The Monterey Bay Trail

Monterey Bay Trail

We have ridden this trail many times, but it is always a joy because of the natural beauty of the bay. One must ride carefully due to all the pedestrians, cyclists, and even the surreys that are rented at a couple of places along the trail. This is an eighteen mile trail that runs from Castroville to Pacific Grove. There are many spots to access it, and the views vary from glorious ocean views to views of some rather seedy areas. But the good views far outweigh the bad in this picturesque section of California. The trail passes right by some of the historic buildings in downtown Monterey, maintained by the state park system.

It had rained heavily the day before we did this ride, so there were some muddy spots. The path was closed at Sand City due to some flooding. Because we were disappointed at not being able to do a longer ride, we turned off the path in Monterey to ride in El Estero Park around the lake. Another sight in this part of Monterey is the original mission, founded in 1770 by Father Junipero Serra.  Located at 500 Church St., this chapel served as a place of worship for the soldiers at the presidio. The present sandstone church was built in 1794.

We have eaten lunch at several  places along this trail. On this particular trip, we chose to eat at Fisherman’s Wharf, where we had an uninspiring lunch. A better choice would have been a restaurant at one of the hotels in Monterey or one of the restaurants in downtown Pacific Grove. The Trailside Café in Monterey is also a good choice. As its name suggests, it is right beside the trail and has many good offerings.

To see a video of this trip on YouTube, click here. The video also may be viewed on the video page at http://www.perebruin.com by clicking on the link to the right.

From Carmel Village to Carmel Valley

Often for our wedding anniversary we spend a few days in Carmel, one of the most appealing spots in California. This year we stayed at the Adobe Inn, where we have stayed many times before. It is right in the middle of the village, easy walking distance to  the beach, shops, and restaurants, but it has become a bit worn looking over the years. When we first started visiting Carmel many years ago, it was a real American village with lots of small independent shops that carried the necessities of daily life. We especially enjoyed some of the bookstores that were located there. Today there are too many art galleries and jewelry stores, but there are enough unusual stores such as, Carmel Bay Company, left to make it an interesting place, and the natural beauty of the area, plus the outstanding restaurants, keeps us coming back.

Of course, now our lives tend to center on our cycling excursions. We spent one day riding from the inn to Carmel Valley with stops at Carmel Barnyard and Carmel Crossroads. Although we prefer trips that are uphill on the outbound trip and downhill on the inbound one, this one is the opposite, but it is doable even for old codgers like us. We did this trip on a lovely spring day where the landscape was enhanced by delicate greenery and spring flowers sprouting all around. We ate lunch in Carmel Crossroads at Bistro 211, a colorful small restaurant with friendly service and thoughtfully planned offerings. The bookstore in the crossings complex is an especially fine one, stocked by someone who looks beyond currently popular books to books really worth reading. Check out our ride on YouTube.

The Lafayette to Moraga Trail

Lafayette to Moraga Trail

This trail is part of the rails to trails movement in this country, which has contributed greatly to the pleasures of walking and biking. The bike ride from the beginning of the trail to Moraga is mostly uphill although not very much until just before one reaches St. Mary’s college. The trail runs through an attractive part of suburban Lafayette and becomes woodsy a bit before St. Mary’s College. Because the trail is mostly uphill toward Moraga, the return trip consists largely of sitting on the bike and steering. We usually exit the trail near downtown Lafayette to enjoy lunch in one of the many fine restaurants.

On this last trip, we ate at Metro, where the food was good, but the ambiance left a bit to be desired. They have a side banquet room that tends to be overheated where they often seat customers. On this particular day, when we were shown into this room, we demurred and asked to be seated elsewhere. The maitre d’ led us to the main room, also very hot, so we asked to be seated outside. He led us there and murmured something about “the third time is a charm,” a sarcasm that we felt was uncalled for. As we ate our lunch, we noticed others asking to switch tables, so we didn’t feel that we were being too fussy.

