Bay Front Park Ride
We should have done this 29 miler the day before on our 29th wedding anniversary!! On our anniversary ride we decided to mix things up and go on bike ride to Bay Front Park in Menlo park the next day. It was a beautiful morning as we made our way to Coyote hills then around the back way to Don Edwards park and the trip over the bridge. First picture here is looking west from the pedestrian walkway that crosses over highway 84 at the toll plaza. One of those places that you drive by a thousand times but rarely experience yourself. You can see the bridge way out there and even the park we went to on the other side of the bay. Its always fun to ride your bike on a bridge. The height, the water down below, the traffic zooming by you all make for a fun ride. Second picture is Barb at the top of the bridge and county line. The ride over Dumbarton bridge is a good one. Easy peasy uphill and nice slow coast going down the other side.
So once we got on the Menlo park side of the bridge, we crossed highway 84 and got on the bay side trail that would take us all the way to Bay Front park. The last time we rode our bike this way, Facebook was not around. Today they have headquarters right there on the bayfront in the old Sun Micro Systems buildings. Whenever we drive by Facebook HQ these days, there is ALWAYS at least a couple of people there taking pictures of themselves in front of the Facebook sign. I would say that it is a full fledged tourist attraction. Sure enough, when we got there at around 9:30am, there was a family of about 10 people taking pictures. We decided to get in on the act and take a couple ourselves. Then the oldest guy in the bunch said he would take our picture. Thanks old guy! It turned our GREAT!
The rest of the way to Bay Front park was nice. Flat trail, little wind, nice sun. We have never been to this park before, so while Barb was in the restroom I found a map that showed there was a 2.3 mile loop around the perimeter of the park. Perfect! There was also a sign that said that the park was built on top of the old Menlo Park dump. There was also an old sewage treatment plant and methane gas extraction facility on the back of the property. Garbage and sewage and gas. OH MY! So we rode about half way around the park and there was a spot that we could climb a little hill. I wanted to see if we could see the bus stop and flag from this side of the bay. No such luck, even with the binoculars. We were going to take a break here but decided to go back to Facebook and take a break there. GOOD MOVE! Facebook did some nice work on the bay side trail that goes around the back side of their company property. We had a couple pieces of fruit and shared a gluten free granola bar.
We made our way home the same we went went out, and by the time we were rounding the corner for home, the odometer was coming up on 29 miles. I would do this ride again but maybe wait for rainy season when the hills are green at the park. This ride is great because for all but the couple miles to took us to get to Coyote Hills, the whole rest of the way is on bike path. If you think about that its pretty cool.
