Over the last few days, I’ve had a few deliveries, the boxes of which have become irresistible to Arun. As I’ve said many times, a box is a cat trap, and it seems to work every time.
I lived in Belmont for many years but have never been to these parks, even though they are close to several of my favorite climbs.
It was nice to be out on the trails after a period of rainy weather. The trails were mostly dry with a couple of muddy patches. Nothing too difficult to get through.
The snow level was pretty low during the latest storm that passed through last week. I was out on my bike today and managed to see the snow on the high peaks to the east of San Jose.
In November of 2024, I was riding along on my bike on a lovely fall day when I passed a garage sale in progress. I would have continued past it if I hadn’t spotted a vintage bike leaning up against a tree. I stopped to check it out, and found out that it was for sale at a very nice low price of $100. I talked to the garage sale proprietors and told them that I wanted the bike and would return shortly with my van to pick it up. I quickly went home on my bike, grabbed some cash, and returned and was able to acquire a new bike.
The bike itself is a Zanella Pordenone, which I know nothing about. It’s a nice looking bike, with classic geometry, down-tube shifters, and the awkward brake lever position common for bikes of that era. Most of the components looked original, except for the wheels, which were a newer Mavic model, with presta valve tubes. I like that the wheels are modern enough that I can easily change a flat, if I get one.
I haven’t ridden it too much, but today I decided to go run some errands, specifically to go to Mollie Stone’s in Palo Alto. It wasn’t a short distance, but it was pretty flat, which is about what the gearing can handle. Here is a picture of it. It’s a lovely vintage bike, for sure.
With some sort of super sporting competition taking place just down the road from my place, I decided to take advantage of the quiet roads and good weather to hike Long Ridge. I did the usual jaunt on Hickory Oaks Trail to the Wallace Stegner bench, and then down Long Ridge Trail to Peters Creek Trail. I passed by Two Moon Lake on my way back to the car. The weather was nice and the trails were reasonably quiet for a weekend. Pictures are below the fold.
This was the third week in a row where I’ve driven to the start of a Western Wheelers LDT ride. This week it was in Livermore, where we rode up Del Valle, Patterson Pass and Altamont Pass. We skipped a short loop into Livermore for the official lunch stop, as we had already grabbed lunch just on the outskirts of Tracy.
It was the usual suspects with me, Lyresa and Tom, and we were joined by one of the Bobs.
Well, sort of. I wanted to make some pumpkin bread this week. I was going to prepare the pumpkin on Wednesday, but I did a bike ride instead, as I couldn’t do the usual Tuesday ride for… reasons. So, today it was a two-fer, preparing fresh pumpkin from the newly acquired sugar-pie pumpkin I got from the Farmers Market, and then making the bread from that fresh pumpkin. The photos document the key moments in my quest for freshly baked goods.
Two Hills for the price of one. A lovely hike, starting with a good walk to Mindego Hill, with its sweeping views of the hills and ocean, and then back up to Borel Hill, which had its own fine views of the Bay.
I went out to Seascape today to do a 74 mile ride that’s put on by the Western Wheelers. The usual suspects, Lyresa and Tom were there, and we were joined by Debra and Athena.
We started early so as to have enough time to do the distance and the route meandered through the neighborhoods before returning to the ocean near Capitola. We then went inland and enjoyed the pleasant weather, proceeding through Corralitos and then up Mt Madonna.
The climb was tough, averaging 9-10% for over 2 miles, but not too bad and it was a great day to be out.
After we descended, we got the required pie at Gizdich Ranch. I had the apple pie with ice cream and it was delicious.
We then continued south and enjoyed the rolling terrain before reaching Elkhorn Slough. We then rode through the strawberry fields and soon enough we were back at the start.
A very nice day on the bike.
It was nice again on Skyline and I wanted to check out Peters Creek Falls. This is a bit off the more popular trails, and the out and back section to the falls from Portola Heights Road was not maintained and a bit overgrown in spots.
The falls were quite nice and there was plenty of water to make it pretty. There isn’t a single waterfall but a series of several smaller ones.
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