Morgan Territory and a Birthday Stop at Draeger’s

Given the beautiful fall weather we are having, it seemed the perfect time to ride Morgan Territory.  This hunch was correct as the ride today was fabulous, perfect weather, 8 guys and Robin (she said she came along to chaperone and keep us from being guy stupid!  her words, not mine).

Morgan Territory Road is a little used route between Clayton and the Livermore Valley. For several miles it is a single lane road that runs north-south through Morgan Territory Regional Park. It is wooded, and this time of year there is a lot of gold and red in the trees.  

One goal of the ride was to survey the burn area from the Morgan Fire earlier this year.

  

While we didn’t see much fire damage, the ride was incredibly scenic through colorful trees overhanging the road, etc.

Part way up the climb, I came across a fellow parked in his older Volvo station wagon.  As I passed, I noticed he had a camera, so I stopped and asked what he was photographing.

He replied: “The trees.   Oh and I tried to get you but you were moving too fast".  Turns out, he was just spending his afternoon observing and photographing the the trees, and pointed out the particular beauty in a big tree that was growing at out 45 degrees.

I’m not sure that I was moving all that fast, but my response was that he and I are a lot the same.  That is, on a beautiful autumn day, someone has to sit and photograph the trees, just as someone has to cycle the steep back roads. 

With that, I pedaled on, thinking that rides like this are fleeting treasures, the fine wines of life, and if we search them out and are lucky, the fates will allow us to take a sip of perfection from time to time.

Besides the beauty and solitude of a long climb, this ride also offers the exhilaration of a fast and scenic descent into the Livermore Valley.  All that climbing, then ZOOM and you are down in the flatlands again.

Our lunch stop was at Draeger’s supermarket in the Blackhawk shopping center. For anyone who hasn’t experienced Draeger’s, imagine Whole Foods magnified, glorified and supersized.  The place is over the top, even the bathrooms are fabulous, like a five star hotel.  We ate lunch outside on their terrace, and as it was Bill B's 73rd birthday, we bought him a fancy cupcake and sang Happy Birthday. While Bill was enjoying his cake, the rest of us OD'd on some amazing chocolate covered pecan bars. Here is the birthday boy, resplendent in his Death Ride jersey.

One thought regarding Draeger’s.  They make very good sandwiches, very slowly. Do not stop there for a sandwich if you need to be on your way any time soon. It is as though they bake the bread for each one.  Well, not quite, but they do slice the meats individually.  It reminds me of the movie In Time with Justin Timberlake, where the richest people all eat very slowly because they have time to burn, while the poor people have to eat really fast as to not waste what little time they have.

The ride back to Walnut Creek was via an obscure route through several colorful neighborhoods on the east side of the interstate.  

All in all a great trip, whether you do it on a bike, motorcycle, or in a sports car. 

Route details:

The start/finish for the ride was at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek. The route goes around the east side of Mt. Diablo through Clayton, then south on Morgan Territory Rd over the top and then down a steep, exciting descent to Manning Rd, north of Livermore. The return is via Tassajara and Blackhawk Roads. Draeger’s is in the Blackhawk Shopping Center. 

Route link:  http://ridewithgps.com/users/105526/routes

Distance: 53 mi

Ascent: 3800 ft

Coloures Tour of Livermore Wine Country – and a French Bakery

This is a great time to ride the East Bay wine country, and I recently did two nice rides out there. The vineyards are turning yellows and deep reds, and there is a lot of great fragrance in the area too, the smell of wine being made. The mornings are cool (cold in the canyons) but by mid-morning the temperature was fine. One day I wore a short sleeve jersey and got a sunburn.  

The Tom and Deb Flat ride. 

The first ride got it's name from the lack of climbing and the two flat tires (note - one of the problems with riding this time of year is the plethora of thorns and ‘goat-heads’ on the road, so bring along a second tube and your tire levers). The route that day took us along Vineyard Ave, southeast of Pleasanton, and at one point I saw a bit of late grape harvest, a massive machine crawling down between the rows of vines, dark purple grapes pouring out of a big spout and into a tall trailer bin being towed by a tractor.  Like a big combine harvesting wheat or oats out on the plains, except for the sweet, sticky liquid that will pour out of the bottom of that trailer.  So would this be a late harvest Zin or Cab?

