Sunday, September 4, 2011

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Michael and I take the Canal Trail to meet up with the Novice ride that starts out at Pleasant Hill BART station. The sun is up and it feels great to be outside!

We arrive at PH BART and there’s already a huge group of cyclists waiting for the ride to start out at 10:00 AM. Everyone seems to be in a great mood for another leisurely fun ride.

The first 7 miles of the route will takes us through the urban streets of Pleasant HIll. There is quite a bit of traffic! The group heads out on Coggins to exit the station; Coggins becomes Oak Park Blvd after crossing the I-680 Overpass. The route continues on Pleasant Hill Rd for the next 3.4 miles and changes to Alhambra Ave after crossing Taylor.

 

 

We take a left onto Franklin Canyon Rd and continue on for the next 3.3 miles. The gradient here is very gentle at 1-2% all the way to the intersection at McEwen Rd. From that point, it increases to around 4-6% as you near the top. There is minimal traffic on this road, The winds did pick up a bit as we headed towards Cummings Skywy.

We continue on Cummings Skywy for the next 2.2 miles to Crockett Blvd. You can see some coastal fog lingering in the distance. The sweeping descent on Crockett Blvd is very fast on smooth pavement! At the bottom, we make a right onto Pomona for a stop at J & L Market.

There is a regroup and snack stop at the Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) Memorial at the top of Pomona St.

We continue on Carquinez Scenic Dr for the next 7+ miles and ride within the Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline. With no through traffic on this road due to a landslide back in 1982, a vast majority of the road between the closed gates are in desperate need of repair. The views along the way are fabulous! Beware of one section of road that becomes a single narrow dirt crossing; proceed with caution!

Porta-potties are available at the Bull Valley Staging Area and at Carquinez Starit East Staging Area.

We stop and walk through the closed barrier to continue on Carquinez Scenic Dr.  The descent on this backside is on very rough and bumpy pavement. Take a moment to look at the closed historic cemetery on your left.

We take Escobar to Ferry and Main St for the lunch stop at Taqueria Los Toros. Micheal and I opt to bypass the stop and head home.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Barb, Jeff, Steve and Estella for leading today’s ride! What a fun way to spend the day; we get to pedal and still show support for these types of rides.

~40+ people in attendance with 2 tandems

38.71 miles with 2395′ of elevation gain

Weather: WONDERFUL! Sunny and warm with temps ranging from the high 60’s to low 80’s

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>RIDE, RIDE, RIDE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>