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Delta/Capitol Tour ride stories [3 Day Tour] - long
Title: Delta/Capitol Tour - Day One [Sunnyvale to Antioch]
Route: http://tinyurl.com/3hatx9 Date: May 24, 2008 First ever bike tour started out with a lot of doubt. My hasty preparation didn't help it. The ride started out just like another weekend ride. Ride through Milpitas was uneventful. On the way to Fremont from Milpitas, i meet another cyclist - Prakash, who was on a training ride - in preparation of the Tour de Cure ride. We rode through the mission hills and up until Niles, where we bid good-byes. Stopped for water at the little town of Sunol as usual. Then, when i got into Pleasanton, came by the farmers market. On some of the club rides, i have gone past this farmers markets on Saturdays without stopping. This time, i did what i have always wanted to do - stop and walk through the market. I got a huge very tasty bear claw and finished it on my way out of Pleasanton. A quick lunch stop in livermore is all i needed. From Livermore to Byron, had to put up with very noisy traffic, but was safe otherwise. Heading out of Livermore, one gets the feeling of being in the country. Lots of farms - almost no concrete structure in sight. This transistion was really nice. Past Byron, on the outskirts of Brentwood, there are a lot of fruit picking farms. The smell of the berries and cherries is in the air. Between Brentwood and Antioch is a nice little town of Knightsen - which is simply filled with horse ranches. Lots of horses to be seen - enjoying the mild weather. There were ponies and goats also. Crossing through Antioch reached the Antioch bridge, which is passable by bicycles. From the top of the bridge, even though the visibility was low, the delta of the San Joaqin River was really nice. Past the bridge, i quickly got onto a levee road and it was very scenic. The views of the Antioch bridge was really nice from the levee road. My legs were getting a bit tired, but the nice view of the river and the company of two of other local cyclists boosted my spirits. I got some good tips on bike routes in the area. I rolled into Brannan Island at about 4pm. Quickly setup camp and took a nice warm shower and then rode to dinner. Nice little restaurant is located about a mile from Brannan Island along the levee - on the water front. It was karaoke night, and I enjoyed my dinner with live music on the deck. Returning from dinner, I had a chance to walk around the island - soaking in the beauty of bridge, slow flowing water amdist grassy hills. Shortly after dark, i crawled into my tent. ---------------- Title: Delta/Capitol Tour - Day Two [Antioch to Valley Springs] Route: http://tinyurl.com/3j2354 Date: May 25th, 2008 Early in the morning, I witnessed two amazing things: a nice old lifting draw bridge in action, and a beautiful sunrise. After packing up, followed the levee roads to Isleton for breakfast. There was a huge overhead water tank welcoming people to Isleton. Right at the the foot of this water tank is a nice little cafe - which was served a hearty breakfast. Chatted with the local people and got pointers to visit the statue of liberty in Walnut Grove. Life back in the country is totally different, very laid back style of living. Followed more levee roads to get to Walnut Grove where there was indeed a statue of liberty made of lights - unfortunately i could only image how it would be in the night. Heading out of Walnut Grove, i had to stop to check the directions, when another local cyclist on his Sunday ride, stopped and helped me with some good directions. We chatted for a while, i thanked him for the directions and we parted. Out of Walnut grove, my route skirted the towns of Lodi, Acampo, and followed the Wine Trail. At the intersection of Hwy-88 and Hwy-12, stopped at Clements Ridge Bakery. They had very tasty bread pudding - very yummy. Heading east into Calaveras county, I decided to take a slight detour to visit Lake Camanche on Mokulumne River. Its a Very scenic lake and I would need to camp at this lake at a later time. Retracing my way back from the Lake, came across a bunch of kids playing on the road and one of them deciding to race with me with her kick scooter. I gave up and conceded the victory to her. Shortly past Burson, had my late lunch and headed into Valley Springs. Valley Springs is much larger town than i thought - it has a Longs Drugs Store! My night stay was at the New Hogan Lake campground just outside the town. The lady at the campground checkin was surprised that i had ridden my bike in for camping. She chuckled when she handled me the bike route map around the lake. I told her that I will be most benefitted by this map. Later after setting camp, i went for a walk. New Hogan lake is a huge lake - i just walked only very little section of the lake shore and sat down to enjoy the view. It was after sunset, when i realized i had to make a phone call, so had to head back into town. I used bike map to get back to town. When i was here, I thought of grabbing dinner (inspite of late lunch). I had to bag about half my dinner. Got back to my campground and bundled up under my tent. It was threatening to rain. In no time, i fell asleep, only to wake up once in while to the sound of rain drops falling on my non-rain-proof tent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Title: Delta/Capitol Tour - Day Three [Valley Springs to Sacramento] Route: http://tinyurl.com/3hzs9p Date: May 26, 2008 Woke up to find that all my gear was still dry enough. Early start helped me get over the windy section before the wind kicked up. On the return also, i stopped at the Clements Ridge. This time, they were just opening the shop. Still the guys served me with a hearty breakfast, but too early for bread pudding though. Today the guy behind the counter had a lot more questions for me about my ride. Turning away from Hwy-88, on Liberty rd, there are a lot of horse stables and this time, i saw many black or very dark horses too. Soon, riding along on Clay station road towards the town of Clay, I saw an Ostrich farm. Lots of ostriches and few of them were close to the road. One of them was patrolling the perimeter majestically. I was thrilled to see Ostriches up close Riding through the town of Clay, one can see the cooling towers of the now decommissioned Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station. Other farm animals sighted include donkeys and lots of jack rabbits. After a long time, came into a bit of civlization when i entered the towns of Dillard and Wilton. At Wilton's post office, there was a memorial day celebration going on. Soon, i am on the outskirts of Sacramento. The tail wind was blowing strong, so i made it into the Sacramento atleast an hour earlier than planned. Streets of Sacramento had wide bike lanes and a lot of roads had good bike lanes. I had dinner at an All-you-can-eat place - just like my friends Kalyan and Velraj did. Then i rolled to the state Capitol. And a nice lady volunteered to get a picture of me. After a nice break under the trees around the capitol building, i rode to the Amtrak Station to catch an train to San Jose. Next time, i should plan to spend sometime at the rail-road museum at Sacramento. Epilogue: I have been very lucky on this ride to have escaped from rain narrowly. Although I didn't get lost anywhere, i should have carried more maps. Even though my bike wasn't in the top shape, i decided to proceed with the ride.I should be more and well prepared for the tour. Lastly, I do not know what i am getting myself into - now there are some spurious thoughts of more such bike tours... don't know where it will end up. I relied on the expertise of both Spencer and Rick to get prepared for this tour. Thanks Spencer and Rick ! |
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