Mike's Bike Blog

The first real test to Hugel comes at High Road. It is a short but steep hill. The hill itself I don't find to challenging, it's early in the ride so the legs are fresh and have had ample time to warm up. However, I suggest surveying who is around you when you approach the end of Toro Canyon Rd. Last year when I hit the base of the hill and looked up it was total chaos. People up near the top were zig zagging from shoulder to shoulder, riders were falling over or stopping, chains were breaking. It was a mess. Be ready for this and if you can time your approach do so. If you are weary of the riders in your group it might be advantageous to get some distance between you and them.

One other thing to look out for on High Road is this section is a lolipop route, you come down Toro Canyon take a right onto High Road, go up it, it loops around in sort of a circle and comes back out on High Road. Thus there is potential for mishaps if riders coming down Trail of the Madrones Rd. fail to stop at the stop sign and cross in front of riders going up.