I've lived in the area (Redwood Estates, at the summit of Hwy 17) for over a decade, and ridden all the roads in the area many times. Personally, I love riding both directions on Mountain Charlie, and commuted that route to Santa Cruz for years, but I admit, it's kinda' rough. As an alternative, the descent from Summit on Soquel-San Jose road is marvelous -- lovely high speed sweepers that hardly require brakes (as long as the cars get out of your way!)
So I would echo the LG Creek Trail from Willow Glen (entrance is just off Meridan) to Lexington. Alma Bridge road around the east side (CW) of the reservoir is beautiful, but it adds a bit of distance, so if you want to reduce the mileage, the trail along the west (CCW) is a good option in dry weather. Old SC Hwy to Summit, Summit to Soquel-San Jose... then Soquel Dr in to SC. (or find your way down to the water's edge - Opal Cliffs, East Cliff, Portola, etc) For the return, I would recommend Branciforte to Glen Canyon to Green Hills, which changes to S. Navarra (East frontage road to Hwy 17 thru Scotts Valley) to Granite Creek, across 17 then Glenwood to Mountain Charlie. The best thing about Mountain Charlie is how little traffic there is. I've ridden that entire 5 mile stretch and seen as few as two cars the whole way up. Beautiful scenery and far enough from Hwy 17 that you don't hear it. Mountain Charlie is the original stagecoach road over the mountains, and the road was built in sort of a stairstep fashion (short steep climbs, then "flatter" sections) so that the horses could recover between climbs, rather than one long steady grade. Works well for cyclists too! ;-) At the top of Mtn Charlie, you can cross 17 (on Summit) then turn immediately left on the continuation of Mountain Charlie, which takes you steeply down to join up with Old SC Hwy... Sounds like a great weekend trip. Have fun! cheers, Andrew -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
