Prior to Tuesday, my last ride was during my road cycling class. And that was almost two months ago. So everything felt kind of new, and my body parts needed to get used to the punishment. I have had two rides so far, and both were abbreviated, by choice. I knew that I had to suck it up, bear the pain, and stay on for as long I can bear.
On Thursday night, I got a text from my bud, Louie, and he invited me to ride on the Alameda Creek Trail today. It was over 11 miles long, beginning at the Niles staging area. I was familiar with this trail, but have not ridden the full length of it. It was a good time to ride with someone other than myself, so I accepted. He planned to bring his two daughters (Ally & Gelli) with him, and I had to bring mine (James) as well. I just needed to make sure my son was confident enough to ride because, the last time he rode was in Santa Barbara, and he fell off the bike. We set to meet at 9am.
We met at our house, and Louie brought a spare bike for James to use. I believe it was his wife's. While we waited, James took out his mom's Townie for a little spin. He wanted to make sure he was confident enough to ride, especially a bike he has not ridden before, and for a long distance. At half past the hour, we all headed to Niles.
At the staging area, Louie took all 4 bikes off the rack on his SUV and prepped them, while I had to put together the wheels of mine. I didn't have a bike rack so I had to take off both wheels of my mine in order to transport it. The frame went in the trunk, while both wheels were on the floor by the back seat. Before 10am, we were rolling.
The ride was slow and leisurely. We all enjoyed the sights and the fresh air of a Saturday morning. Surprisingly, there weren't as many runners, hikers, and bikers along the trail, as I expected being a weekend. There was room for everyone on the trail. The kids did their own thing and pretty much went on their own pace. Louie and I often trailed, chatted, and made sure the kids ahead of us were OK.
As the ride progressed, the pace of each rider changed a bit. The stronger ones pushed ahead, while the others lagged. Occasionally, we had to split, with one dad keeping pace with the faster riders, while one stayed with the slower one. We did a few stops for a quick rest and water break. The kids also learned some riding etiquette and how to share the road with other bikers, as well as hikers and runners.
In the last few miles, my son just took off, so I pursued him and kept pace until we reached the end of the trail. Well, it looked like the end of the trail because it was the end of the paved trail. The trail continued on a dirt trail to some other point that none of us knew. There was even a rider who asked us if the dirt trail leaded to the Dumbarton bridge. Unfortunately, we didn't know the answer to it. What shocked us was when he told us he rode all the way from Concord. And his bike was even a "fixie" -- a bike with no gears and no brakes.
From where we started, the total distance we rode was about 11.4 miles, one way. The kids were excited and happy they made the entire distance. But then, they remembered that we were only halfway and that we needed to get back to where we started -- another 11.4 miles the other way. It was past 11:30am.
The pace changed again on the return trip. I surged ahead of everyone and tried to maintain a certain pace, while James and Gelli kept each other company behind me. Louie and Ally followed right after. We took lesser stops because we all wanted to get back as fast as we could. The kids were getting hungry, and tired. By a little after 1pm, we were back at the Niles staging area. With all bikes loaded, off we went.
It was a fun ride. Something we can do again. Another trail perhaps?
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