Alice's has a second life as a rider stop, and it is worth saying a bit about the culture that has grown up around it rather than just the road. On weekends, the lot at the Skyline and Highway 84 crossing becomes a kind of open-air club, with riders from San Francisco, San Jose and the East Bay meeting for breakfast, comparing notes and drifting off in small groups. Nobody is in a hurry, and a sense of unspoken etiquette keeps things civil: park tidily, keep engines low when you leave, and wave at the locals.
The surrounding land is redwood and Douglas fir forest, in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, with a thick, damp smell and a mossy hush. In the nineteenth century these hills were logged heavily to feed the growth of San Francisco, and the old skid roads and mill sites are still hidden in the trees. Many of today's roads follow those lumber routes, which explains why they bend and climb so naturally along the ridges. The San Andreas Fault runs through the valley just to the east, and the whole range is a product of the grinding collision of tectonic plates.
If you want to ride from here, two options are the classic. West on Highway 84 takes you down La Honda Road through steep, tight bends, with big redwoods overhead, to the coast near San Gregorio. South on Skyline carries you along the crest with long views in both directions. Both roads are narrow, with bad patches and fallen branches after storms, so look well ahead and leave margin. Local police and the highway patrol are active at weekends, so keep it civil.
Woodside, five kilometres down, has the last easy fuel, so be sure to top up before you climb. The restaurant's busy hours run from mid-morning to early afternoon, and the best time to come is on a weekday, when you can talk to the staff and the regulars. Wear layers, since the temperature drops quickly in the shade.