The video of this trip is a bit on the shaky side, so I am only putting it up on our own web page, rather than on the YouTube. If you wish to view some scenes, please click on the link in the right-hand column.

Iron Horse Trail to the Farmers’ Market in San Ramon

Many Saturdays, we park the car at the Sycamore Park ‘n Ride and set off on our bikes to San Ramon. We usually park our bikes at the library and then go to Starbucks for coffee. But sometimes we go straight to the farmers’ market with a brief stop at nearby Whole Foods Market for coffee. The video of this trip has some clips from our trip south and the return north with brief views of the farmers’ market. We are still novices at this business of videoing our trips and then making the raw footage into movies, but we are improving. At the end of this particular trip, we met our son for lunch at Incontro, where we had a satisfying meal in a cozy setting in the front of the restaurant, where we could see the denizens of Danville were going about their Saturday activities.

Please click here to see a video of this trip on YouTube.

A Ride along the Contra Costa and Ygnacio Canals

Canal Trails--click on image to see more details

This is a scenic ride of a about 14 miles leaving from and returning to downtown Walnut Creek. It is mostly flat except for one big hill along the Ygnacio Canal Trail, but once one climbs that hill the views over the city of Walnut Creek are spectacular. In the spring the wildflowers enliven the trip along the lower reaches of the Ygnacio Canal. This part of the ride through Ygnacio Valley neighborhoods has a lot of cross streets, which require some maneuvering to stay on the trail, but the trail is very clearly marked. We usually do this ride without much in the way of rests so it takes about an hour and a half, but younger riders can probably do it much faster.  On this trip pictured on our video, we ate lunch at Va de Vi Restaurant in Walnut Creek, an outstanding small plates restaurant, where one can sample several different dishes without ingesting too many calories. Some people call it expensive for what one gets, but we don’t see it that way. We both prefer small portions of truly good food. To see a video of this trip,please click here.

From Danville to Blackhawk and Return

Path to Blackhawk

This is a trip that we often do along a wide shoulder with pretty views. On this particular trip, we put our new GoPro camera on my husband’s handlebars. We are experimenting to see whether a helmet mount or a handlebar mount works better. We noticed some side-to-side motion is this video that we weren’t too happy about. We would love to hear from others about their thoughts on the best place to mount the camera. The handlebar mount certainly looks less peculiar than the helmet mount.Please click here to take a look at our video.

An almost rectanglular ride from Yountville by way of Oakville Crossroad and Yountville Cross Road

Route Map of Ride

We parked in our usual spot at Vintage 1870 in Yountville and set off toward Oakville Grocery, intending to stop there for coffee. We turned right out of the parking lot on Washington St., then made a quick left turn on to  Yount St.. leading to  Yount Mill Road, which ends at Hwy. 29. We turned right on 29 and rode the ample shoulder until we stopped at Oakville Grocery for coffee.The ride there was uneventful except for seeing a long line of sporty looking cars driving on the shoulder of Hwy. 29 after having made a right turn from the Oakville Grade. We speculated on what they might be involved in.

Pulling up in front of Oakville Grocery, we were astounded to see a ramshackle shell of the formerly bustling store. The notice advised us that they are doing some much needed remodeling. Given the age of the structure we could understand the necessity for this. I checked on line when we got back home to find out that they expect to re-open in March. Because of the state of the building, I find it hard to believe that the store will re-open that soon. However, we can hope that it will not be too long.

Back view of Oakville Grocery

View from Oakville Crossroad

After drinking from the bottles of iced tea that we always carry, we set off down Oakville Crossroad, a gorgeous country road, where the bike lane was adequate most of the way except for a narrow bridge crossing the Napa River. We passed a winery having some kind of large event   with parking lot attendants and the California Highway Patrol offering guidance. The road is flat except for a steep hill at the end leading up to the Silverado Trail, where we turned right. The part of the trip on the Silverado Trail is on a wide shoulder and is mostly flat or downhill. After a  right turn on to  Yountville Crossroad, we cruised along on the flat shoulder with  only a slight hill just before the return to the town of Yountville. This scenic ride is a little over 12 miles.

