San Ramon to Livermore Mines Road to Junction Cafe

Friday June 3rd three of the Old Spokes set out from San Ramon, CA at 6am to embark on a ride 47 miles into the wilderness.  The ride took us to Livermore, CA and then out into the middle of nowhere (or at least is seemed) to a wide spot in the road called Junction Cafe.  The ride starts and finishes as an urban ride traversing through three cities out and back. The middle part of the ride is in rural Alameda and Santa Clara counties, where the grass covered hills give way to a wooded landscape giving the feel of a mountainous area.  Mines road is a winding but steady 3% to 3.5% grade with some areas greater than 5% all the way to Junction, passing through meadows, and alongside streams which this time of year have water in them feeding the lush green vegetation in their path.  This is such a remote area that the metal road signs have bullet holes in them as the locals use them for target practice.

The ride to Junction Cafe is not a particularly difficult one, but it is a long four hours in the saddle with a steady grade, and by the time we reached the Junction  it was 11:30am.  Junction Cafe has a reputation amongst cyclist that I have talked to as being a dive, and maybe the bottled water would be okay to drink.  We pleasantly found the Junction Cafe to be rustic yet very friendly catering to the local ranch crowd as well as the motorcycle enthusiast, and the occasional cyclist.  The hamburger and french fries we ordered were very adequate, and a good balance of nutrition for the ride, and the cooler was stocked with ice cold drinks for our ride back down the mountain. 

Leaving Junction Cafe for the return trip to Livermore we climbed a couple of hills before hitting the decent all the way back with speeds of 15 to 30 mph. The return trip to Livermore was just under two hours and a good time for a stop at Peet's Coffee before returning to San Ramon. 

This was a pleasant surprise for us having known about this ride for years, yet with the legend of how difficult a ride this was and how unpleasant Junction Cafe was we never put this on the list until now.  The Old Spokes Cycling and Touring Club will now use this as a main stay training ride and include it in our library with the following notes: 1) This ride is a spring, winter, and fall month ride due to the oppressive heat in the summer months  2) Take plenty of water and food for the entire round trip just in case of emergencies. 3) Never ride this one alone as it is a lonely road with only a few ranch houses along the way especially closer to Junction, and no cell service in the area. 4) This is a favorite ride for fast moving motorcycle's and sports cars along the winding 40mph Mines Road so a weekday cycling ride is preferable.

Stats: 88 miles round trip from San Ramon, CA, 7 hours and 07minutes in the saddle, 3500 feet of elevation gain.

Bicycle Safety Education is Key for Safe Cycling in Suburbia

Bicycles are an efficient, economical, and prudent means of transportation if used in a safe manner.  We live in an area highly populated by automobiles and cyclist along with motorist need to be aware that the roads are to be shared by both.  Driver education in California is a bit relaxed when it comes to teaching  how to be safe when approaching and passing a cyclist on the roadways.  Some states are adopting the "Three Foot Passing  Rule" which states that motorist must stay three feet away from a cyclist when passing.  In all 50 states bicycles are considered vehicles, and fall under the same laws and rules of the road as automobiles. Bicycles must obey all traffic lights, stop signs, and signals. Crosswalks are meant for pedestrians and not cyclist riding their bicycles, sidewalks are only for pedestrians unless signed as a bike route to avoid a dangerous roadway. Bicycles must ride in the same direction as traffic and to the right side of the road. It's advisable for cyclist to wear high visibility clothing while riding and leave the fashion statements for elsewhere, and to wear a white high visibility bicycle helmet approved by the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission).  I also recommend using daytime running lights on bicycles both front and back.  The more visible that cyclist are to motorist the less likelihood of a automobile vs bicycle accident.
Bicycle safety education is needed as more cyclist are taking to the roads, and driver education needs to be expanded to include what to do when approaching a slow cyclist and there is no room to pass or there are blind curves ahead. The League of American Bicyclist is a good place to start for bicycle education classes in your area. http://www.bikeleague.org/

The following link is an interesting article by Bay Citizen on cycling in the Bay Area.
http://www.baycitizen.org/bike-accident-tracker/story/contra-costa-county-more-dangerous/

Pending Storm Cancels Monterey CA Ride

Rain, wind, and cold in California? In June? What is happening to sunny warm NorCal?  I'm not sure, but I'm 100% sure our San Ramon to Monterey ride has been postponed until sometime in July.  This weekends weather forecast does not look good for a fun adventure ride, and it would be a miserable cold wet ride on the coast.  We have saved Friday's ride thanks to the weather gods looking favorably upon us and we will take a 90 mile out and back ride to Junction on Mines Road in Livermore.
Ride details: www.theoldspokes.com