The hook
The wooden roadhouse where Skyline meets Highway 84, and every motorcycle and road bike in the Bay Area seems to end up on a weekend.
01Why it's worth it
At the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where Skyline Boulevard crosses Highway 84, Alice's Restaurant is the unofficial clubhouse for everyone who rides these roads. On a weekend the lot is a rotating show of sportbikes, cruisers, classic cars, and lycra-clad cyclists refueling between climbs, with the odd horse and a lot of hikers mixed in. The food is honest roadhouse fare, but the food isn't really the point. The scene is: the one spot where all the twisty-road culture of the peninsula converges over coffee and a burger. If you're grinding over the hill to the coast, this is the natural regroup at the top before the descent.
02How to experience it
It's at the Skyline and Highway 84 junction above Woodside. Come on a weekend morning for the full parking-lot spectacle, get a coffee or a burger, and use it as the pause at the top of the climb. Weekdays it's quiet, which is its own kind of nice.