A Tour of Stanford Memorial Church

Today I visited Stanford Memorial Church.  I didn't know until recently that tours are available throughout the year.  First, I checked out the surrounding area.

 Lots of tourists and regulars enjoying the campus.

On the tour I learned that Mrs. Stanford oversaw its construction. The glass is from Venice. There's real gold in the designs.

There was once a tower attached to the church but it was destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake. The Stanford U bylaws require that the church be open to all faiths. By the way, tuition was free until the 1940s.  Nice way to spend a Sunday.

A Quick One With The Boyfriend

The Boyfriend and I beat the heat by starting early this morning doing a 32 mile out and back featuring Sand Hill Road, Whiskey Hill Road and Canada Road.  It's cotton candy time, aka our natural air conditioning (much appreciated later in the day; sorry to say that Redding is not getting this blanket and their fire rages on).   Good thing I wore my arm warmers and wool leggings.  I know, I am a weenie woman.

Me:  I'm sorry I fell behind.  There was this guy...
BF:  Omg, stop, I don't want to hear your sorry excuses.
Me:  There I was minding my own business. I did nothing to invite the encounter, I swear.
BF:  And I'm a leprechaun.  I've got your number, Missy.
Me:  Yes, and if you're lucky, I'll  answer when you call.

I know, I know, the belle of the Ball .... oh my goodness, we got overtaken by a peloton.  I wish I could have gotten a shot of that.  A good outing which we both enjoyed, perhaps more so by me....

Trails, Rollers, and Water

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Today, I chose to do a club ride I've never done that took our group through Milpitas, Fremont, Newark and along the Alameda Creek and Bayview trails. Diane led our group of 8, she and I being the only females.  Oh goody.

After doing a bunch of rollers somewhat like those on Canada Road, we hit the trails.  It was pretty though the first section of the trail is a bit rough. 

I pushed myself and for most of the ride, I managed to stay with the group.  For once!  This section (across the water is the Dumbarton Bridge) is one of my favorite rides, and one I like doing with The Boyfriend.  I didn't realize we'd be doing some of it today.  But, boy, the algae smelled.  I was gagging. 

This was so pretty, like an oasis.  Photo doesn't do it justice.  I could see cyclists, but only their heads, on the other side.  We stopped at a park for a short break.  Lo and behold, guess who made an appearance.  Yep, a red firetruck complete with some damn fine firemen....  Every where I go, they appear.  We took off as the day was heating up.  I didn't enjoy the route back -- too much industrial areas but I passed Ohlone College (always wondered where it was and what it looked like).  I liked doing something different and I was pleased with my results.

Just the Stats:

53 miles
1541 ft of climbing
25.5 mph descending
13.7 avg mph
3 hr 51 min.

Hiking in Alum Rock

Sunday, July 15th

Here's me hiking in Alum Rock Park, a real gem.  Haven't been to the park for a hike since July 2014 when: 

a rattlesnake came out of nowhere and it either brushed my leg or grabbed my pant.  I don't really recall.  All I know is that I saw an anaconda as far as I was concerned and I shook my leg violently or maybe I kicked the rattlesnake.  And then I ran.

Nothing like that happened on our 6 mile hike today.  Yay!  It was a nice way to finish off the weekend.

It's All About the Scenery

Saturday, July 7th and Sunday, July 8th

Here I am stopping to appreciate the beauty of Nevada City, elevation 2,777'.  We're doing the Bridgepoint Loop today, about a 34.49 mile ride.  After a fantastic descent, if you take a moment, you will see this pretty view.  In the water, there are people cooling off.  It's only morning but Nevada City tends to heat up, something we learned last year during this same ride.  Climbing can be close to unbearable.

Ah, the historic Bridgeport Coverage Bridge, built in 1862.  Alas, one is not permitted to use it any more to cross over the Yuba River.  Learn more about the bridge here.  People hang out in the water to beat the heat. 

Somehow, we missed the long distance telephone line!  Anyway, time to climb and climb and climb and hopefully avoid the heat.  We're used to it having done it last year.  Miss P. might have liked it a bit cooler.  Well, we would have too, but, really, it was cooler than last year. 

Yay, we made it, having traveled on roads like "Rough and Ready" (named after U.S President Zachary Taylor who was known as "Old Rough and Ready."  Who knew, right?  And I call myself a librarian.  After the ride, we stopped at Fudenjuce, a funky vegan cafe with delicious food.  Dining in NV City is a wonderful experience.  Though this year, we had flies.  Annoying.

Now it's Sunday, and we're doing the 36 mile Allison Ranch Loop.  More of the same stunning scenery.

Taking a break, enjoying the shade.  I forgot to mention that there's a great natural spring on Bitney Springs Road (The BF is fond of renaming it Britney Spears) that is a wonderful source for refilling your water bottle.

A pic of my favorite road.  There goes The Boyfriend.  And there ends our trip.  Til the next one. 

Onward to Nevada City

Friday, July 6th

Of course, once our ride was done, the sky turned blue and the misery of riding 44 miles in rain a distant memory.  The Boyfriend and I headed to our next destination -- Nevada City, a 2 hour drive from Graeagle, along Hwy 49, a scenic road that followed the Yuba River.

