Fall and Winter Riding

As I mentioned in the "what happened when I got home post," I went on the supported Tour of the Sacramento River Delta, (TOSRD).  You leave on a Saturday morning from Brannen Island and ride along the levee passing  through Isleton, take the Howard Landing cable ferry for a short river crossing, and continue to Delta High School in Clarksburg for lunch.  After lunch you continue through Old Town Sacramento and then a little further to the motel.  We had time to relax, visit the pool and then go out for dinner/visit Old Town.  The next morning we returned on the levee though historic Courtland, the Chinese community of Locke, Walnut Grove, Isleton, and ending at Brannan Island with a barbecue.  We had lovely weather the entire time and very little headwind on the return.  In other years, the headwinds have been bad.  The tour is open to all who want to go; it is not required to be a member of VS.  Information about 2017 tour is at http://valleyspokesmen.org/tosrd
I know I took pictures of this trip, but I can't find any of them.  

The rest of the fall, riding was haphazard due to my mom's health.  I spent quite a bit of time at my parents' house.  Fortunately, they live only a mile and a half from me.  However, as my mom improved and weather permitted, I rode when I could.  

We had an epic amount of rain over the winter on the heels of five years of drought and our infrastructure couldn't handle it.  Thus, even when the weather cooperated, many of the roads I was used to riding were no longer open.

Mountain biking at Tamarancho (before the rains got started).

Alhambra Valley Road collapsed just passed the intersection with Castro Ranch Road.

We rode out to check out the collapse.

Mid- to late winter is a good time to ride Mt. Diablo--not too hot or cold and crowds are less.  The roads in the area didn't suffer any significant damage. Above we are taking a break at the junction at the intersection of the North Gate and South Gate roads.  Many cyclists ride up to the summit on New Year's Day, which our training group did, but it was very, very cold.  Actually, going up wasn't bad, but I put on multiple layers at the top, including ski gloves, and I was still cold enough that I had to stop mid-way down to warm up my hands.

Surfers at Pacifica.  Do you see them? They are all those black dots in the water.  A pleasant mid-winter day allowed for some riding around the peninsula and south bay.

For a video of our day in San Mateo, Pacifica, and Half Moon Bay, check this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXhHua_Q8mEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXhHua_Q8mE.  Filmed and edited by Keith.

At the intersection of Bear Creek Rd/Wildcat Drive and San Pablo Dam Rd.  I'm ready to go up Wildcat to go home.