Title: Delta/Capitol Tour - Day One [Sunnyvale to Antioch]
Route: http://tinyurl.com/3hatx9
Date: May 24, 2008
First ever bike tour started out with a lot of doubt. My hasty
preparation didn't help it. The ride started out just like another
weekend ride. Ride through Milpitas was uneventful. On the way to
Fremont from Milpitas, i meet another cyclist - Prakash, who was on a
training ride - in preparation of the Tour de Cure ride. We rode through
the mission hills and up until Niles, where we bid good-byes. Stopped
for water at the little town of Sunol as usual. Then, when i got into
Pleasanton, came by the farmers market. On some of the club rides, i
have gone past this farmers markets on Saturdays without stopping.
This time, i did what i have always wanted to do - stop and walk through
the market. I got a huge very tasty bear claw and finished it on my way
out of Pleasanton. A quick lunch stop in livermore is all i needed. From
Livermore to Byron, had to put up with very noisy traffic, but was safe
otherwise.
Heading out of Livermore, one gets the feeling of being in the country.
Lots of farms - almost no concrete structure in sight. This transistion
was really nice. Past Byron, on the outskirts of Brentwood, there are a
lot of fruit picking farms. The smell of the berries and cherries is in
the air. Between Brentwood and Antioch is a nice little town of
Knightsen - which is simply filled with horse ranches. Lots of horses to
be seen - enjoying the mild weather. There were ponies and goats also.
Crossing through Antioch reached the Antioch bridge, which is passable
by bicycles. From the top of the bridge, even though the visibility was
low, the delta of the San Joaqin River was really nice. Past the bridge,
i quickly got onto a levee road and it was very scenic. The views of the
Antioch bridge was really nice from the levee road.
My legs were getting a bit tired, but the nice view of the river and the
company of two of other local cyclists boosted my spirits. I got some
good tips on bike routes in the area. I rolled into Brannan Island at
about 4pm. Quickly setup camp and took a nice warm shower 🙂 and then
rode to dinner. Nice little restaurant is located about a mile from
Brannan Island along the levee - on the water front. It was karaoke
night, and I enjoyed my dinner with live music on the deck. Returning
from dinner, I had a chance to walk around the island - soaking in the
beauty of bridge, slow flowing water amdist grassy hills. Shortly after
dark, i crawled into my tent.
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Title: Delta/Capitol Tour - Day Two [Antioch to Valley Springs]
Route: http://tinyurl.com/3j2354
Date: May 25th, 2008
Early in the morning, I witnessed two amazing things: a nice old lifting
draw bridge in action, and a beautiful sunrise. After packing up,
followed the levee roads to Isleton for breakfast. There was a huge
overhead water tank welcoming people to Isleton. Right at the the foot
of this water tank is a nice little cafe - which was served a hearty
breakfast. Chatted with the local people and got pointers to visit the
statue of liberty in Walnut Grove. Life back in the country is totally
different, very laid back style of living.
Followed more levee roads to get to Walnut Grove where there was indeed
a statue of liberty made of lights - unfortunately i could only image
how it would be in the night. Heading out of Walnut Grove, i had to stop
to check the directions, when another local cyclist on his Sunday ride,
stopped and helped me with some good directions. We chatted for a while,
i thanked him for the directions and we parted.
Out of Walnut grove, my route skirted the towns of Lodi, Acampo, and
followed the Wine Trail. At the intersection of Hwy-88 and Hwy-12,
stopped at Clements Ridge Bakery. They had very tasty bread pudding -
very yummy. Heading east into Calaveras county, I decided to take a
slight detour to visit Lake Camanche on Mokulumne River. Its a Very
scenic lake and I would need to camp at this lake at a later time.
Retracing my way back from the Lake, came across a bunch of kids playing
on the road and one of them deciding to race with me with her kick
scooter. I gave up and conceded the victory to her.
Shortly past Burson, had my late lunch and headed into Valley Springs.
Valley Springs is much larger town than i thought - it has a Longs Drugs
Store! My night stay was at the New Hogan Lake campground just outside
the town. The lady at the campground checkin was surprised that i had
ridden my bike in for camping. She chuckled when she handled me the bike
route map around the lake. I told her that I will be most benefitted by
this map.
Later after setting camp, i went for a walk. New Hogan lake is a huge
lake - i just walked only very little section of the lake shore and sat
down to enjoy the view. It was after sunset, when i realized i had to
make a phone call, so had to head back into town. I used bike map to get
back to town. When i was here, I thought of grabbing dinner (inspite of
late lunch). I had to bag about half my dinner.
Got back to my campground and bundled up under my tent. It was
threatening to rain. In no time, i fell asleep, only to wake up once in
while to the sound of rain drops falling on my non-rain-proof tent.
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Title: Delta/Capitol Tour - Day Three [Valley Springs to Sacramento]
Route: http://tinyurl.com/3hzs9p
Date: May 26, 2008
Woke up to find that all my gear was still dry enough. Early start
helped me get over the windy section before the wind kicked up. On the
return also, i stopped at the Clements Ridge. This time, they were just
opening the shop. Still the guys served me with a hearty breakfast, but
too early for bread pudding though. Today the guy behind the counter had
a lot more questions for me about my ride.
Turning away from Hwy-88, on Liberty rd, there are a lot of horse
stables and this time, i saw many black or very dark horses too. Soon,
riding along on Clay station road towards the town of Clay, I saw an
Ostrich farm. Lots of ostriches and few of them were close to the road.
One of them was patrolling the perimeter majestically. I was thrilled to
see Ostriches up close 🙂 Riding through the town of Clay, one can see
the cooling towers of the now decommissioned Rancho Seco Nuclear
Generating Station. Other farm animals sighted include donkeys and lots
of jack rabbits.
After a long time, came into a bit of civlization when i entered the
towns of Dillard and Wilton. At Wilton's post office, there was a
memorial day celebration going on. Soon, i am on the outskirts of
Sacramento. The tail wind was blowing strong, so i made it into the
Sacramento atleast an hour earlier than planned.
Streets of Sacramento had wide bike lanes and a lot of roads had good
bike lanes. I had dinner at an All-you-can-eat place - just like my
friends Kalyan and Velraj did. Then i rolled to the state Capitol. And a
nice lady volunteered to get a picture of me. After a nice break under
the trees around the capitol building, i rode to the Amtrak Station to
catch an train to San Jose. Next time, i should plan to spend sometime
at the rail-road museum at Sacramento.
Epilogue:
I have been very lucky on this ride to have escaped from rain narrowly.
Although I didn't get lost anywhere, i should have carried more maps.
Even though my bike wasn't in the top shape, i decided to proceed with
the ride.I should be more and well prepared for the tour.
Lastly, I do not know what i am getting myself into - now there are some
spurious thoughts of more such bike tours... don't know where it will
end up. I relied on the expertise of both Spencer and Rick to get
prepared for this tour. Thanks Spencer and Rick !