We also rode through the Ruby Hill development.  Huge modern estate type houses with surrounding grounds all beautifully landscaped and coordinated, sort of Blackhawk in the vineyard.  Not many people around, excepting the hired help and a gaggle of cyclists pedaling through wondering where these folks go for their lattes on Saturday mornings. 

After roaming through the vineyards and fancy housing tracts we stopped for lunch in downtown Pleasanton and while some of the group opted for Mexican at a little Taqueria, I had a very good BLAT (Bacon-Lettuce-Avocado-Tomato) sandwich at one of the eateries across from Tully’s coffee shop.  Tully’s is also a good bet but they are limited to coffee and pastries.

This particular ride started and ended at the corner of Palo Verde and Palomares roads, just off the Dublin grade. And was about 35 miles.  Did I mention the draft we didn’t catch when the ‘Bakery Ride’ peloton blew past us?  Wow, they can hammer!

Motorcycle Cops and Bakery Ride. 

A few days later I was on my bike again in the same area as part of a longer ride.  This time we continued east, beyond Ruby Hill, and rode the bike trail through the vineyards south of Livermore.  This is a fantastic 4 mile bike trail that starts at the intersection of Wetmore and Arroyo roads and goes east then north then east again through vineyard covered rolling hills. The trail ends at the corner of Tesla and Mines roads.  Along the way is a little spot called Holdener Park, not much there, excepting the great bike trail.  

We kept pedaling east out Tesla Rd to Cross Rd noticing the deep red vines juxtaposed with aspen like yellow vines off to the south. 

Shortly, we came upon a lady cyclist struggling a bit with her back wheel.  She had changed the flat, but couldn’t get the wheel in.  We helped out and I asked if she knew of any good bakeries in Livermore.  She mentioned a French bakery in downtown. It must have opened since I retired 5 yrs ago, and we figured to give it a try on our way back.

Cross Road is a scenic little 2.2 mile connector road between Tesla rd and Patterson Pass rd.  It is where I cut my teeth on road biking while working at LLNL, and I really enjoy it every time I ride it.  We rode from south to north and as we approached the T intersection with Patterson Pass Rd, two motorcycle cops had a car pulled over. I have been on that road many, many times and have never seen a cop.  I stopped at the T to wait for the other riders and as they were going by the police, a pickup truck passed them, going into the opposite lane to get around.

We continued on back toward Livermore and in about a half mile one of the cops chased us down and pulled us over!  He said we needed to stay closer to the shoulder when a car was passing, and mentioned how the pickup had to go into the opposite lane. We replied that seeing the police action, we decided to take the lane and staying clear as we are supposed to do.  He immediately backed off and said he just wants everyone to be safe.  Evidently, the traffic stop we saw was associated with a case of road rage that was caught on video!  He didn’t explain any more than that and took off.  I thought the lady getting the ticket looked a bit agitated.

Then it was on into Livermore to find the bakery.  It is called the Casse-Croûte Bakery.  Great sandwich, fabulous pastries, wonderful coffee, friendly staff, nice out-door seating, good location, so what’s not to like. We met the owner and the baker, and the staff took great care of us. 

The place has also been featured in Diablo Magazine, twice.  I had the Caprese sandwich on baguette, along with a chocolate chip cookie and a butter croissant (to go).  Others had soup (butternut squash) and found it quite tasty, and sandwiches, all very good.   This will be a regular stop on all future bike rides through Livermore.  Hey, both my dentist and optometrist are in Livermore, only a couple blocks away, so who needs to bike there… Anyway, a big Thank You to the lady who gave us the recommendation.

We headed back toward Pleasanton and took Jack London Blvd, which has been extended west from Livermore and is now a great way to bike between Livermore and Pleasanton.  It goes along the south side of the airport and continues on to the new Outlet Mall on the east side of Pleasanton.  Soon it will extend clear to Santa Rita Rd.

