2 posts tagged “tilden”

It had been several days since the rain, and the biting cold was just starting to abate, so I took advantage of the late afternoon hours to ride up on the usual loop to Tilden Park above Berkeley.

Of course, this is California, so "biting cold" means something like 45F.  But today was great; short-sleeves and all!

Took Claremont Ave to the top of the hill, then Grizzly Peak Rd up to the steam trains, then the trail up to the top of Vollmer Peak.  Claremont's steep and each trip up brings numerous close shaves by passing cars, but it's the fastest way up to Vollmer.  (For the first time today I saw a roadie going up it, even.  They usually opt for the more sane Tunnel Rd.)

Up on Vollmer at about 1900', it was a great view.  There were low misty clouds to the east, and Mount Diablo was poking up through.  The near-full moon was rising.

Downhill from there along Seaview Trail!  All that pavement climbing and this is the payoff.  The trail was dry and fast, though there were quite a number of hikers out and that kept speeds down.  Said hi to everyone; they all said hi back.
Reached the stone circle (actually concrete--remnants of an old observatory or something?) and looked out to the west.  The sun was just about to set and San Francisco Bay and the Berkeley shore shone blue in the fading light.  The low tide had actually exposed a sand bar in the Bay between Berkeley marina and Emeryville marina.  One of my sailing buddies had told me about that, but I'd never seen it.  I guess one of the sailing clubs actually goes out there and has breakfast on the thing sometimes!

I had no light, so didn't tarry.  Down through the corkscrew, through the forest, and on along the ridge.  I zigged down Big Springs Trail, and zagged back Quarry Trail down to the Quarry picnic area.

From there, a short paved stretch got me to Inspiration Point for another view northeast, and then down Curran Trail turning right on Meadows Canyon trail.

This was my departure from the ridge down into the park canyon-proper, and the temps got lower as I dropped down between the ridges.

Sometimes after heavy rains, this trail can turn into a total mudbog.  Today the bog was only slightly tacky dirt, so it was no biggy.  The trail twists along the hillside down into the canyon alternating between oak and grass.  The closer to the parking lot I got, the more the trail was pockmarked by hikers and horses, but its still in decent shape.  It's luxury compared to some of the cattle-ridden trails in Wildcat Canyon.

Passed a lot more friendly hikers out there...but I was the only bike I saw on the trail.

A steep-but-short climb out Canon Dr to Summit Reservior, then down Spruce to the University, and through downtown to home!

Saturday, Adam volunteered to break out his mountain bike (he's normally a roadie) and join me and Mike for one of our MTB adventures.  The plan was to head up Tunnel Road to Skyline Road, then up to the steam trains in Tilden Park, finishing the climb at Vollmer Peak.  Then down the Seaview Trail (part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail) to Inspiration Point, then down Meadows Canyon Trail to the Little Farm area, before climbing back over the hill and heading back home.

The ride up Tunnel Road is interesting for a number of reasons.  First you pass the interestingly-named Gateway Emergency Preparedness Exhibit Center & Garden, which is a memorial/educational site regarding earthquakes and the big east bay hills fire.  It's a good place to fill any low water bottles, to read about being prepared for disasters, and to enjoy a good view of the distant City from over highway 24.

Highway 24 runs through the Caldecott Tunnel under Tunnel Road, which passes overhead.  But that's not why it's called Tunnel Road.  See, Caldecott isn't the first tunnel to have been built through the hill at this point, but back in 1903, a huge bore like Caldecott would have been difficult.  So instead, a much shorter bore was made nearer the summit, and Tunnel Road is how you get there.  (Fish Ranch Road gets you there on the Contra Costa County side.)

The tunnel is collapsed now, so there's no way through, but you can still see where it is.  The only man-made thing left nearby is a short rusty flagpole which the observant might notice poking out above a small scrubby tree next to the road.  The flagpole is encased in a modest concrete block with a aging plaque on the side that once proudly marked the now mostly-forgotten tunnel.

Finally once you hit Skyline, you head north again to superb views of Oakland far below and San Francisco far away.

It's a good 30 km ride, the first 16 km of which is climbing on asphalt to Vollmer Peak.  After that, which is good for endorphins, but not quite so much fun as dirt, you get to the dirt.  And to the fun.

What actually happened is that we climbed 16 km of asphalt, and then on the final stretch to the summit, Adam's chain snapped throwing him to the pavement, fortunately unhurt.

We made a token effort to do something to fix it, but there was no way.

None of us had chain tools.  Soon all of us will have chain tools.  I plan to buy one tomorrow.  In fact, I really need to fill out my bike repair kit--it'd suck to have to walk it back from some place.

So, standing there at the summit of Vollmer Peak, elevation 580 meters, we remounted bikes, and coasted all the way home via Claremont Ave., which is a screaming downhill in a well-shaded canyon with a couple sharp turns.  I hit 67.1 km/h according to my GPS.  Woo!

Ah well.  I guess you can't get dirt every day.  It'll still be there tomorrow.

Unless it rains.