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Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club (See Strava Group Event)

RIDEWITHGPS EVENT    Strava Route 

This is a dual start.  Starting from Peet’s in Los Altos, rendezvous at Mt. Winery. 

Loma Prieta is the tallest mountain in the Santa Cruz Mountain Range, and it’s right in our backyard.  This time we are going to get there via Highway 9 and Skyline and so only one trip on the LGCT.

Near the end of Loma Prieta, there’s a 0.2 mile dirt section.  It’s not good dirt, either.  It’s quite chunky.  Usually, it’s smoother off to the side.  Past the junction of Summit Road, there’s a MidPen Sign warning that this is a Closed Area. MidPen Rangers have been known to stake this area out to issue tickets, so, we’ll want to be careful and not stumble into a citation-fest.

As you can see below the MidPen land below is in red, it does not include Loma Prieta Rd until past the sign, so it’s only 0.3 miles or so into MidPen road.  There’s no private property issues here, just MidPen stating a road’s closed for no particular reason.    A fair number of cars use this road, the traffic for Loma Prieta and the housing you can see on that ridge.  You don’t have to venture into the Closed Area section, but it’s totally worth it, with great views.

Something else that can be explored is the entrance to Mt. Umunhum-Loma Prieta [dirt] Road.

​When: 8:30 AM 

Where: Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company, 101 W Main Street, Los Gatos

Notes on Loma Prieta- Mt Umunhum Road.

The Loma Prieta Road extends to the Mt. Umunhum-Loma Prieta [dirt] Road.  This would complete a super cyclocross bike route, as has been blazed by Eduardo (see pics below).   Unfortunately, MidPen keeps it closed and issues tickets.  It’s such a waste that we can’t use it.  One more reason I loathe MidPen.

Here’s the Eduardo Loop I mentioned above,  a lotta time on top of the world.

Here’s a detail of Loma Prieta- Mt. Umunhum Road route along the ridge.

Segments