlos, Brittan fits the bill, but is quite steep...for even more pain, try Melendy, but it is not as constant of a grade. Less traffic on Melendy. Club in another option in San Carlos.


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## parity (Feb 28, 2006)

Check out Jefferson. Jefferson goes right and Farm Hill continues straight. You can start your intervals when you turn right. When you descend you can turn around at or after Utah Way. Alternatively, you can turn right on Highland Ave off Jefferson, which reconnects you on Jefferson again. I have done intervals on Jefferson and Highland, and there is no more car traffic then other roads. The only issue is that there is a stop sign at Jefferson & Highland, but since its a right you can kind of blow through that one. There is a second stop sign at Jefferson, Lakeview Way which can get some car traffic. So I will slow down a tad to make sure there traffic is clear before I ride through. If you need to stretch out your interval, you can turn right on W California Way for some additional suffering. Jefferson ends up intersection with Canada, if you want a shorter hill, you can use the other side of Jefferson. The grade is much easier.

If you want some steep stuff, you can try out anything in Emeralds Hills just off Edgewood. Its like a maze but there is some short but really steep roads that will kick your ass. Also Crestview Drive off Edgewood is another one.


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## heythorp (Feb 17, 2005)

I go over Jefferson everyday. It seems to be getting more and more traffic. Anyone else experience this? The drivers seem to have been getting faster and more aggressive on this road. 

This is why I am looking for another hill. Actually Jefferson would be perfect otherwise. I figured there had to be something in Emerald Hills or Belmont.

Crestview is a race track. 


Huddart Park is a good option. The middle section does pitch up before the stop sign, but if I was out doing repeats I would probably stop at the stop sign and head back down. I am looking for a hill for "bad" weather days. 

Thanks for the ideas.


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## parity (Feb 28, 2006)

For bad weather, I also use Alpine. After you pass the stop sign at Portola just continue and eventually it starts climbing. I don't know what the grade is but its pretty easy but enough that you can hammer on it and get your heart rate up. The only catch is falling debris when its raining. But there is little car traffic and dead ends at someone's drive way. But there is more climbing if you turn left on Joaquin. I am not sure what the condition of the road is now because we had a lot of rain this year, the last time I was on it, some sections were kind of deteriorated.


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## heythorp (Feb 17, 2005)

Alpine was recommended to me by someone who coaches. I think they said it's a pretty consistent 5-6%. I don't know if this is true. Can anyone verify?

Thanks


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## parity (Feb 28, 2006)

Dunno what the gradient is but according to this site its 3.2 miles with 560 feet of climbing from Portola:

http://www.actc.org/routes/bg/index.php

Mapmy ride says 577 feet:

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1762973

From where it really starts to climb, it looks like the average gradient is 4.1%.


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## CoLiKe20 (Jan 30, 2006)

Peninsula Ryan said:


> Jefferson Road towards Canada...but there is some traffic. Lots of options there in Emerald Hills.
> 
> In San Carlos, Brittan fits the bill, but is quite steep...for even more pain, try Melendy, but it is not as constant of a grade. Less traffic on Melendy. Club in another option in San Carlos.


yup. I ride Melendy or Hillcrest on week days after work. It gets a little windy and cold right now though


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## CHL (Jun 24, 2005)

Try this instead but it's considerably harder to climb than the entrance to Huddard Park. Ride to Alpine Road and turn left on Los Trancos Road. It's flat for about 1.5 mile.

However, it immediately climbs to the sky until you reach Ramonda Drive (on the left). Take Ramona Drive, which is flat for a short distance. Ramona Drive then climbs hard to Vista Verde. At the intersection, it's flat and will give you a chance to rest (I assure you that you will be gasping for air at this point). Turn left on Vista Verde and climb to Old Spanish Trail. All the climbing sections are challenging and I needed every bit of my 39/27 combo to get up there.

You can head back via Joaquinn Drive, Los Trancos or back down to Vista Verde. Please check your speed as the pavement isn't the best. It were perfectly smooth, you could probably hit mid 40s on the descent. Repeat if you have enough gas in the tank.

C.


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## alex3780 (Nov 7, 2009)

I'm another Huddart park fan...I take Kings down as its a much nicer descent. The gates open at 8am which makes it easier to set PR's since you don't have to slow down at the gate at the top.


