I believe Einstein who once said: “Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving,” would agree that the bicycle is the best invention for humankind. More and more, it has become an important form of exercise for physical and mental health when overwhelmed by the news of the day. Something as getting on a bike and finding a nearby trail helps to get your blood pumping and eases your mind when you find you’re getting stuck in unproductive thoughts that lead you astray. I believe I can speak for my riding buddy Bill, whose is a veteran rider and has shown me many of fun trails over the years, that biking plays a major role in experiencing personal harmony with nature and relief from the monotonous routines of the day.
It was a perfect sunny day to ride for what ended up being a 24-mile bike ride. My friend Bill and I began our excursion from the Los Gatos Creek Trail heading towards San Jose at 11:30. The paved trail ends at the beginning of Willow Street where we continue passed downtown Willow Glen to Three Creeks Trail. A replica water tower sculpture with the number 3 on it, marks the entrance to the paved l trail system that connects to the Los Gatos Creek Trail, Guadalupe River Trail, Highway 87 Bikeway, and the Coyote Creek Trail, also referred to as the western alignment.
The trail was formerly a Western Pacific railway line as part of the Willow Glen industrial lead of the San Jose Branch line. Bill and I continued to the Willow Glen Trestle Bridge that was built in 1921. A train used to travel to and from the iconic del Monte Cannery and was later demolished. It was recently rebuilt as a pedestrian and biking trail that leads to downtown San Jose. After passing Barak Obama Blvd, we covered a lot of ground from there including many of the city’s landmarks like the Children’s Discovery Museum, Monopoly in the Park where we watched commercial planes flying in overhead en route to the San Jose Airport, the Civic Auditorium, Montgomery Theater, San Jose McEnery Convention Center, the 18—story tower San Jose City Hall with a glass rotunda, and the San Jose Museum of Art. We also passed by the controversial plumed serpent sculpture (see postscript) By this time we worked up an appetite and had an outdoor lunch at the spacious San Pedro Square Market, a spot where you can always find what your looking for among an abundant variety of exciting food vendors. Bill had a fresh robust salad from On the Roll. a Vietnamese fusion restaurant influenced by Thai cuisine, and I had a half order of Neapolitan pizza and Arugula salad special Pizza Bocca Lupo. The pizza is made in a hand-made brick oven imported from Naples. Afterwards, we rode around the campus of San Jose University and from there made our way back to the trails for our ride home.
