Departed with two bicycles loaded

We haven't been able to progress in time or distance for biking any more.  And we didn't feel like going on a bike trip in 2018.  

But we started a bicycle trip with our new car.
We never thought about buying an SUV, but it turned out convenient to load two whole bicycle without taking the front tires off.

When we hit the road, the sky was getting darker and darker so we were worried that we might not be able to ride.  Because we don't want to ride in the rain.

We drove down to Mill Valley and rode on the Mill Valley - Sausalito Path which is the path we had ridden 3 years ago. 

Actually today we took a new course, along Coyote Creek from the Mill Valley-Sausalito Path.  That is not a long trail but beautiful and we enjoyed.  

We completely avoid riding on any share roads with cars nowadays.  We just U-turned to back to the path rode a little more toward Sausalito, but we didn't go so far and came back.

On the way back to the parking lot, we stopped to take some pictures of birds on the marsh, 

and sat on a bench to eat our lunch.  While we were riding, the sun was covered with clouds, but it was peaceful and relaxing.

Well, let's watch our bike camera recording.

Napa Valley Vine Trail

Finally I found the trail on which we don't need to worry about speedy cars too much for our bicycling; we drove up to Napa yesterday.   When we left our home, the temperature was going up higher and higher.  But the trail riding was quite comfortable with pretty strong wind blowing.

We started biking from Park and Ride at Redwood Ave, the vine trail is just over there.

 We started riding here towards Yountville.

The Napa Valley Vine Trail from here to Yountville has interesting parts.
Nice straight part.

  
Curvy and bumpy part.

Quite a narrow bridge for me, but it was OK yesterday because no opposite direction cyclist came.)

Double bridge, we love them.

Beautiful single bridge.

But the trail was cut by local roads here and there, so you have to watch out. Luckily an experienced looking cyclist came after us, and we could just follow him at the first crossing road.

Gradually we got used to it.

There is a long crossing.

 There is a nice bench and an outhouse.  "Honey! I need to stop here!"

 This is the Yountville fire station.  Our goal will come soon.

Yes, we reached it.  There is a parking lot. 

 And we U-turned to go back.  (Next time we will figure out how to go farther to get some yummy food. )

 Two cyclists passed us, so I enjoyed following for a while.  They were fast.

 We haven't ridden more than 10 miles for a long time, so we were pleased.


Next day today we noticed our fatigue in the morning.  We will take it easy tomorrow.  And will have another fun ride soon.

Half Moon Bay Coastside Trail

To escape from another heat wave, we left in the morning for Half Moon Bay today.  
When we reached Venice Beach, it was foggy on the sea, on the hills.  We put thin jackets on.

From the parking lot we rode to the South first, and the trail was a very nice beginning so we had fun.
Then a challenging bumpy trail started, but I rode well for a while, 

and I got tired and gave up. 

We turned around and faced to the North. 

Going North was up slope, especially after passing Venice Beach.
We enjoyed all kinds of scenery along the trail.

We ate fish dishes at the Sushi Main Street for our lunch afterwards, which was tasty.  We walked on the street and bought fish and vegetable Sandwich at Fish 'n' Frites for our dinner. And picked some sweets at Moonside Bakery And Cafe.

And we came back happily.

My butt hurts, my hip joints hurt, and my small back hurts now.

Monterey Coastal Recreation Trail Day 2 -additional notes & photos

Next morning we drove up to Lover's Point parking lot.  It was foggy and we couldn't see any color on the ocean.

This is free parking with 2 hour limit, so we couldn't waste time.  It was chilly and drizzly until we came out to Cannery Row.

After we reached the same parking on Del Monte Ave as yesterday, I put on our bike camera to take the east side of the trail. That was not crossing any streets all the way to the end of the trail parking lot.
After I watched the video from bike camera, I saw 3 places we had to cross the street, but the signs to watch our bicycle crossing are standing on the street.  That is very nice!
And the northeast end of the trail is not parking, it is just a nice u-turn section for the bicycle.
The trail is running parallel to a car road, but with nice divider!

U-turn here.

We saw a couple of geese.

When we came back almost there, he told me that we still have a little time, so we got off the bicycles and took some pictures to enjoy.

We hurried to return to Lover's Point!

We reached back to the parking within 2 hours.  The sun light was shining on the blue ocean.

 We rode 9.5 miles.

We drove to Fisherman's Wharf to park our car, and ate lunch at Sand Bar & Grill under the pier.

Sand Dab

Oyster

We ate enough fried seafood for the whole year.

Monterey Coastal Recreation Trail - day1

May 1st extreme Heat pushed me into taking a trip to bike on one of the trails I've been thinking to try out for years.  So next day I was stuck in our house to choose and make hotel reservations and found interesting seafood restaurants to dine on our favorites.

We avoided commute traffic by leaving late in the morning, after 3 hours driving we arrived at the parking lot in the Eucalyptus grove a little after Noon. 

And we started bicycling among the joggers, cyclists, walkers, and strollers. We were enjoying the thrill to across the main roads here and there, but following the yellow line all the way to Lovers Point was so easy, relaxing and fun that we arrived sooner than we expected. 

And u-turned back to the Cannery Row area, and had lunch.

We got off the trail and walked on Hoffman ave to Foam st, and ate at Sea Harvest Fish Market and Restaurant.

Calamari chips and french fries.

Crab sandwich and coleslaw.

I ate one sandwich and salad.
Then I forgot to start the cyclometer, so the map was stopped there, but we returned to the parking lot. 4.9+2.0=6.9 miles riding.

We came to visit Monterey a long time ago, but we never biked together through Fisherman's Wharf, Cannery Row, and Lovers Point before. So this was a superb experience for us.  

The most delicious meal we had this trip was the dinner on that night.
That was spicy "Cajun style Sand Dabs on a bed of Ravioli" which had crab meat inside at Fishwife Seafood Cafe and pasta at 789 Trinity Ave, Seaside.  We felt in heaven.

It was very worthwhile to walk 2 miles round trip from our hotel.