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Richmond Ride
May. 8th, 2010 11:51 pmI puttered around this morning, then worked on my RPG History Book until about 2pm today, and after that I went for a bike ride up to Richmond.
The plan was a loop: up the Ohlone Greenway, over the Richmond Greenway, down the Bay Trail, then back home. And that was more or less what I did. It was a bit chillier out than I'd hoped, and definitely windy down by the bay, but still it was a generally nice ride.
I rode pretty much the entire length of the Ohlone Greenway, and I've come to the conclusion that my favorite bit is the first several blocks that run northward in Berkeley. Unlike the rest of the Greenway, the path curves in and out here, darting past basketball courts, parking lots, tennis courts, and parks. It feels much more like a hidden route than the straight line under the BART tracks, and I enjoy that.
It took a bit of hunting to find the new start of the Richmond Greenway, primarily because the first hundred yards or so is currently unpaved. I assume they didn't want to pave it until they figure out how they're going to build the bridge over San Pablo. Most of the eastern Greenway is pretty nice, though more constrained than I like; there are chain-link fences on both sides for much of the route.
However, there's a major discontinuity in the Greenway as it now exists. About halfway through (between the new eastern half and the older western half) there's a two or three block section where you have to go two or three blocks out of your way on city streets. There are bike lanes most of the way, but it all really defeats the purpose of a Greenway--and certainly good trails like the Ohlone Greenway and the Iron Horse Trail don't have anything like that. A pity that Richmond couldn't do the right thing ... but the eastern Greenway is so much nicer than having to ride across city streets like you had to in the past.
I met an older lady on the route and she encouraged me to go to the Richmond Bicycle Plan meeting next Saturday. I won't as (a) I have other plans -and- (b) Richmond is pretty distant for me to worry about bike planning. Nonetheless, it's good to know they have a group up there advocating for things.
From the end of the Greenway there are really nice Bay Trail connections west and north. However southward, which is where I was going, not so much. There are serious discontinuities in the Bay Trail there, plus sub-standard bike-lane "Trails" which aren't actually anywhere near the Bay. It took me a while me to pick my path back to Richmond Inner Harbor (though I've ridden it two or three times before).
From there it was very nice riding around the Harbor, then through the salt marshes, then past Point Isabel, then along the shore up to the Albany Bulb. From there I cut inland, eventually heading up Gilman, rejoining the Ohlone Greenway (which let me ride what I've decided is my favorite portion twice) and eventually back home.
Total ride was a hair more than two hours and right about 22 miles. A very nice pace. A good ride that would have been great with slightly better weather. And I got to explore the new Richmond Greenway even if I didn't take the time to visit the nice shoreline out there that I'd been considering.
And that was my version of a restful afternoon, to prepare for a MFO tomorrow.
The plan was a loop: up the Ohlone Greenway, over the Richmond Greenway, down the Bay Trail, then back home. And that was more or less what I did. It was a bit chillier out than I'd hoped, and definitely windy down by the bay, but still it was a generally nice ride.
I rode pretty much the entire length of the Ohlone Greenway, and I've come to the conclusion that my favorite bit is the first several blocks that run northward in Berkeley. Unlike the rest of the Greenway, the path curves in and out here, darting past basketball courts, parking lots, tennis courts, and parks. It feels much more like a hidden route than the straight line under the BART tracks, and I enjoy that.
It took a bit of hunting to find the new start of the Richmond Greenway, primarily because the first hundred yards or so is currently unpaved. I assume they didn't want to pave it until they figure out how they're going to build the bridge over San Pablo. Most of the eastern Greenway is pretty nice, though more constrained than I like; there are chain-link fences on both sides for much of the route.
However, there's a major discontinuity in the Greenway as it now exists. About halfway through (between the new eastern half and the older western half) there's a two or three block section where you have to go two or three blocks out of your way on city streets. There are bike lanes most of the way, but it all really defeats the purpose of a Greenway--and certainly good trails like the Ohlone Greenway and the Iron Horse Trail don't have anything like that. A pity that Richmond couldn't do the right thing ... but the eastern Greenway is so much nicer than having to ride across city streets like you had to in the past.
I met an older lady on the route and she encouraged me to go to the Richmond Bicycle Plan meeting next Saturday. I won't as (a) I have other plans -and- (b) Richmond is pretty distant for me to worry about bike planning. Nonetheless, it's good to know they have a group up there advocating for things.
From the end of the Greenway there are really nice Bay Trail connections west and north. However southward, which is where I was going, not so much. There are serious discontinuities in the Bay Trail there, plus sub-standard bike-lane "Trails" which aren't actually anywhere near the Bay. It took me a while me to pick my path back to Richmond Inner Harbor (though I've ridden it two or three times before).
From there it was very nice riding around the Harbor, then through the salt marshes, then past Point Isabel, then along the shore up to the Albany Bulb. From there I cut inland, eventually heading up Gilman, rejoining the Ohlone Greenway (which let me ride what I've decided is my favorite portion twice) and eventually back home.
Total ride was a hair more than two hours and right about 22 miles. A very nice pace. A good ride that would have been great with slightly better weather. And I got to explore the new Richmond Greenway even if I didn't take the time to visit the nice shoreline out there that I'd been considering.
And that was my version of a restful afternoon, to prepare for a MFO tomorrow.