Remembering our good lunch in November, we again opted to eat at Bouchon Bistro. Here one would never know that there is a recession. The restaurant was packed, but we managed to get one of the last tables. I would recommend reserving ahead, but this is something we find hard to do when we are traveling by bike because the amount of time a ride will take is difficult to estimate unless one is traveling a very familiar route. After starters of a beet salad for my husband and pumpkin soup for me, we split a main course of Couquilles St. Jacques. We finished up by splitting a white chocolate pot de crème. This restaurant is pricey, but it gives one a chance to savor the food of Thomas Keller without the difficulty of getting reservations at his French Laundry or the challenge of the prices of meals there.

Surely a beautiful bicycle ride followed by a fabulous meal is one of life’s greatest joys. To watch a video of some of the scenes from this trip, please click here.

Short Video of Danville, CA Farmers’ Market

Last Saturday, we rode our bikes from downtown Walnut Creek to Danville, where we visited the farmers’ market as well as the library, and a couple of other places. It was a nice day for this time of year, and we enjoyed mingling with the crowds at the farmers’ market, where the jolly strains of “Waltzing Matilda” played by a live group enhanced the shopping experience. We are always glad that we come by bike instead of car when we see the competition for parking spots in the lot next to the market. For a few glimpses of our Saturday experience, please click here.

Great Tomatoes

A Ramble around Stanford

Hoover Tower

To test out our new Go Pro video camera, we chose to ride around Stanford’s flat bicycle friendly campus. Since it was Martin Luther King’s birthday, we were able to park free by the Cantor Museum. It was a clear day, but the air was very chilly for us Bay Area natives. We just got on our bikes and rode with no clear path in mind. We passed by many of the campus buildings and some of the lovely old houses where professors live. We rode over to the Stanford Shopping Center to eat lunch, where we had a satisfying meal at Neiman Marcus. It is always fun, even for “old blues” to visit Palo Alto and the Stanford Campus. Click here .

Riding in Golden Gate Park

Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. To celebrate, we decided to visit the Masters of Venice art exhibit at the de Young Museum, ride our bikes, and enjoy a meal out. We parked by the Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park, a place where it is almost always easy to find a parking spot., and wended our way up to the de Young on John F. Kennedy Drive. There were several uphill stretches, and we did stop to rest a couple of times, but this is not a bad ride. Last time we rode to the de Young, we went up Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr., which is much steeper. The air was cool, but it was sunny, clear, and pleasant, a gorgeous San Francisco day. We parked our bikes right in front of the De Young, where there are several bike racks. The exhibit was not particularly crowded, and we were able to read all the accompanying material easily. The murals of Venice that provided a backdrop for the exhibit made us want to pack up right away to visit this wonderful city.

After a good lunch in the museum cafeteria, we rode back on Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr., which is downhill all the way. Although there is not a bike lane on this road, we did not feel particularly threatened by the traffic. When we are not on bike paths now, we attach our blinking red lights to the back of bikes for safety. Of course, I realize that we should not let these make us feel overly secure.

Leaving Golden Gate Park, we drove around to the Palace of the Legion of Honor to visit the Pisarro’s People exhibit. The traffic is always so bad between our home and San Francisco now that we like to do as much as we can when we visit. At this second museum, since the parking was a challenge we had to make a long uphill trek. And this exhibit was so crowded that the visit was less pleasurable than the one earlier in the day. Nevertheless Pisarro’s paintings are  a visual treat, and we were glad that we went. The views of the Golden Gate Bridge from the area around the Palace of the Legion of Honor are always spectacular unless some of the SF fog has drifted in.

A Distant View of the Golden Gate Bridge