Cycling clubs and group rides

Head west from Palo Alto on almost any road and within twenty minutes you are climbing into redwoods. That geography has made the city a cycling town for generations. On Saturday mornings, packs of riders in matching jerseys gather on California Avenue. On weekday mornings, training groups roll up Sand Hill Road before work. Two clubs anchor the scene. The Western Wheelers are a large recreational club. Alto Velo is a racing club with rides for many levels.

This guide explains how each club works, when the regular rides leave and which routes and climbs come up in every ride description. Start times and routes change with the seasons, so check the club pages before you show up. For bike lanes, boulevards and casual riding in town, see our biking guide.

Western Wheelers Bicycle Club

The Western Wheelers are a nonprofit recreational club whose rides concentrate on the Peninsula, from Burlingame to Los Gatos. The club runs weekday morning rides, summer evening rides and rides every weekend, with something for experienced riders and beginners. Most rides are on the road. Non-members are welcome as guests on almost all rides. The club lists individual dues of $35 a year for those who join.

How the ride ratings work

Every Western Wheelers ride carries a code such as C+/2/40. It reads as pace, hilliness and distance:

• Pace runs from A, the slowest, to E, the fastest. A plus sign means about 1 mph faster than the letter.
• Hilliness runs from 0 to 5 and is based on average feet climbed per mile. A 2 means about 50 feet per mile, so 2,000 feet of climbing over 40 miles. An exclamation point warns of an unusually steep hill.
• Distance is the total miles.

The system makes it easy to pick a first ride. A new rider might choose a C pace at hilliness 1 or 2 rather than a D pace with a 4.

Regular series

• Hills R Us rolls weekly on Wednesdays, meeting at 8:45 a.m. to leave at 9. Routes often include Highway 9, Page Mill, Old La Honda, Kings Mountain, West Alpine or Tunitas Creek.
• Long Distance Training is a series of weekend rides, usually Saturdays, that start easy in January and build each week. Advanced riders aim for the Davis Double Century in May. Early rides are open to anyone. Later ones are for members.
• The Fall Fun Series ran from September 12 to November 7 in 2026. It is aimed mainly at C and D riders, with routes mostly within an hour's drive of Palo Alto and Redwood City.

The Sequoia

The club's big annual event is the Sequoia. The 50th running was held on June 7, 2026, with five routes: a 43 mile Fun Ride, a 62 mile metric century, a 75 mile Challenge, a 100 mile century with about 10,000 feet of climbing and a new 80 mile course with 12 miles on dirt roads and trails. Registration for 2026 is closed. Watch the club's site for the next edition.

Alto Velo

Alto Velo was founded in late 1992 and grew to about 350 members by the early 2000s, according to the club. Its first shop sponsor was Palo Alto Bicycles. It is a racing club with men's and women's teams and a cyclocross team. It also puts on the Pescadero Road Race. Most riders know it for its weekly group rides, which leave from Summit Bicycles at 392 California Avenue. All riders sign the club's annual waiver and follow its ride rules.

The club also runs occasional Saturday rides for women, trans, femme and non-binary cyclists from different starting points around the Bay. Members of the Women's Racing Team lead them and you do not need to be a member to join. Ride announcements go out on the club's email list, which anyone can join.

Weekday training rides

Alto Velo also publishes two long-running informal rides that its members often join:

• The Morning Ride leaves downtown Los Altos at 6:10 a.m. and picks up riders at Sand Hill Road and Pasteur Drive at 6:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It climbs Sand Hill, sprints along Portola Road, climbs Page Mill to Altamont Road and descends through Los Altos Hills. Expect a hard effort.
• The Noon Ride starts at Page Mill and Old Page Mill roads at noon on weekdays, with a loop of about 22 miles and longer options midweek.

These are fast rides with a racing feel. Ride a club C or B ride first if you are new to pack riding.

Classic routes and climbs

Old La Honda

Old La Honda Road is the climb every local rider knows. It winds up from Portola Road in Woodside through shaded redwoods to Skyline Boulevard on a narrow, quiet road. Riders compare times on it the way runners compare mile splits. Alto Velo describes its A Ride as climbing it in 21 minutes or less, its women's rides at 25 to 30 minutes and its Joy Ride at 30 to 35 minutes. Most first-timers take longer. That is fine.

The Portola Valley loop

The loop through Portola Valley is the most popular ride from Palo Alto. A common version follows Sand Hill Road west past Interstate 280, turns south on Portola Road through Woodside and Portola Valley, then returns on Alpine Road and Arastradero Road. It has rolling hills, wide views of the foothills and a stream of other riders on weekend mornings. Alto Velo's Thursday LHR ride uses Portola Valley loops for its easier routes.

Page Mill, Kings Mountain and the coast

For bigger days, Page Mill Road climbs steeply from the foothills to Skyline. Kings Mountain Road climbs from Woodside. Tunitas Creek Road and West Alpine Road drop to or climb from the coast side. Combine them with Skyline and you can build a ride with several thousand feet of climbing. Weather on Skyline can be colder and wetter than in town, so carry a layer.

Joining your first group ride

1. Pick the right ride. Start with a no-drop ride, such as Alto Velo's Joy Ride or a lower-rated Western Wheelers ride.
2. Arrive early. Introduce yourself to the leader and sign any waiver before the group rolls.
3. Bring the basics. Two bottles, food, a spare tube, a pump or CO2 and lights for the shaded roads.
4. Learn the signals. Point out holes, call cars and hold your line. Both clubs post ride etiquette pages.
5. Ride single file on narrow roads. Many mountain roads have no shoulder and blind curves.

Bike shops and getting to the hills

Shops in town range from Palo Alto Bicycles on University Avenue, the city's oldest bike shop, to Summit Bicycles on California Avenue. For gear, repairs and fitting, our bike shops guide covers the shops in town. To reach the hills safely, use the bike boulevards to cross the city before you join the bigger roads.

Frequently asked questions