Sunol can be beautiful in the spring, and what better excuse for going out there than a BAOC event! There will be the usual 7 courses, beginner through advanced. The White, Yellow, Orange, and Brown courses will start near the registration area. The Green, Red, and Blue advanced courses will have a remote start, about a 15-20 min. walk from registration.
Note: The kiosk at the park entry would not be staffed on Sunday. This means that everyone will have to feed $5 into the new machine in order to get a parking ticket. Please bring exact change – preferably a $5 bill. The machine will accept only $1, $5, and $10 bills. [Added 3/17/06]
Course Stats
Course Distance Climb Controls
White 2.7 km 100 m 12
Yellow 2.6 km 100 m 11
Orange 3.9 km 175 m 12
Brown 3.7 km 155 m 12
Green 5.2 km 300 m 19
Red 6.6 km 320 m 22
Blue 7.8 km 400 m 27
So, now that you know how long the courses are, you can let me know when you can volunteer. Yes, we still need people — especially for Starts, Finishes, and beginners clinics. Any block of time would be appreciated! Contact Vicki Woolworth (Regional Event Coordinator — East Bay) at 510-638-2394.
Schedule
Event registration will open at 9:00 AM. We'll hold a beginner's clinic around 9:30 AM, and we'll try to hold another one around 10:30. Start times will be available on all courses from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM. All courses will close at 2:00 PM. Please be sure to return to the finish by then, even if you do not complete your course.
Horses
Sunol is popular among the equestrian crowd. Please note that they, as always, have the right-of-way. If you are near equestrians, please walk to avoid spooking the horses.
Terrain and Vegetation
Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness is a land of moderate and steep slopes, half of them covered by open grassland and the other half covered by generally sparse forests of oak, bay laurel, and madrone. Patches of underbrush occur in denser parts of the forest and blanket a few hillsides.
It's a little too early in the season to tell how prevalent the poison oak will be, but Sunol in the spring can be quite rife with shiny little leaves. Long sleeves and long pants are strongly recommended to avoid direct skin contact. And washing with Technu after your course is always prudent.
The White course, however, will stay on trails, and thus will not expose participants to poison oak.
Driving Directions
Take I-680 to the Calaveras Road exit near Sunol. Go south on Calaveras Road about six miles to Geary Road. Turn left onto Geary, and continue a couple of miles to the park entrance. Pay the parking fee ($5) and follow the O' signs to the registration area. Park only in designated parking areas. The rangers do give tickets. Carpool if possible, since Sunol is very popular in the spring.
Note: The park entrance fee is $5 per car. Most likely a ranger will be on duty at the entrance kiosk to accept your payment, but if not, you may want to bring exact change for self-service payment.