Livermore Tour

I was in Livermore, CA this past week for work. Not a bad place to have to work by any means! I decided to head up the weekend before the work week. I was traveling with a co-worker of mine, Esther, who has friends living in Pinole, Mike & Marcella. Mike & Marcella were nice enough to put us up for a night, so I flew in Saturday and had a great century mapped out for Sunday!

The century turned into a 63 mile ride instead. I turned into a tourist and just didn’t get moving fast enough, but I think it was ALL worth it! Last visit out, I did a ride inland, The Hekaton Hilly Century, and it was easier to just crank out the miles since I was on long stretches of road with no stops. This time, it was urban riding for a good part of the way, with lights, traffic, the BART, the Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, etc. I fit right in with the other tourists with my camera out, snapping pictures everywhere.

My blueprints for the ride came from the Bay in a Day Double Century, which is no more. Guess they canceled it after a couple years of really hot weather. I wasn’t up for a 200 mile unsupported ride, so I decided to do 1/2 of this. The 200 mile route sheet didn’t have the turns for the century I was going to do, so I had to make it up along the way. The Blackberry, with Google maps loaded on it, came in handy in a couple of places. So, I headed towards Berkeley and on to Oakland where I caught the BART to ride under the Bay Bridge since I can’t take the bike over the bridge.

Here are some pictures heading out from Pinole to Berkeley. You’ve really got to click on the images to see the enlarged, higher resolution views. The area is beautiful and my shrunken down pictures don’t do it justice!!

Most of the time it was nice pavement and great shoulders…

BART was fun, the only other subway I’ve been on is the Metro in DC, so this was cool for me. I traveled UNDER the Bay Bridge to get to San Francisco.

After getting off the BART and starting on Embarcadero, the century was history. I went speeding by the touristy stuff, seeing cyclists, joggers, walkers, everywhere. I had just past the end of this, heading out toward the Bridge when it dawned on me that I’d only spent about 5 minutes in an area I’ve really never experienced. What the heck is wrong with me?!? So I turned around and partook in the local tourist flavor. I checked out all the nice boats docked at the Fisherman’s Wharf.

Nice seagull posing for my picture…

Here’s a shot of Alcatraz in the distance…

Then on to the barking sea lions. By this time, standing along the pier watching the sea lions argue over who was going to be allowed on what pile of sea lions and where, I was freezing!

Can you tell I liked the sea lions? These guys cracked me up. I could have watched them for longer had it not been so cold.

I looked for the nearest coffee shop (should have been more patient) for some hot brew. After that, I found all the better coffee shops…oh well.

And some more touristy pics…

Oh, did I mention it was a windy day?? Geesh, I got my workout with those headwinds.

I continued on, heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge. I got in some urban riding, dealing with buses, cars and motorcycles along the way.

But things quickly settled back down and I had a nice cruise towards the Bridge.

Apparently you can ride on either side of the Bridge, regardless of what direction you are heading. the West side is the fast travel side that most bike commuters take.

The East side, with the better views, is the touristy side that will require you to have good track stand skills or the willingness to just get off and push your bike. If I go again next time, I’ll take the other side, but since I’d never been on the Golden Gate Bridge, I had no problem moving slowly. I was snapping pictures too!

Lots of people in the water…

Now I’m approaching the end of the Bridge.

On the other side of the Bridge, I quickly entered into Sausalito, a very ritzy area. Beautiful homes and lots of boats.

I wanted to watch this plane take off, but he was too slow, I was getting chilly, and I had a time schedule to stick to now.

The roads here were the best! Primo, curvy up/down roads covered with canopies of trees and very few stops. From here out, I had to haul tail. Mike was cooking a prime rib at home and I had a dinner time in mind. I didn’t want to be late, so raced to the end from here, so no pictures.

I needed a lift back over the Richmond Bridge (no bikes allowed). According to Wikipedia, there was a study done in 2001 to make a third emergency lane a bike lane. While it was determined that this would be legal, there is still no bike lane to this day. Another interesting note about this Bridge, Jerry Garcia apparently conceived the idea for Terrapin Station while crossing it.

Anyway, Esther and Marcella, who were out taking a walk and doing errands met me and hauled me over. Amazing timing! I called about 15 miles out, they said they’d be there. They pulled in just as I did! Got a lift, then only about 12 more miles back to the house.

Back home, end of the ride, we had prime rib, baked potatoes, garlic bread, green beans with mushrooms, broccoli with cheese, and salad for dinner. I was treated like a queen!! Marcella & Mike were very gracious hosts. I forgot to mention that the evening I flew in, Esther and Marcella picked me up at the airport, brought me back to the house, and had a dinner waiting on the table for me. BBQ chicken and corn on the cob!

So I didn’t do the ride I set out to do, but I think I came out ahead on this one. I met some wonderful new friends and got to tour parts of CA that I’d never visited…on my bike. You can’t beat that!