WEEKEND BIKE RIDE



Shadow Cliffs Regional Park

 This weekend we rode our bikes to Livermore - the next town over.  We are connected by a busy 4 lane road which has recently been done up with new landscaping, a barrier between the cars and the newly paved trail and the removal of all the overhead power lines.  

It could be a lovely ride if not for the very loud and constant traffic.  The new trail covers about 5 miles and is nicely done; there are much better views of the Regional Park which we pass by at the start of the ride and eventually when the landscaping matures, the gravel works on the other side of the road will be better obscured.  Some years from now the gravel works will be expired and the plan is for all of the pits remaining to be converted by the regional parks system into a "chain of lakes" park.  One of the original pits is already part of the park and a popular fishing spot due to frequent stocking. There are some nice hiking trails and the park is used by the local high schools for their cross country meets. In summer months it's also a popular swimming beach and picnicking location - so seeing it expanded would be a huge plus for the area.



Downtown Livermore

 Once in downtown Livermore we stopped at Tom's favorite spot, Panama Red's.  We had a drink and sat outside to people watch.  We are having a stormy week - or at least the threat of storms, so not too many people were out.  We rode back into the wind with obvious rain ahead of us over the foothills, but we lucked out and the rain moved west. 

We covered about 18 miles and worked on a 10 mph pace in preparation for our bike event next month.  I did fine and even better - I wore my new bike capris and jersey for the first time!