3ft! Sweet Bar and Electric Trikes

Gov. Brown signs '3 ft for cyclists' law

I think this is great news for the cycling community.   In addition, maybe there is a flickering of recognition that there are alternatives to DRIVING Everywhere. 

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Cyclists-will-get-3-foot-buffer-under-new-law-4837434.php

Sweet Bar:  Totally 5 star    

Per my earlier posts, I spent most of August and a bit of Sept. in Spain, Germany and the Czech Republic and sampled a fair number of baked goods and cappuccinos.  It is most disappointing that in these 3 countries, espresso drinks come mostly from the automatic machines.  Some friends recently cycled through France and Spain and found the same situation.
Anyway, earlier this week, I happened to be down near Broadway and 24^th in Oakland, and stopped into Sweet Bar Bakery.  Their croissants and espresso drinks put to shame any that I had in Europe!  So now the question is: Why even leave NorCal? 

http://www.sweetbarbakery.com/

When 2 wheels aren’t enough: 

The month of sedentary vacation took a heavy toll on my fitness, and as I am doing the BORP Revolution ride on Saturday (Sept 28), I took an long (55mi) ride today, basically so I could do my suffering in private.  The route was Lake Merritt to Danville and back, with a stop at La Boulange in Danville (see blog post for Monday, July 8).  On the way back, I rode a bit on the Moraga-Lafayette trail and came across a gent on a trike with electric assist.

It isn’t fast, but he said it could go up reasonable hills, and it has a big red cargo box on the back – great for grocery shopping!  He said he had given up owning a car and just rents one when necessary.

BTW:  BORP – Advancing lives of people with disabilities through sports and recreational activities.   www.borp.org

Bay Bridge Bike Path and Actual Cafe

Back from vacation during which I was off the bike for a month (too long). Definitely needing to ride flat, and the opening of the new Bay Bridge Bike Path provided just the opportunity.  Others on the Wednesday group ride had the same idea, so we decided to ride the new Bay Bridge bike path, then go for coffee at the Actual Café (as opposed to a virtual café).  I was please to find that while I was gone, a new GREEN bike lane was painted on 40^th st between Broadway and Adeline St.

As for the bike path on the new BAY BRIDGE, it is fantastic; wide, gently sloping, fabulous views. We picked it up near IKEA and followed the winding route under the freeways, past the somewhat odoriferous water treatment plant and the toll plaza, then up a temporary ramp and onto the pathway.  Everything you have heard about it is true, including the fact that it ends abruptly at the Eastern end of the S-curve on the old Bay Bridge. Looking down from the end of the path, you see that you are above Yerba Buena Island (so near and yet so - far down).

http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2013/09/04/how-to-get-to-the-new-bay-bridge-bike-path/

https://www.ebbc.org/baybridge

So just to be clear, the Bay Bridge bike path is an out and back ride. Then it was on to the Actual Café.  This is a great little bike friendly café on Telegraph near Alcatraz.  One can ‘actually’ bring a bike in and hang it on a hook - inside!  Several hooks are installed along one of the walls and there is room for 10+ bikes. The place has free wifi and the one long table is filled with millennials soaking up their screens, but one can usually find a place to sit. The cafe proudly posts the names of their various suppliers on the wall above the kitchen area. The food and pastries are very good. I had a giant chocolate-almond-twist that was excellent as well as being more than big enough to share (I should have).  My cappuccino was fine.  One of the specials that day was the Jalapeno Mocha and one fellow in the group tried it and claimed it was great.  I had already ordered the cappuccino, so had to return the next day to try the Jalapeno Mocha.  I was not disappointed.  The first sip is a bit of a surprise, but after the second sip I was hooked. They make their own Jalapeno chocolate sauce, and it tastes a bit like Mexican chocolate, but is very mellow.  On that visit I tried the BLAT sandwich (Bacon-Lettuce-Avocado-Tomato) on sourdough – very good.

