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Biking the Aquatic Park
Jan. 18th, 2009 04:22 pmOther than a couple of trips to Taco Bell, I haven't biked since I got sick last week. It's been a damned shame, because we've been having beautiful weather, averaging around 70 or so--the type of bike riding weather that I haven't seen since before Thanksgiving.
So, even though I'm still sniffling today, I broke down and went for a ride. I took it easy, as I didn't want to tire myself out. I went down to the Aquatic Park in West Berkeley and rode all the way around it, which I've been wanting to do for a while.
It was nicer than I expected. My first impressions of the Aquatic Park, 19 years' gone now, was of an icky algae-filled lake in an industrial district in Berkeley. I don't know if the lake's gotten cleaner or what, but it seemed nicer, actually usable now(1). There were a considerable number of people on the east side of the Park, where there's some nice greenery, a frisbee golf course, and otherwise places where people would want to hang out. Conversely, the west side of the park is just a desolate concrete strip between the park and the highway.
None of it is particularly nice for biking, because the one side was too crowded and the other too rough, but nonetheless I was happy to finally get to rid that particular circuit.
I've never quite understood the purpose of the Park, since there are beaches just the other side of the highway. But, when it was constructed in the 1930s (by the WPA), it's quite possible that there wasn't as good of land out at the Berkeley Marina for hanging out. (Heck, even now they're still working to create a nice bayfront area.) It also looks like its construction happened at the same time as the highway, so it might have been a way to keep highway sound out of nearby neighborhoods.
I was also quite surprised by how large the lake (lagoon, technically, since it connects to the Bay via underground culverts) is. It's a mile long. I'm curious how the total size compares to other small lakes in the area that I visited in the last year(2).
Any way, after that it was back home (and the ride up the hill left me a bit tired), with a side trip by the library, to pick up some light mysteries for the trip.
(1) It looks like the Park has been coming up the last couple of years, between city renovations, the general uplifting of the Fourth Street corridor, and the Pedestrian Bridge.
(2) A bit of research says the Aquatic Park Lake is 67.7 acres, Lake Merritt is either 145 or 155 acres, Lake Anza is 10 acres and Lake Temescal is 15 Acres. So, if all those numbers are accurate, yup this one is pretty big.
So, even though I'm still sniffling today, I broke down and went for a ride. I took it easy, as I didn't want to tire myself out. I went down to the Aquatic Park in West Berkeley and rode all the way around it, which I've been wanting to do for a while.
It was nicer than I expected. My first impressions of the Aquatic Park, 19 years' gone now, was of an icky algae-filled lake in an industrial district in Berkeley. I don't know if the lake's gotten cleaner or what, but it seemed nicer, actually usable now(1). There were a considerable number of people on the east side of the Park, where there's some nice greenery, a frisbee golf course, and otherwise places where people would want to hang out. Conversely, the west side of the park is just a desolate concrete strip between the park and the highway.
None of it is particularly nice for biking, because the one side was too crowded and the other too rough, but nonetheless I was happy to finally get to rid that particular circuit.
I've never quite understood the purpose of the Park, since there are beaches just the other side of the highway. But, when it was constructed in the 1930s (by the WPA), it's quite possible that there wasn't as good of land out at the Berkeley Marina for hanging out. (Heck, even now they're still working to create a nice bayfront area.) It also looks like its construction happened at the same time as the highway, so it might have been a way to keep highway sound out of nearby neighborhoods.
I was also quite surprised by how large the lake (lagoon, technically, since it connects to the Bay via underground culverts) is. It's a mile long. I'm curious how the total size compares to other small lakes in the area that I visited in the last year(2).
Any way, after that it was back home (and the ride up the hill left me a bit tired), with a side trip by the library, to pick up some light mysteries for the trip.
(1) It looks like the Park has been coming up the last couple of years, between city renovations, the general uplifting of the Fourth Street corridor, and the Pedestrian Bridge.
(2) A bit of research says the Aquatic Park Lake is 67.7 acres, Lake Merritt is either 145 or 155 acres, Lake Anza is 10 acres and Lake Temescal is 15 Acres. So, if all those numbers are accurate, yup this one is pretty big.