Topic: Day to Day
Sunday. I slept in, and after breakfast decided to forgo my usually weekend walk in favor of a bike ride. My first impulse was to ride around Alameda, and I set out to do that. But I was thwarted because while I can see there is a pedestrian walk through the Webster Tube (which goes under the channel) after circling the tunnel entrance a few times I still cannot see how the Hell you're supposed to get TO it. I checked out the Posey Tube a block away and there the path is obvious, but since the Posey Tube is inbound from Alameda, I didn't feel like I should ride the wrong way down that very narrow sidewalk.
Frustrated with that, I just decided to explore the areas south and east of Lake Merritt. My first destination was the estuary that connects Lake Merritt to the channel (the lake is a saltwater and formerly a tidal slough). This was my first trip to the estuary, and I've lived here almost 7 years! It's effectively cut off from the Lake by the foolishly designed 12th Street, which puts 12 lanes of traffic and a huge median between lake and estuary, with no crosswalks. Very uninviting. Most of the estuary itself is on the grounds on Laney College and is quite nice. I rode the paths there and across a small arched bridge there before departing.
The bulk of my ride was in the hillier areas east of Park Blvd. Oakland's not as hilly as S.F., but it's got it's share, and some fairly steep grades on many streets. I did ok on some of the streets, but I'm clearly not in shape to seriously take on hills. One street was just too tough for me the first time, so I rode back and half block and got a good running start to make it up to the top. Whew! After finishing poking around there, I crossed back to the lake, then rode through the estuary one more time before heading home.
One final detour...I stopped and visited Deb and Shana as they painted the living room of their new place. Finally, after home and a shower, I went out for Thai food with my new friend John Kitchener.
Posted by molyneaux
at 9:56 PM PST
