Mines Road in Livermore
12-13-2018, 02:13 PM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Mines Road in Livermore
Has any driven this road? On a map it looks like a great Sunday drive and from what I have read on Yelp it seems it is a popular motorcycle/cycle road. Seems like they might put gravel down on the road in the winter though.
Before I waste a few hours and some disappointment if I can't drive it, was hoping to see if anyone has first hand experience.
Thanks!
Before I waste a few hours and some disappointment if I can't drive it, was hoping to see if anyone has first hand experience.
Thanks!
12-13-2018, 04:32 PM
#2
Racer
It's a fun road, but turns into one lane (more like 1.5 lanes, but no center stripe) about 10 miles in... so isn't my favorite out/back road. Here's a write-up I did a few years ago. Summers it gets bikers... winter it can get rain runoff (also carrier dirt) and a few places actually can have flooding/small river-crossing if there's been a lot of recent rain. My preference is to drive Del Puerto Canyon Rd (off of I-5 at Patterson) and San Antonio Valley Rd up to the backside of Mount Hamilton. Del Puerto Canyon isn't the greatest road condition, but San Antonio Valley is awesome!
Last edited by TCorzett; 12-13-2018 at 04:32 PM.
12-13-2018, 04:41 PM
#3
Instructor
Thread Starter
12-13-2018, 06:57 PM
#4
Melting Slicks
mines rd. is a nice road, but can get bicycle heavy.
I like marsh creek rd. runs from clayton out to brentwood. if you hit early you can get it to yourself.
this is about 15 - 20 miles of nothing but curves. it does have a few dips that can catch the air dam.
if you head out past 8am ( weekend ), forget it.
I like marsh creek rd. runs from clayton out to brentwood. if you hit early you can get it to yourself.
this is about 15 - 20 miles of nothing but curves. it does have a few dips that can catch the air dam.
if you head out past 8am ( weekend ), forget it.
12-14-2018, 01:04 AM
#6
Intermediate
I just drove it at pace in my Z06 last Saturday and again yesterday. The road surface was generally very clean and the ephemeral creek crossings are currently dry. It's narrow, parts of it are uncomfortably rough, there's a couple of dips where the air deflector scrapes, and beware - some of the shaded corners stay damp all day this time of year. There are also several blind corners that don't leave much room to share with a full sized pickup (the prevalent vehicle out there). Those cautions aside, the smoother, more open sections are quite fun. Oh, and the cattle guards up San Antonio Valley road (130) towards Mt Ham aren't as bad as they look.
12-15-2018, 10:47 PM
#7
Race Director
I really enjoy route 16 from 505 to 20. Goes by Cache Creek Higher speed turns with decent sight lines and no bicycles. A few small towns to passed through but no traffic.