"Nothing compares to the simple pleasures of riding a bike."
—John F. Kennedy
My neighbor and friend Bill Rothenberg and I rode our bikes from our gated-community to the Los Gatos Creek Trail behind Netflix Headquarters to the Lexington Reservoir County Park, a beautiful and scenic 950-acre park and reservoir just minutes away from the urban centers of Santa Clara County. The park includes a 338-acre man-made reservoir. It is quite remarkable that you can ride your bike in the heart of Silicon Valley on an uninterrupted trail for eight miles without having to encounter motor-vehicle traffic. The portion of Los Gatos Trail south of Los Gatos has a gravel surface. My Sondor’s electric-assist bike with its fat tires was made for this terrain. There is also a portion of the trail north of Los Gatos that is paved.
The official bicycle speed limit is 15 miles an hour. We honored the speed since some bikers coming from the opposite direction on their return are known to take the curves at 25 MPH, making any attempt to pass pedestrians on the left very hazardous. There are dips and climbs as the trail follows underpasses to cross major roadways. There are more uphill climbing heading toward the reservoir than on the return. In particular, there was at a 45-degree grade incline that even with an electric-assist bike was very challenging. Though I was losing my breath, I made it to the top. Though we left on our jorney at 10 AM, the temperature had now reached 93 degrees.
The reservoir that covers the towns of Lexington and Alma reached its peak population in the mid-19th century. About 200 people lived in each town. Lexington was the halfway stop for stagecoaches running between San Jose and Santa Cruz.
It is hard to believe that such a peaceful place like Lexington was once the site of a brutal crime scene. In 1883 a Los Gatos saloon keeper, named Lloyd Majors, hired two thugs to rob an elderly Lexington man who kept $20,000 in gold in his cabin. They killed him and fled with the gold. The sensational trial in San Jose drew national attention. Majors and one of the thugs were hanged, the other spent 15 years in prison.
We stopped at the Oak Knoll picnic area which was renamed Douglas B. Miller Memorial Point in honor of Doug Miller, a hard-working dedicated Deputy who patrolled the Santa Cruz mountains and died in the line of duty in 1986. His favorite pastime was looking out at the land from a solitary vista to listen to the silence. I could see why. It was the perfect place to be remembered.
As we made our way above the reservoir and stopped to take it all in, a couple sensed we might be in distress rolled up in their car and asked if we needed anything. “A cold beer," I said. Turns out these folks downsized and move to this relatively deserted area further up the mountain. It was after their purchase they realized they had to be caretakers of 20 acres of land. So much for downsizing to keep things simple, they said.
I took a photo of Bill in front of the sign marking the crossroad of Alma Bridge and Soda Springs, so he could text an old friend of his who lives in a Yurt with his wife and three kids at a higher elevation. He texted the pix to his friend to let him know he was in the neighborhood.
After our return to downtown Los Gatos.
we ordered a bagel sandwich with Turkey and Swiss for lunch and ate in the Town Plaza Park.
I napped, took a swim and hit the Jacuzzi at Bay Club Courtside. Ahhhhhh!
