Bill and I and friends, Jimi and Jennifer Hunter met at Ed Levin County Park, a 1,558 acre regional park in Milpitas in Santa Clara County where we began our 32-miles roundtrip adventure. We rode on Calaveras Road past the reservoir to Sunol Wilderness. Calaveras is a beautiful, paved, rolling road that is a joy to ride. The air was sweet, there were plenty of shade trees, and 12-15 mph winds to help stem the forecasted 93 degree heat that would hit us on the way back. Bill recommended we begin our journey early to miss some of that heat and make it to lunch by noon. We continued our ride to Sunol Regional Wilderness in Alameda County. We achieved an elevation gain of 2,459 ft., and downhill speeds of 30 mph.
Upon our return, Jennifer spotted a snake that turned out to be a "Pacific Gopher Snake” native to the western coast of North America. They are spotted (dark brown), nonvenomous, good natured, and not harmful to humans. The last time Bill and I made this trip we witnessed a tarantula in the middle of the road.
Jimi and Jen treated Bill and I for lunch at “El Buen Gusto" in San Jose, two blocks from Cherrywood elementary school where he used to teach before retiring. After a long trip to Peru, it was nice to ride and together with friends again.
