What happens when a HarperRide cyclist spends a few days visiting the roads of Stage 3 of the Tour of California during the holidays? Given the time of year and the size of the climbs, the answer is that some fun, yet painful, climbing happens--particularly when using a friend's old bike that may or may not be up to the task of descending.

For a few days around Christmas, an out-of-shape HarperRide cyclist named Jason was lucky enough to be visiting family and friends in the San José/San Francisco area, right in the vicinity of the roads of Stage 3 of the 2007 Tour of California. So, what are the roads like? What does it look like? Mostly, like Wisconsin, but with some climbs that are especially long and tough for someone from Illinois in late December!

Here, HarperRide.net brings you Jason's reports on riding in this part of California.

Luckily, a close friend who is also a triathlete lives in Campbell, California, just south of San José. Since I was only going to be there for a few days, I simply brought pedals and my own kit, shoes, and helmet, opting to use his bike.

It was a Cannondale, CAAD 4 with an all-aluminum frame and a carbon fork with aluminum steerer tube. It had a Mavic CXP front wheel with some other similarly shaped, off-brand Taiwanese rear wheel that featured a reflector--just in case! The brakes were Cannondale's own CODA models, and eventually they would stop the bike!

The handlebars were WAY more narrow than the 46 cm bars that I prefer, though they did feature a true triathlete's work in taping them (as can be seen in one of the photos). The bike also had a Specialized "Body Geometry" saddle that's over an inch thick and split at the back so it flexes. Very plush (and bouncy) ride on this saddle! There was a mix of 105 and Tiagra components.

While this bike has seen better days and it only rode with better bikes, it was much easier than lugging a bike through O'Hare during the holiday travel season. Plus, it got me over the hills even though I never went down into the little chainring...

Day 1-Rode from my friend Jason's place in Campbell, just south of San Jose, right near Apple's HQ in Cupertino. We rode down the very frequently traveled and relatively flat Foothill Rd, which traverses the valley. Eventually, we hopped off this with a left turn to head up the ridge that separates the valley from the Ocean. There are a couple of different climbs up it. We rode up the shorter, but harder and steeper one, The Old La Honda Road Climb. It is about 5.5 kilometers. The road surface is pretty broken during the last 2 k, and the climb was all wet due to Thursday's rain. As a result, it was fun climbing on the Cannondale; the rear wheel slipped its way up the climb.