Hello All,

I'm going to start riding to work a few days a week and need a little route advice. I live in the Almaden valley (Redmond and Meridian) and commute to Great America Pkwy (near Mission College). I was thinking about going up Camden to San Tomas Exwy and taking that all the way to Scott. I like that there aren't many lights on San Tomas but there doesn't seem to be much of a bike lane on some parts. Anyone have any experience commuting on San Tomas? Are there other routes that might be better?

Thanks,
Charlie

Here is a bike route map:

http://www.vta.org/schedules/VTA_Bike_Map.pdf

Camden has a pretty bad caution rating...

Charlie,

I commute from Hillsdale Avenue all the way to Zanker and Plumeria. Prett much a straight shot all the way. Camden /San Tomas is actually not that bad onve you get passed the intersection with 880/17 because it has a very wide shoulder and smooth pavement. The other dicey point is at the intersection with 101, but you won't need to go that far.

Leave around 6 am and the traffic is not too busy yet.

Good luck.

Have you tried Union/Bascom/Lafayette? That looks promising but not quite as direct. How bad is the Camden/17 area? I've driven through there and it looks like it would be pretty hairy on a bike, especially coming south-bound as you come down the hill toward 17. There seem to be a lot of cars that move left to right in a hurry to get to the freeway entrance.

Thanks,

The safest route I can think of is to go up to Blossom Hill and take it all the way to Vasona Park. At the Park, get on the Los Gatos Creek Trail, and take it all the way up to Campbell Ave. Then take Campbell (or Civic Center Drive, the part that goes around downtown) over to San Tomas.

I've ridden San Tomas from Los Gatos to Stevens Creek, and I was pretty comfortable the whole way (the Stevens Creek intersection can be hairy). If you don't want to take the bike path, ride Blossom Hill to Winchester, then take Winchester up to San Tomas. Winchester gets a little tight around the Courtside Club between Lark and Hwy 85, but is otherwise not too bad.

Hello All,

I'm going to start riding to work a few days a week and need a little route advice. I live in the Almaden valley (Redmond and Meridian) and commute to Great America Pkwy (near Mission College). I was thinking about going up Camden to San Tomas Exwy and taking that all the way to Scott. I like that there aren't many lights on San Tomas but there doesn't seem to be much of a bike lane on some parts. Anyone have any experience commuting on San Tomas? Are there other routes that might be better?

Thanks,
Charlie

If a quiet, car-free ride is a priority, then you could try and take the Los Alamitos Creek trail as far as Chenowyth, the Hwy 87 bike path as far as Willow St, then the Guadalupe Creek Trail through the city centre to the southern end of the airport. With a couple of short exceptions at Chenowyth, Curtner, & Willow streets, (& a slightly longer stretch around Capitol Expressway), you can remain on the bike paths the the whole way to the airport. From the airport to Mission College it might be a bit more difficult to get a relatively safe & short route. My suggestions might be to head north on First St, left on Montague, (both have decent bike lanes), & then right onto Mission College.

+1 on N. First to Montague. I come from the other side of San Jose (from the Evergreen area) up Capitol, but cut over Hostetter/Murphy/Brokaw to N. First and up from there. Sometimes I come all the way up Monterey Hwy if I'm short on time. N. First is very good north of downtown, and excellent north of Brokaw.

My commute from the Cambrian area of SJ up toward Alviso takes me on N. First too. I cut over to it via the Shark Tank and haven't had any problems w/ traffic between downtown and Brokaw. The bike lane starts at Brokaw and the ride is even better.