Today we revisited a ride from the 2013 tour prep. We started at the Lafayette BART station. While putting the bikes together, we realized that each of us had assumed the other packed the water bottles. Fortunately, there was a bike shop along the first mile or so. A quick stop later, and we were outfitted with shiny new Sharp Bicycle bottles.

We continued on our way along the Lafayette/Moraga Regional Trail. As is often the case, the trail was a mixed bag. It meant dodging dogs, runners, and bollards, but the road alternative didn’t exactly have much of a shoulder.

As we got close to our turnoff, Anne noticed a trail closed ahead sign. We kept going, but it turned out they weren’t kidding. We could get to within view of the street we wanted to turn off at, but ran into a fence blocking off part of the trail which had washed away in recent rains. There was no way we could get through, so Anne consulted with our maps and a passing couple to find an alternate route.

We retraced our steps, and found our way to the road. We passed a church parking lot, and decided to stop for lunch.

We picked up some frosted animal crackers for dessert for today. They were a big hit. Max kept walking around, cookie in hand, licking it like a lollipop, while giggling to himself.

We continued on our way, down Canyon Rd to Pinehearst. This quickly got out of town to a forested climb. We started getting positive comments from some of the many other cyclists out, regarding how much we were dragging up the hill, asking for turns in the trailers etc.

One person evidently didn’t think so highly of us. A motorcyclist slowed down to tell us that some rancher was calling (or maybe had called) the police, since he felt it was unsafe for us to be biking with kids. We thanked him for the heads up, and started considering how likely we thought it was that the police would respond, and how such an encounter might go. It seems that either the guy didn’t actually call, or the police informed him that people are allowed to use the roads, since we didn’t run into any. All the same, we were nervous about it for a while.

Skyline is really lovely. It offers great views of Oakland, the bay, and San Francisco. Some parts offer a gentle downhill, although towards the end it slopes back up.

We took South Park Dr, which is closed to cars this time of year because it’s newt mating season. Cyclists and pedestrians are still allowed, although you’re supposed to watch out for and avoid any newts. It’s a nice downhill section, although the gate at the far end means you need to be ready to brake pretty hard.

Then there’s a short climb up to Inspiration Point. This was the starting point of the first weekend ride Anne and I did together. That first time, Anne had a very hard time with the descent. By now, though, she’s a pro.

The climb up Bear Creek on the other side was hard. It’s smooth, mostly with a nice shoulder. But it’s unrelenting and long. There’s no shade, and a bunch of turns that trick you into thinking it’s the top. But, we kept plugging away and made it.

The last time we did this ride, we cut back on Happy Valley Road. It was not a happy road for us. It’s pretty steep in places, and we weren’t really expecting much of a climb that late in the ride. Tears were shed. Bikes were walked.

So this time, we had planned a different, longer loop back to Lafayette, with more total climbing, but in the form of smaller, easier climbs. It’s much more popular according to heat maps, too.

By the time we got to the turn for Happy Valley, it was getting late.  +13 miles and +1000 feet of climbing didn’t seem like a great idea. So we decided to face our enemy, and try Happy Valley.

It started off fine, but then it got to 10+% sustained. Anne told me to get away so she would have plenty of room to stop. I pulled around her, and stopped around the next bend maybe 100 feet down the road.  After a few minutes, Anne came around the corner, walking the bike, but with a smile. Ruth had be asking all day to get out and push for Mommy, so here was her chance. We walked both bikes to the top, with Ruth running between the two, taking turns helping us. It was still steep, but this time we knew it was coming, and not really too long. Ultimately, we just need to get over the hills. It’s not like walking is that much slower than us in our super granny gears.

The final descent into Lafayette is kind of tricky. Visibility isn’t great, and it’s a residential area, so there are cars that pop out. So the brakes got some exercise. Then just one turn, and we were back to the van.

The day went really well. We had the hiccup of missing water bottles, but that’s was easy to fix. The weather was great. The kids were cooperative throughout the day, and many I’s were Spied.  And we didn’t even have to justify ourselves to any law enforcement.