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Portola Valley Hills main page

A series of short, challenging climbs around Portola Valley!

Check back after the climb for a results form!

The fun begins here ( NoeHill photo )

results?	not yet!
profile
distance	3.3 miles (5.3 km)
climbing	1860 ft (566 meters)
grade	10.74%
where?	see below
when?	26 Oct 2013
what time	registration none to none climb starts @ any time Saturday
Result	Enter result here after the climb!
waiver	Please fill one out before the climb!
how?
how much?	$10 (free for juniors and those with volunteer credit)
why?	Ask not why; just do!
coordinator
volunteers	sign up!
aerial view	Stanford Cycling (Joaquin)
weather	Weather Underground
deja-vu?	New!
BikeMap

Cover your head, not your ears...

Sorry, folks! Our insurance requires all riders wear helmets during the climb, and we follow the USA Cycling rule against ear buds or other head phones. Rock to tunes before the climb, perhaps, but we need riders to pay attention to what's happening during the climb...

Directions

This week presents a series of short, challenging climbs around Portola Valley. Rider time will be based on climbing time, not the time riding from one climb to the next (within a limit).

Study the route carefully, as this week presents a navigational challenge in addition to a physical one. Ride the route continuously, in order, any time on Saturday. You have plenty of time to get from the summit of one climb to the base of the next riding at a moderate pace. In every case 10 mph average (including stop time) is plenty. For the climb to Joaquin you have one hour to descend Golden Oak then climb the 690 vertical feet to the base of that climb. Barring multiple mechanical delays, this shouldn't be a challenge for any Low-Keyer regulars. So save the legs for Joaquin.

The start is at the Alpine Inn at the intersection of Arastradero Road and Portola Valley Road. However, riders will surely want to warm up before this, so it is recommended those driving part elsewhere. For example, there are parking areas at the 280 exits at Sand Hill Road, Portola Valley Road, and Page Mill Road. Sand Hill will give the quickest escape route from the top of the final climb, while Page Mill provides a nice short route over Arastradero Road to the start of today's fun.

The route is challenging: one guy tried to ride it without navigation and I think he's still out there. Franz Kelsch has some nice directions on how to use navigation with the Garmin Edge 500.

The course is on Garmin Connect. From the Garmin Connect page, select "Send to Device" with your Garmin plugged into the USB port. Then when it's done, unmount your Garmin, unplug it from the USB, then turn it on. For example, in the Edge 500, if you hold the "Page/Menu" button, then go to "Training", then "Courses" it should be there.

Alternately, we also have the route on BikeRouteToaster. BikeRouteToaster provides turn-by-turn directions, and allows printing of a queue sheet.

Second, riders will probably want to ride in small groups. The timing code will allow riders to go as slowly as a 10 mph average (6 min per mile) via the preferred route from the top of one climb to the start of the next. If you ride slower than this, the extra time will be added to your total. So regroups at the top of climbs, within reason, shouldn't be a problem.

Riders are responsible to ride safely and with respect for other road users at all times. There's no rush to get from one climb to the next. So just spin, relax, chat, and prepare yourself for what lies ahead.

In the case of wet weather in the forecast we may modify the route in the days before the climb. So watch these pages if it looks like rain's in the picture!

Route details:

1. Climb #1: Golden Oak (E) to Peak
2. Descend other side to Alpine Road
3. Turn right on Alpine, ride past intersection with Portola Valley Road, and keep climbing.
4. Watch on the left for Joaquin Road. This road climbs steeply to the left. You have 1 hour to get here from the top of Golden Oak. This shouldn't require climbing at a hard pace or taking any risks on the descent. Take it easy and save your legs.
5. Climb #2: Joaquin Road T @ Old Spanish Trail.
6. At the top, turn left on Spanish Trail. Go with the flow on the descent until you come to Los Trancos. Descend that until it flattens out and eventually intersections with Alpine Road.
7. Turn left on Alpine Road. Look for the right for Hillsview, the next climb. You have 25 minutes to get here from the top of Joaquin.
8. Climb #3: Hillbrook. This is short but sweet. Climb to the top (Sausal).
9. At the top turn left at the T. This is Sausal. Follow that to the end, then go through the gate, and ride the trail until you emerge on Cherokee. Watch out for the chain which can be difficult to see (Street View).
10. Turn left and ride to the T with Cerventes.
11. Turn R on Cervantes to the base of the climb at Kiowa. This is climb #4. You have 10 minutes to get here from the top of Hillbrook.
12. Climb #4: Cerventes to Peak.
13. Turn R on Peak to Golden Oak.
14. Turn left on Golden Oak. Descend back to Portola
15. Turn R on Portola. Ride to the the western intersection of Golden Oak. A right here takes you to climb #5. You have 10 minutes to get here from the top of Golden Oak.
16. Climb #5: Golden Oak (W): to Peak.
17. Left on Peak to Cervantes.
18. Left on Cervantes all the way to Westridge.
19. Left on Westridge to Portola Valley Road.
20. Right on Westridge to Highway 84 (at Sand Hill).
21. Left on Highway 84 to Tripp.
22. Left on Tripp.. watch for Summit Springs on the left. This will be the final climb of the day.
23. Climb #6 Summit Springs all the way to the end.

You're done! While you're there you might want to descend Summit Springs part way (the final steep climb) then turn left on Patrol. That descends to an intersection with Entrance Way. If you stay on Patrol it is a nice out-and-back which may have the steepest grade of the day.

Additional Comments:

• GPS isn't perfect, so you'll want a running start and finish at all of these climbs so if there's a position error, the timing code doesn't catch you napping at either the bottom or top. Start at least 10 meters before and keep riding to at least 10 meters after to make sure you've crossed the line. This is an issue on Summit Springs, which is a dead-end, so the actual "line" will be adjusted as need arises to make sure it catches all of the GPS tracks of riders who road to the very end.
• If you have a mechanical problem immediately after starting a climb, as long as you still have time remaining to arrive at the start from the finish of the preceding climb, you can return to the start of this climb, recross the line in the correct direction, and the time for the aborted start will be allocated to the travel time from the previous climb.
• If you cross a finish line more than once, the clock starts ticking to reach the next climb after the first finish line crossing, not the last. But why would you want to cross a line more than once?
• Turn on your GPS before reaching the base of Golden Oak and don't worry about turning it off at the finish: the timing code ignores riding before and after the course (in fact, if you do two laps on the same GPS activity, it will take your fastest).

Volunteer!

No volunteers are needed this week, since it's a self-ride. Please consider volunteering for one of our fully supported climbs using our volunteer form! Thanks!!!

The Low-Key Way

Low-Key is all about a group of friends riding up a hill together. It's like any other informal group ride, except we time you to the top and report the results on our web site. But we have no road closures, no lead vehicle, no follow vehicle. We are traffic, sharing the roads with other traffic, following the laws and courtesy which applies to traffic. Think of it as a human-assisted Strava. We're each responsible for our own actions out there, on and off the bike, both as users of the road as as courteous visitors to the neighborhoods we pass through. "Ceci n'est pas un race".