More adventures all over the Bay area!

Well, since my last post, things have continued to be very busy, with lots of very good training rides. On July 20, Mel and I were able to climb up on highway 84/ Woodside Road all the windy way up to reach Skyline Blvd! It did seem to go uphill forever, and I had forgotten how long it was, but we kept going up and finally reached the summit at Skyline with our bikes! It definitely felt good (after the climb, not during).

Then, on July 26, Mel and I were just cycling along our usual, familiar loop from the Stanford campus, including Junipero Serra, then to Alpine Road. We usually turn on to Portola, but we had heard that Alpine does continue on for a little bit before the road ends. So, we decided to get a little more climbing in since that part of Alpine looked steep, and we continued on straight on Alpine. After the steep part, came a nice little downhill, and we passed many hiking trails as well as Willowbrook Road, which is a road I knew previously from another ride with Jerry. However, instead of turning back on to Willowbrook, Mel and I saw that Alpine turned into a narrower road that curved enticingly into the distance. So we kept going...we were able to ride a few more miles at a nice steady incline. It was a great road, with practically no cars, alongside a forested bubbly brook. We didn't know where we would end up, but we saw several cyclists on mountain bikes (passing us by, of course), so we knew there would be a popular mountain bike trail somewhere. We finally reached Joaquin road, which was pretty far down from where we thought Alpine would end. Alpine did eventually end into a dirt route where people do lots of scary mountain biking. What I love most about biking are the new routes and scenery we discover along the way...roads that I thought were familiar to me suddenly becoming a completely new ride with extensions, loops, and outreaches beyond the usual. New little discoveries in a place I thought I knew. Or roads that I usually zoom along on in the car that suddenly look completely different and foreign to me once I'm on the bike. Definitely get to see more on a bike and at a different pace. Love the different pace. Beyond all that, there's the fact that just biking on these new trails exposes me to lots of new places all around the Bay area that I've never been to, especially roads around the East Bay.

Anyways, here's the two of us on the backroads of Alpine...



It has become one of my favorite rides and I'm looking forward to doing it again. However, as Mel puts it, it's a fine line between a ride that is my favorite and a ride that is my nemesis (#1: Arastadero, #2: Sand Hill, and of course, the Mountain of Shame, Pinehurst, which stands alone with no rank).

On Saturday, July 28, we went on another training ride with Jerry and the rest of the CCC gang. It was a tour of San Francisco, riding from Lake Merced, along the Great Highway, into Golden Gate park, across the Golden Gate bridge, then up to Twin Peaks and finally San Bruno Mountain. It was a pretty foggy day, however, so we didn't see many views...

Here's Mel and me on top of Twin Peaks. (ooh, I have some bad helmet hair here in the photo!)
We brought our new first year fellow, Reuven, along for the ride too. Unfortunately, besides the foggy weather, our group also suffered two flat tires, which caused us some delay, so we didn't have enough time to go to the summit of San Bruno mountain (good thing too, because I was pretty wiped out after Twin Peaks). It was a good ride for the climbing and the practice of riding in the city traffic.

The next day, Sunday, July 29, Mel and I were in the East Bay, so we checked out a route called the 3 Bears near Orinda, on the other side of the peak from Berkeley. This time we drove through Tilden Park to get to the other side and started out on San Pablo Dam Road, turning on Castro Ranch, staying on Alhambra and then turning on to Bear Creek Road, where we were to meet Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear. Here's Mel biking up to the summit of Mama Bear...

...and here she is eating at the summit of Mama.
After Mama Bear, the road did a little down and up, and we were wondering if the up part was Papa Bear. However, it became obvious that it definitely was not, because when we reached the actual Papa, it was totally clear that we were riding up a Papa Bear hill! No question compared to Mama! We passed by horse stables and ranches, riding around San Pablo Reservoir and Briones Reservoir. Baby Bear came up and when I thought I could not climb any longer, we saw the car waiting for us at the top of Baby Bear! Such a happy moment! Going down Papa before Baby was quite a scary experience though, as it was rather windy and a steep downhill. All in all, a great ride (another favorite) and one that I'll do again!

That's it for the riding thus far. This week is a quiet week as Mel, our nurse Jeanette, and some of our fellows are off at Valley of the Moon for this year's Arthritis Camp. While they are out there chasing the kids around, I'm supposed to be productive working on writing my paper. Of course, I'm writing the blog instead, but it is still writing! Mel thinks that I will go the gym to cross train, but I haven't been going. At least I've had lots of cross training with sitting in front of the computer trying to write! We'll do more riding this weekend after camp is over.