Bay at last!

27 Apr 2020

For a while now, I’ve been poring over maps to find a “northwest passage” from home to the San Francisco Bay.

The core idea is simple: Take the Coyote Creek Trail from home and then hop over to Guadalupe Trail (GT) to the Bay.

My best previous attempt was far from satisfactory. For one thing, the “hop over” takes me through busy roads with low-quality, gravel-strewn bike lanes and road traffic that almost seemed to look upon bikers as target practice. Then, the section of GT ran sandwiched between busy highways and train line with clothes strewn about. No traffic to contend with but essentially a concrete jungle. At several places were traps where a reasonable biker may expect to simply ride off the trail and fall into the Guadalupe River! At the end of it, I ended up in Downtown San Jose with no apparent path forward.

Today, I was hoping to wade through all of that and reach the section of GT that is reputed to be a pleasure to ride. As usual, in both directions on the familiar “fast thinking” Coyote Creek Trail I continued with the very engaging audiobook The Lost City of the Monkey God. At the Tully Library, I took a selfie against the beautiful red wall. A couple of homeless gentlemen before me asked me to stop taking their pictures. I assured them I was only taking a selfie because the Tully Library was a milestone. It seemed to work. There must be some way to discreetly but reliably inform others about selfies.

I stuck to my new habit of turning off audio on roads to increase my alertness. Today, given the “slow thinking” navigation ahead, I decided to skip audio company for the entire Guadalupe Trail. But I did put the headphones on and turned on Google Maps Bike Ride Directions. It was very helpful albeit confusing. Just to remain on GT required making many non-trivial turns. What some designer considered an oasis of trails just seemed crazy confusing. Let’s just say the trail design was perfunctory at best and downright punitive at worst.

I passed by the San Jose Airport. I got a nice video of my favorite “Hands” public art on the external shell of the parking structure. It’s made of only white or black pixels to create greyscale images of hands. On another note, what a great pleasure it is not to fly but ride instead! Novelty is pleasurable. Familiarity, not so much.

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The good part of GT was gorgeous with a clean, wide, well-paved bike trail on a raised level alongside the broad Guadalupe River all the way to the bay. I saw several public sculptures. I took a selfie with a sculpture of three kids looking at the river. I took pics of signs on the trail. I’m a big fan of signs. They often are unique to the place and have some pleasing positive feeling to them. Nice way to insinuate the place in pics. I passed by beautiful new apartment complexes and office buildings on the East and the river on the West.

The GT ended at an anti-climactic nondescript road almost the bay. I had to re-navigate to Alviso Marina County Park. That was gorgeous. I carried and walked my bike on the walkway to fantastic lookouts. There were fake doors that framed the bay beautifully. Excellent spots for photo op.

I learnt a few things. Alviso was a happening place when Lincoln was President. Named after a soldier in the De Anza Expedition of 1776, it was a thriving port. Apricots were the top stone fruit. The Bayside Canning was #3 in the country, hired only Chinese and paid “good” wages. Hmmm. Salt production in SF Bay was a thing. During the Great Depression, Alviso was The Wild West. Cool. Bank of America founder attended Alviso Schoolhouse built for farmers’ kids. A local leader had aspirations of making Alviso the “Chicago West”. There is a fancy flood protection system alongside Guadalupe River. Nice. Salinity in salt flats shows up in colors: Red is high while green & blue are low. I need to learn more about the Pacific Flyway and the De Anza Expedition.

So excited by the possibility of future rides along the San Francisco Bay!

🙏🏾

Ranga