Check out the video from Actual Café website.    http://actualcafe.com/

On a mission to evaluate pastries in various panadería, Bäckerei, and Pekařství

I'll be traveling for the next few weeks, attending a wedding, and visiting kids (and grandkids!) and friends.  I probably won't be doing much biking, but I'll try to post up my impressions of baked goods encountered along the way.  I have high hopes for the wedding cake!

Rock Hard Pastries in Moraga

Well, all bakery experiences can’t be good. 

On my group Sunday ride we often stop at Terzetto’s in Moraga.  And this was the case a couple of Sundays ago.  For the past couple of years, La Boulange has sold pastries at the Moraga Farmer’s Market and often several of us in the group would get an Almond Croissant or some other fabulous treat  from there, and a coffee from Terzetto's and sit outside at Terzettos.  Unfortunately, La Boulange is no longer participating in this Farmer's Market, so we decided to be good citizens and get our pastries from Terzetto's (especially as we regularly use their outside tables).

Terzetto’s is a restaurant, but they have a pastry counter.  The pastries are usually passable, especially the morning buns, but on this day the butter croissant was rock hard, and I took it back, saying it was inedible.  So they gave me an apricot scone, which was even harder, like a hammer or some other tool used by Neanderthals (i.e. rock).  The staff said that these were ‘day old’ pastries and the price was lower.   Well, my wife makes scones (actually she makes the BEST scones) and her 'day old' scones are still quite fabulous.  The ones Terzetto was selling were more like ‘week-old’ or ‘petrified’.

Anyway, it will be awhile before I go back to that establishment.  The outside seating is nice, and they do make a good breakfast sandwich and breakfast burrito, but if you are in need of  a good café mocha accompanied by a butter croissant (the perfect combination to power me up the Pinehurst climb), then look elsewhere.

  

So now what to do on the Sunday ride. The Ranch House (in Moraga) has nice outdoor tables and the staff is friendly, but they make such lousy coffee that I just can't go there.  SiSi’s has 'illy' coffee, but  is often too crowded on Sundays.  Moreover, while they have decent scones and morning buns, those are often long gone when we arrive.

The good news is that there is a Starbuck's in the Safeway, and a new bakery is now participating in the Farmer's Market, so I can get the needed nutrition.  Now for a place to sit.

Cup'a Joe in Frisco (Colorado)

I'm always interested in a good coffee shop/bakery and usually do a group ride on Wednesday.  One of the group, Sally G., is staying with the Wednesday tradition and sends this along:

"Wednesday morning ride and coffee in Frisco Colorado. Riding at it's best except I'm missing you guys."

So far, no comment on the pastries. 

Late report - "Pastries looked amazing, quite a variety, and outstanding food."

I tried the website http://www.rmcoffeeroasters.com/ and it sorta worked.   

No bakery – but not your usual bike ride

Interesting ride today.  

My biking group does a regular Wednesday ride often from Montclair in Oakland to Moraga and back.  Today, several of the group opted to extend the ride to Danville, although 3 of us stopped in Alamo (which is on the route to Danville).  While in downtown Alamo (if there is such a thing) we saw a water main break along Danville Blvd, gushing like a big fountain, a couple feet across and a foot high.  This was accompanied by the strong smell of gas!   Robin, Gail and I had intended to get coffee at the Alamo Starbucks but the smell of gas was TOO STRONG and we opted to backtrack a block or so to PEETS where we got coffee and snacks.  We sat outside and were treated to a serenade by a huge black dog in the back of an SUV that pulled up next to the patio seating  (Arrrrrru..).

I think the dog was trying to tell us something , because we had just finished our coffee when a fireman came through telling everyone that it was time to leave, they were evacuating an area of several blocks in Alamo due to the gas leak.  He told us to  HEAD NORTH, NOW!  We hopped on our bikes and easily rolled past the massive stream of cars trying to get out of the parking lot, and headed north along Danville Blvd, zipping past the solid line of cars trying to evacuate.  We continued to get whiffs of gas all the way up to Newell Ave in Walnut Creek (3-4 miles).

