East Bay Trails (CFGFC lite)

This weekend I decided to do a shorter, modified version of the CFGFC route, for two reasons: a) I wanted to proof the route to make sure nothing had changed since last year (construction, road closures, etc.) and b) I wanted to try some different routes for the last 30 miles between Fremont and Oakland.

Basically the first 70 miles of the CFGFC are great. You've got the Oakland hills, the San Ramon Valley, a few nice multi-use trails, good road conditions, and nice scenery. The problem is the final leg between Fremont and Oakland, or at least the stretch between Fremont and San Leandro. It's basically a wasteland of industrial parkways, ghettos, and barrios, sprinkled with the occasional stripmall. It's a bit depressing, if not dangerous in some spots. So, each year I hit the road in search of a better route. I like to think of it as my own search for a Northwest Passage. Anyway, today's effort was not wholly successful, but I did find some new and interesting multi-use trails that I'll probably incorporate into the CFGFC. So we'll call this ride the East Bay Trail Excursion.

This ride began at Orinda BART station, traveled south through San Ramon valley, west through Niles Canyon, and then north more or less along the bay to end at Fruitvale BART. Notable trails used on the ride include:

Lafayette Moraga Trail and Iron Horse Trail: my two readers will recognize these trails from previous rides. Both are well graded, scenic, and high quality.

Alameda Creek Trail: This trail runs alongside the Alameda Creek, from Niles Canyon all the way to the bay. The trail along the southern bank is paved for cyclists and what have you; the trail along the northern bank is dirt and gravel for horses and people who like dirt. It's not as pretty as the Iron Horse or the other trails in the San Ramon valley, but it's pretty nice for Fremont and Union City.

Union City Trail: This is a strange, hidden little multi-use trail I stumbled upon in Union City. This one is deep undercover people: there aren't even any websites that describe it. Think on that. The good part about it is that it's not busy at all (in fact it was empty). The bad part is that it might be abandoned? I couldn't tell. There seemed to be a lot of obstacles to actually using the trail, like closed gates and a section with open, raised railroad tracks, so I'm wondering if this trail is officially in use. It was a bit creepy.. I had a thought that someone could disappear on this trail and no one would ever know. So, it's definitely going into the CFGFC route.

Bay Trail from San Leandro to Marina Park: This is part of the "Bay Trail" that will someday (!) encircle the entire bay with over 400 miles of continuous multi-use trails. Won't that be awesome?! It will totally solve my northwest passage issue. But until it's completed (date unknown), we have to make due with these small pieces of the trail. This one runs just a few miles right along the bay in San Leandro. The water is so close here, just a small global warming hiccup would easily flood the path. The headwinds are a bitch traveling north along the water, but the scenery is worth it.

Distance: 75 miles
Time in the Saddle: about 6.5 hours
Elevation Gain: 1370 feet
Route: East bay trails