"Every mile brings new possibilities. Here's to another year of going wherever the road takes you."
—Author Unknown
At 8:26 AM I sent a text to my friend Bill Rothenberg to wish him a Happy Birthday and asked him if he would like to circumnavigate the Lexington Reservoir. A former Triathlete his comical response was: “I am one-third through my birthday triathlon: Dog walk: Done [he has two Labradoodles, Roscoe and Misty]; a Swim at 9AM and around 9:45 AM, a bike ride.” So, the answer was “yes."
On this beautiful, mild, sunny day we hit the Los Gatos Creek Trails, stopped in front of Vasona Reservoir and made a pit stop at Great Bear Coffee, where I treated Bill to a large iced coffee. Bill, doesn’t go anywhere without his caffeine fix to jumpstart his day. For myself, I’m a Jamba Juice kinda guy. Since Great Bear doesn’t sell Jamba Juice, I ordered their large special new Watermelon, Citrus Lemonade drink. Sugar is my fix and I added a breakfast muffin.
After hopping on a pedestrian/cyclist bridge behind downtown Los Gatos, we resumed our ride, switching to a gravel pathway parallel to Highway-17 leading to the Lexington Reservoir County Park. As many times as we have done this ride, it always feels fresh and new; mainly because like artists we recreate the experience newly each time. The other thing Bill and I have in common is that we are both Cycopaths: persons suffering from chronic bike riding disorder with abnormal urges to ride and feel free:-)
Though there are sections of the reservoir that are drying up due to draught conditions there were still some spectacular views of the water. The "creme de La creme" is when we got to the last quarter of the ride where we experience the coolness of the forested canopy and later switching from the paved roads to the narrow dirt trails just above the reservoir. All in all we rode about 28 miles with an elevation gain of 1,700 feet which took over three hours including returning on the creek trails most of the way home.
Final birthday greeting to Bill, a guy who has many talents, lives life at full throttle, who has introduced me to many trails and shortcuts, always has my back and, is fun to ride with. Best of all, we have great wives, his Sarah and my beloved Cecile who support our cycling adventures.
