# Metcalf rd., San Jose



## eha

I will be riding the LIVESTRONG Challenge in San Jose, on July 13. The ride includes Metcalf rd, from Willow Springs, as a climb. Anyone have any info on this climb? I am not from San Jose, so it is not familar to me. 

Thanks to anyone with any info.

Eric


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## kmac

Metcalf is about 2 miles long, 1000 feet of climbing. The hard part about it is that once you start up, its about 10% for almost the entire way, without any let up. It does drop off to about 7% for the last 500m or so, but its a tough climb. There really is no place to recover during the climb. The other issue is that there is a motor cross park at the top, so you frequently get pickups towing trailers going up the two lane road. Can make in interesting. Although, on a big ride like the LIVESTRONG hopefully there will be enough bikes on the road to make everyone be careful. Finally, in July, there is the potential that it will be hot on the climb. Most of the two miles is exposed. All in all, for me, its one of the harder climbs in the area.

As a payoff though, the decent out of the valley behind Metcalf is wonderful. Its not nearly as steep and its long with swooping turns. Very fun.


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## Chucko

I've only ridden Metcalf downhill... but it sure seemed steep!

There's a regular ride every Tuesday at 5 PM called the Metcalf Mauler. Almaden Cycle Touring Club puts it on. You might want to give that a shot to get a taste for the climb.


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## mohair_chair

All you need to know about Metcalf is that it is fricking hard. It's brutal. I've done it many times, and it was painful every time. And I was a great climber at the time! Parts of it are 12% and 14%. Then you still get to climb out even MORE on San Felipe. That's great riding back there, so enjoy it. 

Getting from Willow Springs to Metcalf will be 7-8 miles into the wind. Not to mention Day Road to Sycamore on Santa Theresa. It's a windfest in July.

I just looked up the route and it goes right past my house. They sure picked an awful route from San Jose to Saratoga. Running down Hamilton and Saratoga Ave. is not normally the safest thing to do, but you'll likely be doing it in the morning, so it won't be a big deal. Still, if you want a better route to the first rest stop, I'll come up with one.

Enjoy the ride. It should be pretty good for the most part, but it will be a challenge. Train hard.


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## scottyperkins

Metcalf is a fun climb. Agree it's a real challenge, especially for us clydes. Attached is an elevation profile that includes the Metcalf climb and back down San Felipe.

Enjoy the ride, I'm sure I'll see you out there.


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## eha

All of the replies have been informative, but the climb profile has to be the most eye-opening! To Sottyperkins, Im not sure whether to thank you or worse for providing that graphic look of Metcalf. Seriously, thanks to all who answered. I love the challenge, so today I go riding the local hills here - two Cantelow loops for me!

See you all in July for the LIVESTRONG ride!

Eric


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## BlackSteel

*Metcalf*

one thing about Metcalf is that for me it ends about 8 minutes sooner than OLH and 25 minutes sooner than Montebello. So even though it hurts, if someone is racing, or just trying to keep up with the pack, it should be ridden all out as hard as possible. 10 to 20 minutes later it's all over.


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