Here is a link to the news story

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/07/24/alamo-gas-leak-prompts-evacuations/

On the return ride we stopped to get water at the convenience store at Olympic and Tice Valley 

Rd.  There we saw the emergency broadcast network come on TV calling for evacuation!

We also met up with the others of our group who had gone on to Danville (actually to the bakery described in my blog om July 8).  They circumvented the evacuated zone using the Iron Horse trail.  The trail actually passes quite close to the location of the leak, but the authorities deemed it ok for travel ( maybe walkers, joggers and cyclists have supernatural powers in such situations). Actually, one of our group contacted me later to say that the park service did close the Iron Horse trail and that two employees were there as he went through but did not stop him.

The evacuation order was lifted at 3:20 pm

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_23723415/alamo-gas-leak-forcing-businesses-homes-evacuate

Never a dull moment...

Central Coast Century - Sandy's Deli and Bakery in Cambria

This really didn’t start out to be a Bakery Ride.   I headed down to San Luis Obispo about 11 am on Friday for the Central Coast Century.  Steve G. was driving and had made the hotel arrangements.  I was along to help balance the male/female ratio, and to see the countryside.   We stopped once for coffee and snack at a Starbucks, memorable only because of the girl with the Orange hair.

After stopping at the motel in SLO and rendezvousing with some others, Steve, Miss Linda, Pam and I headed to Avila Beach to meet up with Robin.  It was a beautiful afternoon, and lots going on at Avila, including food booths, music and more girls with orange hair.  We had wine and a few snacks, met up with some others then about 7pm headed back to SLO.

 We found a nice restaurant (Gennaro's Grill & Garden is located in a delightful Old Victorian) and loaded up on pasta for the long ride on Saturday. 

Saturday morning the ride started a 7am in Avila Beach. 11 of us rolled out at 7:10.   The first 3 miles of the ride are on a bike trail winding along San Luis Obispo creek, a great way to start the ride. 

The ride then headed up Los Osos Valley Rd towards Morro Bay, and takes a nice detour on Turri Rd. 

The route also took us over Park View Drive in Morro Bay State Park, along a scenic golf course to our first rest-stop.  It was manned by a nice couple with their big pick-up truck and camping trailer.  There we had the first of many peanut butter cookies and some bananas.

The route continued through Morro Bay and up to the south end of Cayucos, where it makes a right turn onto Old Creek Rd.  This is the beginning of a long climb up to Rte 46.  

The ride organizers had a rest-stop a bit past the top of the hill at the intersection of Old Creek Rd and Rte 46.  There we encountered the cookies and bananas for the second time.  Don’t get me wrong, they were very good cookies, and I am a cookie guy,

We headed west on Rte 46 and after a gradual climb of a couple miles, had a long, fast and fabulous 6 mile descent to Rte 1. Two strong ladies lead the way (I sure couldn’t catch them).

Once back down to Rte 1 we turned right and rode up to Cambria, for the 3^rd rest-stop, around mile 50+. And there we encountered more cookies (ugh).  I know many strong, fast riders can go all day on cookies and powerbars, but I didn't have my Frosted Mini-Wheats with banana for breakfast, and wanted some real food. Three of us opted to find a sandwich shop, as the sanctioned lunch wasn’t until mile 70, and even little rollers coming into Cambria seemed like major climbs to me.

Without much trouble the 3 food seekers found Sandy’s Deli and Bakery www.sandysdelicambria.com 

and I can highly recommend the sandwiches and the BEAR CLAWS!  I had a BLT on Sourdough that was excellent, Robin had the Vegetarian sandwich, while Denise went for the Turkey.  All were great, and the coffee wasn’t bad either.  There was a constant influx of people including several cyclists, so much so that I didn’t get an espresso because waiting in line would have put us too far behind the other riders.

After our sandwiches and pastry we headed south and met up with the group in Cayucos, enjoying some fabulous views of the ocean along the way.

As we returned along Osos Valley Rd the wind was at our back and despite the slight incline (1-2%) we were able to cruise at 20+mph easily.

We ended the day with at fabulous dinner at Novo in San Luis Obispo.

