Summit Road

Yesterday I got out for a pleasant mid-length ride up to Summit/Skyline, past Castle Rock State Park.

View Summit Road in a larger map

I got out a little after 9, when it was still cool. I climbed up to Summit Road the usual way, this time taking Mountain Charlie Road for the last bit. Then I just headed northwest up Summit, enjoying the views and the shade.

Huge spider web over Summit Road

On the skinny part of Summit Road, between Bayview and Zayante, I rode across an enormous spider web, spanning the whole road. It had to be 10 feet across (bridging the trees, which partially covered the road), and another 10 feet high. The lowest point was perhaps 6 feet high, just over my head. Thankfully I didn't see the spider.

North of Bear Creek Road, Skyline continues as a one-lane road. It climbs up to about 2400 feet when it meets Black Road, then it expands to two lanes and climbs up to Castle Rock State Park at about 3000 feet. After that point, it's mostly a descent down to Saratoga Gap at 2600 feet, then an immediate descent into Saratoga. Yesterday was warm, dry and almost entirely free of traffic, so conditions were perfect for a fast and enjoyable descent.

After that it was home through Los Gatos and Kennedy.

Elevation profile

This was a little over 47 miles, and 4300 feet of climbing. The most difficult kilometer, identified by my little program, was the one that climbed up to the Lexington Reservoir. That doesn't seem reasonable; I need to debug, because Mountain Charlie Road is surely more difficult. Not a huge ride, but good exercise that didn't ruin me for the rest of the day.