Even though the day started out on the cold side, it was a great day for a ride. But because of the current cold snap we didn't take our original route through the Oakland/Berkeley Hills. We figured that black ice, snow, dirt & debris on the road would present an insurmountable challenge. So we went with our alternate route staying to more heavily traveled roads at lower elevations.
We began assembling at McGuire's in Walnut Creek and by the time we staged in the parking lot below the BART tracks we had 12 bikes. We made our way over to 680 and merged onto the southbound lanes. We followed 680 to Sycamore Valley Rd, turning east, and rode over to Crow Canyon Rd. It was a right turn onto Crow Canyon followed by a left onto Dougherty. Then we turned right onto Bollinger Canyon Rd and followed that all the way to the end where we made our scheduled stop at Las Trampas Regional Park.
After we took a few minutes to use the facilities and introduce ourselves we headed back down Bollinger Canyon Rd to Deerwood and over to San Ramon Valley Blvd. We turned north and rode through Danville. Our trek through Danville proved to be a bit of a challenge though. Due to the quick cycling of the signal lights our group got broken up. Then as the last part of the group worked its way through the traffic we had a near miss. Some large white sedan lurched out from a side street nearly colliding with the bike leading the trailing group. Fortunately the sound of squealing tires on pavement caused the sedan to stop and collision was averted. With some masterful riding the bike was able to recover from the skid and continue on safely. I'm guessing there were some pucker marks in the seat cushion though ;?)We finally connected with the rest of the group and made a left onto Hillgrade Ave, then ultimately over to Tice Valley Blvd. We followed Tice Valley over to Olympic Blvd and then on to Reliez Station Rd. This took us to St Mary's where we turned left, riding through Lafayette to Moraga. We turned right onto Rheem Blvd, riding up and over the hill into Orinda. From there it was a right turn onto Moraga Way and into the parking lot at the Europa Hofbrau. The parking lot at the Hofbrau was surprisingly crowded so we had to scatter to find suitable parking.
We made our way inside, ordered our lunches and enjoyed some great company. All too soon our lunch was over and we split up, heading for home.
If you opted to stay home in front of the fireplace instead of riding, you missed out. It was a great way to spend a day with friends as we head for the holidays.
Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year. Ride safe and we'll see you on a ride next year ...
