I am definitely getting my bike legs back. I started out today wanting to ride but not knowing if I was going to go for the down-and-up-Spruce Street route (very challenging) or the along-the-Bay flat route (much easier). I ended up doing a hybrid of sorts (you can see all the wanderings here), first flying down Spruce Street, skirting downtown, and after slightly missing the bicycle bridge overpass on I-80, eventually getting on the Bay Trail, which takes you through Golden Gate Fields, the horse-racing track. (I’m not sure if you’re supposed to go through their property, but all the bikers do, and no one seems to mind.)
The parking lot fronts the Bay, and presents a wide vista of downtown San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. (Please feel free to click on the pictures to view at full size, I schlepped my Sony with the amazing Zeiss 4/16-35 mm wide angle lens on my back the whole way, and the full sized pictures are worth seeing.)
While riding through the parking lot, you alternatively catch scents of fresh hay, the bay, and horse manure, a not-unsatisfying combination. Once past Golden Gate Fields, the trail unfortunately has as extremely narrow right-of-way it follows between the Bay on the west and the loud, aggressive, obnoxious I-580 on the east. Unpleasant and a bit scary, what with cars and trucks passing at 70-plus miles per hour, separated from you only by a chain link fence which, push comes to shove, wouldn’t keep you from instant death if a vehicle were to leave the roadway.
On the Bay side of this spot, a small creek (Google Maps calls it Cerrito Creek) drains through mud flats into the Bay, a view perhaps not beautiful but definitely striking.
Further along the trail pulls away from the freeway, and becomes quieter, although it is still definitely urban, skirting a huge Costco store and and even larger U.S. Post Office distribution facility. There are plenty of nice views, though, including this one with antennas that may or may not still be functional.
I had toyed with the idea of going all the way out to Point Richmond, but a fair breeze was making even the flat trail seem more difficult than it should, so I eventually stopped at the huge dog park that runs along the Bay at Point Isabel. Twenty-three acres of freedom! I was tired so I sat and ate a Cliff bar while I watched the dogs come into and out of the park. What a life. I took this picture, which is cool but doesn’t show how much doggie fun was going on there.
At this point, I just wanted to get back home, but I wasn’t sure of the best route. I didn’t want to backtrack all the way to the bicycle overcrossing and then take Virginia street (one of the “Bicycle Boulevards” in Berkeley that are mostly very well done and seem safe to ride), nor did I want to try to ride back up Spruce Street (it would have killed me), so I came up with a plan to meet the 67 Bus somewhere and have it carry me and my bike back up to home. (AC Transit buses are equipped with front bike racks, so cool.) I went up Buchanan Street then followed the trail that runs under the BART tracks. I eventually got to Rose Street and followed it up (and yes I mean up, it’s steeper than it seems in the “flats”), hitting a 67 stop with, whew, 5 minutes to spare. And bingo, home in 15 minutes.
OK, OK, the bike ride posts are getting tiring, I know. I’m just so happy to be able to be out and riding again, so happy to be able to explore a new place. Soon the newness will wear off, and you wont have to put up with them any more. For now, try to enjoy the pictures and be happy that I’m back in the saddle again.
Categories: Blogging
Tags: Berkeley