Sunol Ride

Saturday ride with my hubby, Ross. We decided to try southern Alameda county - Sunol area. First thought was to ride Niles-Canyon Road, which I've always heard is a beautiful ride. My question was traffic, so decided to drive it first, over to Sunol. If it looked good, we'd ride it, if not, planned an alternate ride from the Sunol area. Good thing we planned an alternate ride. Niles Canyon Road is a gorgeous drive, but the traffic is heavy and, the shoulders are minimal. Not a good biking road.

The alternate route is here. My thought was to park at the Sunol Wilderness Area parking lot and bike from there. Almost a good idea - it was already 2:30 and the park gate closes at 5. Ross correctly pointed out if we get a flat or any other problem, we would be hosed. So, out we drove to a nice parking spot on Calaveras Road.

The area is behind the Fremont hills and south of Pleasanton.  Gorgeous area, pretty undeveloped, few houses, lots of cows. Angle of the sun in late afternoon made it especially beautiful. There was a headwind, but it wasn't too bad. Road North, under I-680, to Pleasanton-Sunol Road. Noticed that much of the land on the East was San Francisco Dept. of Water land - did not register what that significance was. At least, not until the end of the ride.

Turned right on Pleasanton-Sunol Rd. and rode parallel to the freeway - really pretty ride, albeit a bit of noise from the freeway. Lots of cottonwood trees, a surprise. Cottonwoods like water and they frequently mark a creek - which they did in this case. Made it up to Castlewood Drive, where we turned, drove by the country club and then turned right onto Foothill Road. Very tony suburb, southern end of Pleasanton. Pretty, but a bit scary if you ask me - many gated communities - not my taste. Turned around at Bernal Road to head back. Nice midway point. Sun getting even lower and the angle, and shadows, were especially nice. Soon we hear the rumble of motor cycles and a troop of perhaps 30 cycles came roaring by us on the other side of the road - man were we happy to be going the opposite direction.




The ride back to Hwy 84 was uneventful, except when I asked Ross how he felt. He said his left hand was getting numb - as was my right hand - and I said it might be due to our riding slowly. Well, that's not the way to encourage your riding partner to go on more rides - he thought he was hoofing it and here I come along and say we were riding slowly. OOPS.


At Hwy 84, we noticed a gate across the street. Curious as we normally are, we rode across and discovered that it was the gate to the Sunol water temple, part of the Hetch Hetchy Water project from San Francisco. WOW! Great find. There is another water temple on the Peninsula, near San Mateo, called the Pulgas Water Temple. There is also a third I believe somewhere in the Bay Area. These structures are really cool - shaped like a small Greek Temple and if you look into it, or down it I should say (like a well), you see the water flowing. This is the fresh water system that supplies much of the Peninsula and the city of San Francisco. What a find. We could not go in, but the picture shows the temple in the distance and the plaque is on the gate into the property.

Statistics

• Distance: 18 miles
• Time: 1.5 hours
• Average Speed: 12.5 mph
• Wind: 10-15 mph. Headwind, for perhaps 50% of the ride.

Physical Feelings

• Definitely kept breathing almost normal, so pace was for endurance
• No hip achiness. Riding a bit slower than I would normally ride and no significant hills.
• Some hand numbness, not sure why.
• No arm, shoulder or neck achiness
• Legs a bit tired, no burning.
• Good energy during and after ride - no feeling of being wiped out.
• Split a Cliff Bar with Ross at halfway point and again, at end. Drank one bottle of water.

Moraga Ride - St. Mary's College

My Saturday ride to beat the Sunday rain was in Orinda and Moraga, on some fairly flat roads. Flat to start to build more endurance - goal was to ride with faster cadence for an extended period of time. I was frequently able to keep my cadence above  90 - very good pace for me and I really felt it in my hamstrings.

The ride started at Orinda BART. You can see the route here. The ride was made up of 4 five mile blocks: Moraga Way to St. Mary's Rd. to Moraga Rd. and then back on Moraga Way to the Orinda BART station. Much of the ride is relatively flat, which allowed me to really start working on pedaling technique. I focused on faster pedaling as well as effective pedaling - practiced some drills I've been reading about. The roads were in great condition - my only complaint is that there is much traffic and the shoulders are small to non-existent. I'd recommend this ride early in the morning, before traffic gets bad. Nice country feeling though.

The early highlight was a quick visit to St. Mary's college. Here's another example of a place I have known about for the 30 years I have lived here, but have never seen and it was biking that got me to see it. Gotta love this sport!

St. Mary's is a very small college in Moraga. Nice mission style architecture, gorgeous setting too. The church dates from the mid-1800's if I remember correctly. Here's a shot of the church. I did not get a chance to go inside.














To the side of the church is Galileo Hall. I had to get a picture of that - how ironic that a Catholic institution of learning would name a hall after Galileo - who the Church excommunicated. Nice to know that however things are at any one time, they will change. Anyone see gay marriage in the air?











From St. Mary's college, I rode the remaining 5 miles up St. Mary's road to Lafayette. Pretty, but non-spectacular ride. The thin to non-existent shoulder on the road was a bit hairy. I'll do this ride, in the future, earlier in the day, before traffic gets too thick. In Lafayette, turned onto Moraga Road. Funny, I totally forgot the climb on Moraga Road - 400 feet over 3 miles, not too bad, just a surprise. No problem doing it though. 5 miles on Moraga Rd., past a place that I have swum at, Campolindo High School (Soda Aquatic Center) - great memories and great pool there! Turned onto Moraga Way to do the last 5 miles back to the Orinda BART station - really started to feel my hamstrings at this point - the faster pedaling and pedaling drills were doing their thing - obviously works the hamstrings more than I was used to. Nice to know I was building up some new fitness!


Statistics

• Distance: 21 miles
• Time: 1.5 hours
• Average Speed: 14 mph
• Average Cadence: 75 (not certain)
• Wind: 10-15 mph. Some headwind, for perhaps 15-20% of the ride.

Physical Feelings

• Definitely kept breathing almost normal, so pace was for endurance
• Some achiness in left hip again
• Soreness in hamstrings from new work, nothing bad, just new
• No arm, shoulder or neck achiness
• Good energy during and after ride - no feeling of being wiped out.
• Ate big pasta meal the night before, may have been a good meal pre-ride.
• Ate single bar afterwards, drank one bottle of water.