Rancho San Vicente Open Space Preserve
Cycling Review
We rode our bikes in a counterclockwise loop around Santa Teresa Hills, with a stop at Rancho San Vicente Open Space Preserve for a quick hike.
I have ridden the bike path before in various multiple rides, but it was Cassie’s first time going up the steep hill on Bailey Ave.
Hiking Review
I’ve hiked this loop a couple of other times, but this was the nicest hike yet, as Cassie was there to keep me company.
What I Learned
My right Achilles tendon was feeling fine on the first half of the bike ride, but the effort going up Bailey Ave caused it to become strained and I definitely felt it the rest of the ride. Compared to two weeks ago, the improvement is still that the strain only appears with lots of effort, whereas before, it was happening on a normal-effort bike ride.
Cassie kept up with me even though I was riding at about a 13 mph average speed. She has gotten a whole lot stronger since the beginning of the year.
On our previous activities, Cassie’s hands got cold even when it was a warm day. Our guess was that Cassie wasn’t eating enough, so she tried eating much more on this day and it was successfully. Warm hands!
What Happened?
21.3 miles, 4 hrs 2 mins, 1520 ft of ascent
1.9 miles, 36 mins, 204 ft of ascent
8.4 miles, 40 mins, 56 ft of ascent
We had planned on going up to the Sierras and trying to ice skate on a lake, but it wasn’t to be, with a huge storm dumping too much snow in the Sierras for the lakes to be snow-free. So, we pivoted and settled for a nice ride around the neighborhood and a quick hike at about the midpoint, which happened to be Rancho San Vicente Open Space Preserve.
I initially thought this would be an out-and-back type of ride, but because we needed to run some errands on the east side of the Santa Teresa Hills, we ended up making this a nice little loop. We rode out to Santa Teresa Blvd via Cherry Ave, Guadalupe River Trail, and Coleman Rd. We were thinking about riding this all the way down to Bailey Ave, but my friend Mike recommended that we take Curie Dr as much as we could to avoid the major road.
As we rode Curie Rd, I could see why Mike prefers this road (as does Cassie). It is nicer biking along a neighborhood road versus a major thoroughfare like Santa Teresa Blvd. However, for me, I still like Santa Teresa Blvd better as it is more direct and there are fewer elevation changes.
Once we made it onto Bailey Ave, we took a quick break to drink water and snack a little. Then we powered through the hill on Bailey as fast as we could. The shoulder is narrow, but the cars on that road are good about passing with lots of space, so I never felt in danger. We then turned right onto McKean Rd and pedaled past the beautiful-looking Calero Reservoir and parked our bikes at Rancho San Vicente.
We hiked a short loop by taking the Lisa Killough Trail, North Ridge Trail, and the Almaden Trail. This was one that we could have cycled, and we might next time as it didn’t look too bad to Cassie. Walking it, however, gave us the time to appreciate how beautiful the hills were, as they were gold-gray and looking mighty fine.
After unlocking our bikes, we rode McKean down to Harry Rd and then to Los Alamitos Creek Trail, which basically took us all the way home. By the time we got to Los Alamitos, our bikes weren’t the quietest, with mine developing an annoying squeak, but we were almost home, so we ignored it.
In all, the weather was perfect and we sure made the best of a beautiful Bay Area day.