Today was my 4th or 5th Port Costa / Carquinez Scenic Drive ride over the past four years and it was a good one (and with no flats or infected bee stings). Seven of us met up at Pleasant Hill BART and headed out for a late afternoon casual-pace 29-mile ride and picnic. For variety, we took what looked like a side path along Alhambra– but it rapidly rose above the road and turned into a rough dirt path. ...
Riding back from Port Costa.
View from Twin Peaks
Here’s the plan. **Saturday:**Eric reminded me it’s the SFBC ride “7 Hells of San Francisco” (crazy steep hills), and I’m going to join them. 10am meetup at the Panhandle statue (Baker & Fell), should end at 2pm. **Sunday:**I’ve had three people say they’re in already, so it’s on: the 29-mile Port Costa loop from Pleasant Hill. A nice route I’ve done a few times, with one segment on a now-closed-to-cars road along the bay. For variety, let’s do this as a late afternoon ride + picnic, to avoid the midday heat, have an extra reason to stop for a beer at The Warehouse in Port Costa, and get to bike back along the water in the nice evening light. Casual pace, no rider left behind as usual, but some moderate hills. ...
7 Hells (hills) of San Francisco, a week from Saturday. I may do this with a friend.
The ride 7/10 was laid-back and short. No interest in the Tourist Club ride 7/17, so it’s cancelled. Port Costa loop: Sunday 7/24 afternoon / early evening, perhaps meeting 2 or 3pm at Walnut Creek.
Seen outside Trouble Coffee on Sunday’s ride.
After a month off, it’s time for some weekend rides. I’m going to start with shorter rides I’ve done before, to try to rope in some friends I haven’t been riding with much. Here’s a rough plan (all subject to change, so let me know if you’re interested): Tonight (Wednesday), another Butterlap (17-mile evening ride around the city). I’m not 100% sure I’m going, depending on work timing. This Sunday 7/10, a short morning ride to the ocean and back (just 12 miles round trip) via golden gate park, with a stop at Trouble Coffee for toast and one of my favorite espressos in the city. Probably starting from the Mission around 9am, and back before noon. ...
I looked up the amusing “glad rooster” and “wild rooster” warning signs I’d seen on the trip, and Google Translate says they mean “smooth grid” and “cattle grid”. Aha! That seems believable, I think I generally saw them near cattle grids, those open-bar grates that cows won’t cross but humans can (as well as bikes, if they’re careful to stay perpendicular to the slots– the slots are certainly wide enough to eat a wheel). ...
And I’m back in San Francisco, with my bike and belongings intact. Thanks everyone who sent me email or comments. Some time in the next few weeks I’ll write up some notes about the trip (cycling highlights, what I packed and used and would do differently on the bike camping front, navigation, a summary album of the best photos, and so on), but otherwise this blog will probably go back to its organizing-periodic-bay-area-bike-rides purpose. ...