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Ride 2.9 miles gaining 1,360’ at 9% average grade.
Climb summary by Dan Razum, Campbell, CA.
Bear Creek Road goes from Lexington Reservoir up to Summit Road. It is a narrow, twisty road with some
steep sections. Bear Creek Road is similar to other roads nearby, such as Black, Montevina or
Soda Springs, but with one major difference: traffic. Bear Creek is a popular route between San Jose
and Boulder Creek. The traffic may not be heavy compared to major highways such as highway 17, but there is
enough traffic to make this a dangerous climb. The problem is there are many blind curves and most of the
road has absolutely no shoulder. Cars tend to hug the edge of the road around curves and so if they
encounter a cyclist in the middle of the curve, the car has no time to react and the cyclist has nowhere to
escape. This is obviously is not a good situation and so this climb is not recommended, unfortunately.
Traffic can't see a slow bicycle around this curve, dangerous situation.
As a descent, Bear Creek is ok. The descent is a little technical but a bicyle can easily keep up with
traffic going downhill. But if you want to climb up to Summit Road, it is better to use Black Road or
Old Santa Cruz Highway.