Contra Costa County Ride with Low Rollers

I continued to introduce rolling hills on this ride. This ride was on Saturday April 16. It was roughly the same distance as the previous week, 48 miles, with more total climbing. Ride is here.

Rode with Larry, a friend of Steve, my friend who inspired me on this whole adventure. Larry is also riding the ALC ride in June. Early meet at the Orinda BART - 7AM, ouch. But, it sure is beautiful at that time! I could actually hear the birds singing as we rode down Moraga Way, or was I in a sleepless stupor just imagining it?

Larry

The ride took us out through Moraga, past St. Mary's College. Incredibly green, incredibly pretty. Worked our way through Lafayette to the south end of Walnut Creek. Not my favorite roads to this point - pretty, rural, but no shoulders and feels a bit scary. But it's worth it and better early in the morning when there is less traffic.

Continued down Danville Blvd, which has a GREAT shoulder. Nice flat ride for a bit. Turned east on El Cerro, which turns into Blackhawk Blvd. This skirts the south side of Mt. Diablo, nice rolling hills, nice open, green countryside. Joins in with Camino Tassajara, which we rode as a nice several mile downhill. All feeling good to this point.

Quick return on Danville Blvd, through Lafayette. Skipped the short, but wall of a hill on Reliz Station Rd, taking the Lafayette-Moraga trail instead. Good choice, still trying not to overdo it with hills.

Finish up with a filling lunch of greek food in Orinda, good chat, then back to the cars to head home. One nice thing about a 7AM start is that we were finished by 1PM. Overall, not too tired, minimal aches. Next day, Sunday, was pretty tired though.

Ride Statistics

• Distance: 48 miles
• Time riding: 3:50
• Average speed: 12.5
• Average cadence: 69
• How I felt after the ride: Minimal achiness, a bit of tingling in the leg. Definitely tired, but not overly so. Took Ibuprofen before I rode and perhaps that helped, especially for the day after the ride.