We're preparing for a ride from San Francisco to Santa Barbara. Today, we did a practice ride out to Danville and back. The route: up Tunnel, down Pinehurst, out the Lafayette-Moraga Trail, eastward through downtown Walnut Creek, and then south on the Iron Horse Trail to Danville. It's been persistently cloudy and cold in Oakland, so it was nice to see blue skies and pleasantly warm sunshine east of the ridge line. The only serious disappointment: our go-to lunch stop at the Danville Hotel was closed for a major remodel. Otherwise, the ride was lovely.
Since we've done this ride several times before, what is scenic to fresh eyes is hard for me to see now. So I used another approach: on the way out, at each mile (within about +/- 0.1 of the mile mark) I stopped and took the most interesting shot I could find from that spot. Here are some highlights.
 |
| Mile 00: Ready for departure from our backyard. |
 |
| M02: Gateway Memorial to the Oakland Hills fire |
 |
| M05: Great outcrop near the ridge line on Skyline Road |
 |
| M06: Even with the drought, cold damp weather means low fire risk. |
 |
| M08: Ingrid zipping downhill on Pinehurst below 2nd hairpin. |
 |
| M10: Wonderful redwoods in Canyon |
 |
| M11: Transitioning from clouds to sunshine as we approach Moraga |
 |
| M13: Historic site in Moraga |
 |
| M14: Along the Lafayette Moraga Trail |
 |
| M20: Only a few miles of urban riding |
 |
| M22: Connector path to the Iron Horse Trail |
 |
| M24: One of three bears along the Iron Horse Trail |
 |
| Bonus shot taken about halfway along the return journey. |