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## cinelliguy (Jan 4, 2011)

Probably too far south but I sometimes do Page Mill to Moody and then Moody repeats. Typically 4X on Moody. I think the total is around 2400ft, PMR and Moody X4 with Moody being around 400ft, maybe a bit less but the ascent is pretty solid.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

cinelliguy said:


> Typically 4X on Moody.


Eeek! I find Moody to be too steep for repeats, and little reward in the descent. So I use near-by Altamont Road instead which is kind of interesting for pacing because it starts gentle, ramps up to steep, and then falls off at the top. The descent is also interesting, and can be made into a real test of cornering ability (if you wish).

One recommendation is not to choose a hill that you love for this purpose. I would have recommended the lower third of OLH, but once you do lots of hard intervals on a hill it will never be the same again.


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## heythorp (Feb 17, 2005)

ukbloke said:


> One recommendation is not to choose a hill that you love for this purpose. I would have recommended the lower third of OLH, but once you do lots of hard intervals on a hill it will never be the same again.



Good idea on not using a hill you like. I hated the hills I used back east.

As far as hard intervals, Ha not a chance for me. I have maybe done 2 intervals in my life. I use hill repeats to build endurance for climbing. I have found that after being here for a year that just doing the bigger climbs has made me slower. 

Thanks for the suggestions.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

heythorp said:


> As far as hard intervals, Ha not a chance for me. I have maybe done 2 intervals in my life. I use hill repeats to build endurance for climbing. I have found that after being here for a year that just doing the bigger climbs has made me slower.


Endurance-level training will help you to build or rebuild a base and get leaner. But, unfortunately, you have to ride at your limit to get faster, and hard intervals is the most efficient way to achieve that. I don't see much point of doing repeated hill intervals at endurance pace other than accumulating footies.


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## heythorp (Feb 17, 2005)

While I said slower, its more about fatiguing on the longer hills. Something ironically I did not have a problem with when I first moved out here. 

Repeats at tempo on shorter climbs has helped me enormously for longer climbs. Plus on crappy weather days, if you can find a hill that is protected from wind and rain it makes for a more bearable ride. 

If I wanted to do OLH sub 20 then yes threshold stuff would be the key, however I just want to get back to where I was without "training".


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## heythorp (Feb 17, 2005)

Just back from doing Melendy. That thing is a real kick in the sack.

Wow. Yeah there are a few flat parts, but that last section at the top is a brute.

Anyone doing repeats on that road is a beast. I rate this hill a once in a while when you feel like suffering.


Just checked it out on mapmyride. I think some sections might be steeper than reported. 

<center> 
<a href="https://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c76/heythorp/?action=view&current=melendy.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c76/heythorp/melendy.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<br/><br/>
</center>


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## ShaneW (Sep 6, 2008)

I would also say Alpine. Pretty constant grade and not too long or steep!


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## CHL (Jun 24, 2005)

Hi Heythorp:

Okay, managed to ascend Melendy without much difficulty. I don't think it's harder than Welch Creek as I needed every bit of my 39/27 to ascend WC. However, I wasn doing just fine with my 39/24 on Melendy. I think the momentary respite from the flat parts gives you time to recuperate where Welch Creek just climbs (at least the last three quarters of it).

If you go down, you'll hit Crestview Drive. That road looks to be a huge monster of a climb from Edgewood Road, since there is only one spot to rest until you reach Melendy. The gradient on Crestview Drive easily matches that of Melendy and is probably steeper at the bottom. Wish the roads were as smooth everywhere. This is a fun descent but it's a residential area so you must monitor your speed.

The double espresso and the Red Bull probably helped a lot on Melendy.

chl

P.S. I thought people drive like nutsos on Pagemill. They're even more insane of Jefferson. I'll steer clear of that road on the weekends.


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

*Fun on Melendy*

Was heading over to Portola Valley and wanted to do something other than head up my usual route of Edgewood and this thread came to mind. I've passed Melendy many times on my various routes, but this was my first attempt on it. Lot's of fun there. Seems like there's some 15+% grades there. On Strava, I managed 2nd overall, which was a pleasant reward (and clearly indicates it's not ridden by many  ). Tough to imagine me knocking a minute off a 10-minute climb, so the KOM is safe. First time seeing my HR in the 180 area in a long time, so good work out. Thanks for the tip. :thumbsup:


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