 All in all a great day!
------------------------

Ride Summary

Distance:	102.23 mi
Time:	7:40:39
Avg Speed:	13.3 mph
Elevation Gain:	4,885 ft

Route:     

Bakery: Sandy’s Deli and Bakery

Pastries: 

Map:

Epilogue: While this was envisioned as a ladies weekend away, a few lucky guys were allowed to come to chaperone. I am honored to be in that group.

Montclair to Danville featuring La Boulange de Danville Bakery

If you want to attract a good group for a bakery ride, make sure you include FUN in the ride description.  The two organizers of this ride did just that and got a good turnout.  We had about a dozen riders, both sexes equally represented.

We started out with a climb over the Oakland Hills (Liemert and Butters) and some folks were wondering about the organizer’s definition of FUN. But after the climb comes the fabulous descent down Redwood Rd and the FUN aspect was restored. If you are unfamiliar with Butters, it is one of Oakland’s biking treasures.  It winds up the Oakland hills, parallel to Joaquin Miller, but is basically a quiet country lane cut into the side of a steep canyon.  Oak trees overhang most of the length, and it gets to 10% grade in one section that is owned by the Butters Canyon Conservancy http://www.bcconservancy.org/, but that is short and it levels out quickly

Ascending Butters Canyon (image from their website).

We descended Redwood Rd and turned left onto Pinehurst and climbed over ‘little Pinehurst’, then turned toward Moraga on Moraga Rd.  The little climb went by quickly as one of the riders had just returned from vacation, and he filled us in on his various adventures while driving from Chicago to Oakland, visiting old friends in the Rocky Mtns and experiencing the vast emptiness of Utah and Nevada.

The remainder of the ride out to Danville is flat, and it seems to be the season for deer to get hit, as we saw 2 down along as pedaled east toward Lafayette.  The temperature was perfect for riding, even the little refrigerated zone in the pocket of redwoods near Pinehurst and Moraga Rd was quite temperate - not even a shiver as we rolled through.

On the way out of Moraga we took St. Mary’s Rd, past the college, turned right on Glenside then left on Reliez Station Rd.  This is not my favorite route, as there is a steep and narrow descent at the east end of Reliez Stn Road.  It is one of those descents that can be somewhat terrifying on a bike, as there is no shoulder and it is long enough that cars get impatient and try to pass (eventhough the cyclist may be breaking the speed limit).  Moreover, there is a stop sign at the bottom, where it intersects Olympic. So screaming down ahead of cars, then hard braking for the stop at the bottom gets the adrenaline going. All that aside, we descended as a group, so no cars were tempted to pass –  …..On the return, we took the Moraga-Lafayette bike trail west from the end of Olympic  (no need to climb up that narrow road).  The bike trail forms the little loop that you can see on the map (below).  It is a great trail for biking, as well as walking, etc.  There is a lot of parking available along Olympic, near the trail head.  To get from Olympic to Danville Blvd, we took the flat route along Newell, Lilac,Lancaster/Castle Hill.  Another route is Tice Valley Rd (not my favorite, but some folks like it).

 

Once on Danville Blvd we headed South to the bakery.  One of the great things about the Danville location of La Boulange is that the back entrance is right off the Iron Horse trail.  The Iron Horse parallels Danville Blvd from Rudgear Rd all the way to Danville and both are good cycling routes. The road is faster.

Boulange de Danville  

Boulange de Danville is one of the several La Boulange bakeries in the Bay Area (http://www.laboulangebakery.com).  They have excellent pastries, including an almond croissant to die for, dreamy fresh fruit Danish, fantastic pineapple upside down cake and myriad other treats, as well as very nice tidy little sandwiches. Oh yes, your espresso drink will be served in bowl.  I highly recommend their Mocha on a cool day, but went for a cappuccino on this day.

They have plenty of seating, but the place can be popular on Saturdays.  Note that there is a Peet’s Coffee in the same shopping center,  and this particular Peet’s is very popular with cyclists.  The day we were there lycra was in full display at both La Boulange and Peet’s as well as the surrounding sidewalks.