Here we are entering Downieville, a charming Victorian village in the middle of nowhere.  I wish I had taken more photos of our drive.  It was so pretty.

We're here at Piety Inn Cottages, the same place we stayed last year when we visited Nevada City.  It took us over 2 hours to get to Nevada City.  Miss P did it in 1 hr 15 min.  So, a) clearly she survived the epic rain trodden ride in Graeagle, mostly by herself for a good 30+ miles and b) she knows how to handle a car with a manual transmission, for the road along the Yuba River was a winding one. 

A pic of our shower curtain.  Each cottage is uniquely decorated.  Ours seemed to be a theme of rabbits and high heels.  Boy, it was nice taking a shower!  The BF cleaned our very dirty bikes, too.

Here's a shot of downtown Nevada City. 

Here's another shot of downtown Nevada City. 

What makes a place special and worth a visit? Preserving its place in history, in this case, a vibrant mining town.  I'm glad we all arrived safely.  With our bellies full, and a chance to rest up, we were ready for tomorrow's ride. 

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head

Friday, July 6th

We knew in advance it was supposed to be cloudy with a 10% chance of rain.  Except it wasn't cloudy.  The sky was gray and the air chilly.  Who talks about the weather in California in the summer?  I didn't have my jacket but at least I had arm warmers.  Miss P. had a vest and The Boyfriend had a jacket.  We originally planned to do an 80 mile loop but realized that wouldn't be feasible since we needed to get to our next destination, a 2 hour drive to Nevada City after the ride. There are only so many hours in a day, right. So we agreed to do a 60 mile loop thanks to Miss P. charting out an alternative. Okay, we're off, heading towards the cute town of Graeagle and onwards to Hwy 89 and Gold Lake Hwy. Well.  Let me tell you how it really went down....  

Look, Bambi poses for me.  We warmed up fairly quickly.

Maverick (aka The BF) has the lead.  Sometimes he says that about me.  The density of the forest was spectacular.  The BF remarked later when we were driving to Nevada City how it almost seemed to be fake because the trees were so darn perfect. 

A shot of a lake.  Lakes are everywhere if you take a moment to appreciate your surroundings.  By the way, this is mountain biking territory and understandably from the glimpses we had on our journey.

Me, trying to look like I know what I'm doing as we climb Gold Lake Hwy, a long but not difficult climb.

The scenery was gorgeous but let's talk about the weather.  In a nutshell, it sucked.  Somewhere along this scenic route, I smelled the rain before it started to fall.  It started with a few drops that led to a steady rain, mile after mile after mile.  It wouldn't let up.  I discovered that my arm warmers are truly water repellent.  Unfortunately, my biking shorts felt like I was wearing wet diapers.   Love the squishy noise, not. My shoes were soaked as well and my white bike was no longer white.  I can't say I was miserable and it wasn't nearly as bad as the time on Mt. Baldy in the freezing rain with the temperature hovering in the 40s.  But, it was annoying.

Again, greeted by beautiful scenery.  I biked at a cautious speed given the rain.  I wasn't in the best of moods, alone and wondering if the rain would ever let up.  At this point, lo and behold, who appeared but my knight in shining armor, aka, The Boyfriend!  He had turned around after meeting Miss P somewhere on the route to see how I was doing.  He gave me my options:  continue into the unknown or turn around but face more of the same, a dreary drenched ride. I chose to turn around since I knew what to expect.  I was psychologically downtrodden and unwilling to complete the loop. We ended up doing 44 miles of which the majority of it was in the rain.  Can we say fun, not.  Miss P. continued on to sunnier skies, doing the full 60 mile loop.  And so it goes.  What a day. Not what I expected.  But certainly an adventure.....

Graeagle Here We Come

Thursday, July 5th

Time for another biking holiday, this time, Miss P. is joining us!  After learning about a century ride there, I got it in my head that we had to visit.  According to the Wikipedia entry, it was founded in 1916.  It's situated between Truckee, CA and Reno, NV.  We're staying at the Chalet View Lodge in Graeagle, CA., a lovely place just outside of town.  Since I was driving, I said to The Boyfriend, "You best behave or else you're going in the trunk."  It was a long drive but beautiful once we hit Donner Summit (elevation 7000+ ft) on Hwy 80.  I wish we had shot a pic from the car because it was stunning to see the mountain range.

We arrived in town.  I needed to get gas.  The guy at the Chevron station said I could pump first and then pay afterwards.  Wow, talk about small town hospitality!  The slogan for this town is, "A gift of a lifetime."  Sweet.  Here's a nice page that shows more of the town.

After we settled in, we explored the tiny town with Miss P. Cute how it says "World Famous"....  The store also has an outpost, which later (next day after our epic ride) we had some damn fine coffee.

While Miss P and I checked out the shops, The BF had an ice cream.   Afterwards, we visited the nearby lake.  There are a lot of lakes in this area.  It reminded me of Switzerland with its meadows and lakes.  It is a gift of a lifetime in its natural beauty and its quietness (much appreciated).  Tomorrow, we bike.