Other Group Rides
Peninsula/South Bay Group Rides
Alto Velo club members can often be found on these local group rides primarily located in the Peninsula and the South Bay.
The Morning Ride
Start: Downtown Los Altos Starbucks at 6:10 a.m. / Sand Hill Rd. and Pasteur Dr. in Palo Alto at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays
The Morning Ride (TMR) begins at conversation pace climbing up Sand Hill Rd. towards I-280. The hammering starts with the Sand Hill Stinger and the hard effort continues until a brief regroup at Alpine Rd. and Portola Rd. On Tuesdays, the group turns right from Portola Road onto Willowbrook Dr. and then left onto Alpine Rd. sprinting to the School Crossing sign. On Thursdays, the group continues straight on Portola Road, sprinting to the Fire Station sign. The ride then rolls at conversation pace to Page Mill for a climb up to Altamont Rd., after which there is another regroup. Finally, there is a fast descent through Los Altos Hills with a final sprint point on Chapin Rd.
(Strava Group) (Strava Route - Tuesday) (Strava Route - Thursday)
The Noon Ride
Start: Page Mill and Old Page Mill road at 12:00 PM weekdays
For those who desire a bit of interval work, the Noon Ride is worth the aggravation of getting there. Pick up the pack about 12:06 rolling past the Park and Ride on Page Mill Road. There's always a 1-hour loop back to Page Mill and Foothill, with longer options on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The loop is about 22 miles.
Doing the ride a couple of times a week will leave you with the sense that you're participating in a cycling epic. It's also good training for road racing, with an occasionally unruly pack that demands good bike handling skills. Frequently unfolding like a road race with surges and little attacks on the hills, you'll contest sprint points in the middle to the end.
The Spectrum Ride
Start: Saturday at 9 am, and typically rolls past downtown Los Altos around 9:15
This long-running local ride officially starts at the corner of Hollenbeck and Homestead in Sunnyvale, near the location of the now long-gone bike shop for which the ride is named. The ride motors along Foothill Expressway to Page Mill and then Arastradero, with the peloton swelling along the way. Hot spot sprints are contested at the end of Cañada Rd, the Fire Station sign at the end of Portola Rd., Alpine Rd before the I-280 ramp, and Junipero Serra Blvd. before the Stanford Dish. Be advised that this ride demands strong pack riding skills and has a reputation for not infrequent crashes. Staying as close to the front as possible is encouraged to avoid sketchy situations.
The Valley Ride
Start: Los Altos Peet's at 6 pm each Wednesday during Daylight Saving Time
This popular group ride is a true hammer-fest, with many local elite riders using it as their hard, midweek training session between weekend races. The route takes you through Woodside and Portola Valley, with an intermediate sprint at the Woodside town line. The climax of the ride is the KOM sprint at the top of Huddart Park, but riders also contest the sprint for the Addison-Wesley sign on Sand Hill road and the sprint for Page Mill road.
Alviso Ride
Start: Noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2077 Gold Street, Alviso, CA 95002. There are a few spots for parking in the lot and street parking.
The default route is the crit course that is 1.7 miles per lap. The finish line is painted on the road at the church (Jubilee Christian Center) on Disk Drive. The course runs clockwise from Disk Drive - Nortech Pkwy - North First Street - Tony P Santos Street - Wilson Way - Grand Blvd - Disk Drive. At 12:30pm, or shortly after, when the lead group crosses the finish line at Disk Drive, the group will call out "3 laps to go."
When there are lots of construction trucks coming and going on Disk Drive due to the construction across from the Jubilee Christian Center, the group will make a last minute decision to ride "the dump route" instead. Same meeting spot and roll out location. This is more like a road race/circuit race course. The group will do 3 laps of this course. This 5-mile course runs clockwise from Disk to Los Esteros Road - Zanker - Holger Way - North First Street - Nortech Pkwy - Disk Drive. The finish line is on Zanker just before the highway 237 overpass.
Tuesdays are "Team Tactics Tuesdays." Teams can work together to employ race strategies - attack, block, counter attack, etc. The Tuesday winner gets to wear the "Alviso World Champion" jersey for next Tuesday ride. (laundry service not included…you take the sweaty jersey home that the previous winner wore and wash it and wear it next week)
Thursdays are 'No Team Individual Thursdays." Team tactics are not supposed to be employed. The winner gets to don the "Thursday Target" jersey for the next Thursday's ride. (no laundry service included)
Bay Area Group Rides
Tuesday Night Park Ride (TNPR)
Start: 6pm each Tuesday at the corner of Overlook Drive and Transverse Drive in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco during Daylight Savings Time.
This long-running SF-based crit simulation takes in 7 laps of a 2.8 mile-long loop through Golden Gate Park. Each lap consists of a long downhill drag into a prevailing headwind, two hard right-handers (watch out for cars!), and a rolling uphill section along JFK Drive. The first lap is a neutral warmup, but afterwards the uphill stretch is the hardest and fastest with attacks flying and riders aiming to sprint for the stop sign at the corner of JFK and Transverse. If you get dropped, you can “shortcut” along Overlook Drive to catch back on!
Roasters Ride
Start: 9:00am on Saturdays at the Java Hut in Fairfax, CA. A large group also leaves from the Golden Gate Bridge Plaza at 8:10am to catch the ride.
Marin county’s best-known hard weekend ride/road race simulation. The ride begins with a neutral climb over White’s Hill, makes a right turn onto Nicasio Valley Road for a gut-busting effort up the Golf Course hill, and then takes in rolling roads to Point Reyes Station. A neutralized section follows to allow riders to take on food and hydrate before climbing Olema hill. The pace steadily increases along the false flats of Sir Francis Drake Blvd before a final sprint at the top of White’s Hill. There are also intermediate sprint points at the Nicasio Valley school and at the intersection of Point Reyes-Petaluma Rd. and Hwy 1. The group tends to be a bit smaller than equivalent peninsula rides (e.g., Spectrum) because the hills will drop many riders early.
Beyond the Bay Area
Sacramento Saturday River Ride
Meets behind City Bicycle Works at 2419 K St at 10am. It is a fast ride it picks up in pace in the Garden Hwy. Description: Meet behind City Bicycle Works (24th & K Street) and roll out at 10:00am. The ride cruises through downtown Sacramento and out to Garden Highway. The ride picks up in pace and begins to settle in after the long right hand curve. The ride pace is fast and furious with plenty of attacks. The ride sprints for the Yolo county line and then turns around. The pace on the way back will also be fast with a final sprint for the Sacramento county line.
Folsom Ophir Milan - Coffee Republic Ride
Meets at Greenback and Auburn Folsom Blvd in Folsom (the parking lot of Coffee Republic & McDonalds) on Saturdays at 9:30am. The ride winds through towns like Granite Bay, Auburn, Penryn and finishes back in Folsom. The pace is moderate up to the half way point, which is mainly up hill. On the way back, the pace is fast with a rotating pace line.