Half Century: Oakland-Danville-Oakland

16 October 2010

Although we had a cool summer, the last month has been punctuated by two or three hot spells that lasted four or five days each. Everything is definitely brown and dry now, waiting for the first rain. After several days with highs consistently in the mid 80s, today the temperatures were perfect for a long ride. My work was under good enough control to take off the whole day. Ingrid and I did a long ride out to Danville for lunch and then rode back in the late afternoon.

Most of the route was along quiet country roads or on paved "rails to trails" multipurpose recreational paths. Leaving our home in upper Rockridge, we first rode through Montclair and then along the frontage road north of Hwy 13 to Lincoln Blvd where there is a pathway leading up through Butters Canyon. After a bit of a climb, we turn right on Skyline and then left on Redwood road for a nice long descent on the south side of Redwood Regional Park. Turn left on Pinehurst, climb again for about a mile and a half (top photo), and then drop down to heavily shaded junction of Canyon Road and Pinehurst. We head east on Canyon Road to pick up the start of the 7.25 mile Lafayette-Moraga trail.

At the eastern end of the trail, we are dropped onto Olympic Blvd. and we ride east into Walnut Creek. A right turn on Newell Avenue leads us to the Whole Foods Market where we pick up the Iron Horse Trail (third and fourth photos) leading us to Danville.

We had a terrific lunch at the Sideboard Coffee shop (411 Hartz Avenue), which is in the historic Danville Hotel building. Ingrid ordered bruschetta and some amazing broiled brussel sprouts; I had a seared-ahi sandwich with ginger and heirloom tomatoes. And food always tastes better after a long ride, so it was spectacular!

For the return, we doubled back along the Iron Horse and Lafayette-Moraga trails and then rode up Pinehurst through the little hamlet of Canyon. A final steep climb over the east-bay ridge line and an even steeper descent down Shepherd Canyon through Montclair and we were home. Total distance: 52 miles. A great outing!