We returned to Lafayette by retracing our route along Danville Blvd and the Newell neighborhood, and then took the Lafayette-Moraga Trail to Moraga. 

During the return ride I started to feel a bit beat. When a Shot Blok didn't help, I realized that on the previous day I was a bit under the weather, and evidently had not fully recovered by ride time on Saturday morning.  I started to fade about mile 40 and (wouldn’t you know) the remainder of the ride included the climb up ‘big’ Pinehurst to Skyline Blvd.  Oh well, I have felt worse, so I found my granny gear and slogged my way up, DFL at the top. 

Got home, walked in and my son asks if I’ve heard about the ‘Crash’?  There it was on the TV

Summary:

53 miles, 3227 ft of ascent

Calories Burned:  1668

Bakery Items sampled:  Almond Croissant, Fruit Danish, Bread Pudding, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, and Macaroon.

Route: ***

Pastries: *****

Map:

Note:  Working on graphics, hope for improvement by next post.

Orinda/Pinole Loop – Destination: Bear Claw Bakery in Pinole

Orinda/Pinole Loop – Destination:  Bear Claw Bakery in Pinole

Old School Pastries in Pinole

Normally, this ride would start in Orinda and do half the Bears loop on the way to Pinole, and the other half of the loop on the return trip.  But, as I needed to get in a longer ride, I started from home in Oakland, rode up Tunnel with my friend Tom.  A bit up the hill caught a glimpse of a rider in white ahead of us, and I realized it was Robin (our other riding partner).  From Tunnel we took Grizzly Peak Blvd north to the Fish Ranch Saddle and regrouped.  I checked the time and it was 8:54.  We cruised down Fish Ranch and then along the shoulder of SR-24, pausing only briefly to regroup at the Wilder exit.  We arrived at the Orinda Library at 9:02 (8 minutes of intense biking!) and the group we were to meet at 9am was gone!  They are never this punctual..

The group had decided to ride the BEARS loop counter-clockwise (good choice to get the climbing out of the way before gorging ourselves on bearclaws) and after climbing all the BEARS and rolling through the pastoral golden backcountry, we arrived at the Bear Claw in Pinole, parked bikes along-side headed into the bakery.

I would say that this is an old school bakery, items consumed include the requisite number of bearclaws, breakfast burritos  (too small), cinnamon-raisen snails, apple fritters (excellent according to Larry) etc.  They have an espresso machine and regular coffee, soft drinks, but no sports drinks. There is only one bathroom, and as riders were leaving the line was long, so I opted to stop at one of the public restrooms on the way back out of Pinole.  This proved satisfactory, except that I ended up between groups and rode back to Orinda solo. Making the right turn onto Castro Ranch Rd, I spied a rider some distance ahead, but didn't have the gumption to catch them.  I stopped at Wildcat and San Pablo Dam Rd and called Robin, as I had planned to ride back with her.  She and another rider were a few minutes ahead of me, and they waited in Orinda.  In a few minutes I was there and we returned via Pinehurst.  This turned out to be a 60 mile ride for me with 4600 ft of ascent.

Ratings:

Ride ****  Bears Loop has everything, scenery, relatively good roads, climbing, descents,

Baked Goods ***  Worth the stop, but a bit old school.

Facility ***  Clean, but a bit noisy.

Staff ****  They were very welcoming and came around to the tables to fill our water bottles!

Starting in Orinda is a really nice way to do this ride.

Route from Orinda;

North on Camino Pablo

Right turn onto Bear Creek Rd and over all the BEARS

Left turn onto Alhambra Valley Rd (becomes Pinole Valley Blvd)

2340 San Pablo Ave.Pinole, CA 94564 | (510) 724-3105

Return route:

Retrace Route, but take a right at Castro Ranch Rd

Up the hill and over the ridge, descending to San Pablo Dam Rd

Left (south) on San Pablo Dam Rd, to Orinda

Great Rides to Bakeries in the SF Bay Area

I like to ride bikes and eat pastries, so I'll be posting some great Bay Area rides along with the bakeries I encounter along the way.