Tag: Port Costa

I’ve been riding a variant on this 30-mile loop once or twice a year for 6 or 7 years and it never gets old. From Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek BART along off-road canalside trails, then up the long but not steep uphill of McEwen between rolling hills of flowers and cows, down to the quirky Port Costa for a picnic and drink among pallets, potholes, and old theatre signs outside the Warehouse Cafe, then back along the twist, car-free Carquinez Scenic Drive along Carquinez Strait: ...

I’ve done this general ride too many times to remember over the years. This was an especially good day of it– lush green hills instead of the usual dead grass, sunny but not too hot, a children’s lemonade stand, a group of friends, a picnic and some British beer at The Warehouse, and my first time riding on Carquinez Scenic Drive since its renovation (though to be honest, I sort of miss its previous painted, crumbling-into-the-bay state and the 50 feet of hillside dirt path you used to need to traverse).

I’m finally posting a map and photos from a ride organized by Robin a month back– about 50 miles from Walnut Creek BART to Martinez, along Carquinez Scenic drive to Port Costa (a common spring destination, for me), then past refineries out to Pinole Point Park and down to Richmond: ...

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.

Port Costa Ride: photos

The ride today was both a great success and a collection of minor disasters. On the up side: Eight people, including a few people who hadn’t been riding in a while. A casual-pace 29-mile ride, with successful climbs of many winding hills and a few thousand feet of elevation gain. People got tired of me saying “I think this is the last hill.” Port Costa was not at all sleepy– there were 100-200 motorcyclists (of the Harley / leather / chaps persuasion), a live band, and more loud-exhaust bikes rolling in every few minutes. It was a scene. We’d heard “the motorcyclists are taking over the Warehouse kitchen for the day” and it felt like a private party, so we weren’t sure we’d be able to get food… but they encouraged us to help ourselves to the spaghetti, salad, and bread, for free! A few interesting (and also large, and strong) beers. All in all, about everything I wanted out of the post-birthday ride, thanks everyone. On the down side, members of the group experienced: ...

Four more photos from last weekend’s ride, courtesy DR (and I’m trying out the new Tumblr slideshow feature)

Flowers along McEwen Rd

On the ride