Ride Report
BART Pleasanton – Mines Road – Pleasanton BART – 3 December 2016
Timing is everything.
Mike Herriot and Olek Proskurowski turned out with me to tackle a new wrinkle on the ole Mines Road ride, namely catching the 0923 Fruitvale BART to the Dublin/Pleasanton station, rather than arranging car pools and packing/unpacking bikes, plus all the hassle associated with that.
The later departure was fine-tuned to allow the temperature to rise somewhat, for me to catch a few more winks of sleep, and calibrated to the time of sunset at 4.50 P.M.
The distance from the Pleasanton BART station to the beginning of Mines Road in Livermore is only 11 miles, mostly along the Iron Horse- and Arroyo bike trails. That is quite manageable, even though there is an intervening and busy 4-mile stretch along Stanley Boulevard.
It was a bright, sunny day, and temperatures never dropped below 52 degrees. Unlike summer time, cars, motos and other cyclists were few. The landscape was bucolic and the roads dry. Once the proper climb started, we ended up being pretty scattered and I soon lost sight of my friends. I could say I was saving something for the return, but, truthfully, my climbing prowess has never been something to brag about.
On a longer ride, it is always better to parse out your energy in a very reluctant fashion. Also finishing strong makes future rides seem less daunting. The spread between first and last arrivals at the Junction Café was about 15 minutes and we did not stay there long, as days are short this time of year.
The return was a blast, even though there are two extended climbs along the way. Once we reached the terminus of Mines Road again, I made the ill-founded remark, that we were on time for the 4.01 train and had the fortune of not incurring any flats. Right along Stanley Avenue, Mike’s new rear tire suffered a flat, and I was rightfully held to blame. We had that quickly fixed and I granted Mike the lead for an alternate route to the BART station.
Had we arrived at the station 2 minutes later, we would have missed the train, waited 20 minutes for the next one, and arrived home after sunset. As it was, everybody was home right at sunset. Perfect timing!
Just because I post a D-rated ride over a longer distance, does not imply race pace or anything foolish like that. So, I hope this turnout was reduced in numbers only because of the extended time it took to complete this ride. I know Ron Arth would have joined us, but I hope his flu felt better while riding his new bike.
-- Ralph
