Jump in Lake Natomas

On May 25, I wrote that I had gone to bed exhausted after the bike ride I had gone on with my 9 year old boys the day before in Browns Ravine at Folsom Lake. The boys got up around 8 o’clock in the morning in the hotel room I had gotten for us for the night in Folsom’s Historic District.

We checked out late and went looking for breakfast. The diner I liked no longer existed so we went to another place with long lines and high prices. When we were ready to go we rode the Natoma Trail. I made a video like I always do. The boys were really fast and they had no complaints. They chased each other, but eventually they were making each other nuts so I asked them to stop.

The bridges along Highway 50 had no jumpers. Normally 20 something year-old kids will hang out on the lake there to jump into the water 10 feet below. However, I did see a lot of bikes parked there. There were also a lot of electric bikes everywhere. I made the boys jump in Lake Natomas when we got to Nimbus Dam. While it wasn’t especially hot that day, the swimming area there is really great.

We rode to the fish hatchery and then we crossed over the Fair Oaks Bridge to visit the small town of Fair Oaks. I noted that the boys are a riot when they ride together. When we crossed back over the Fair Oaks Bridge headed to the Sunrise Bl Bike Path, the boys almost went the wrong way down the Jedidiah Smith trail because the path off makes a big clover leaf there.

As I had gotten a room for us on the far side of Highway 50, I was trying out the Sunrise Bike Path as a way to avoid extra work crossing big boulevards and it has the extra benefit of crossing under Highway 50 and passing near Sunrise Station.

Surprisingly, I found that the route is not only easier to use but it also goes through a group of hotels – two which had amenities comparable to I had booked for that night. I decided to keep it in mind for the next trip I made through the area.

While crossing Folsom Boulevard to Mercantile Road, we inadvertently passed the connection to the Folsom South Canal so we connected to it at Sunrise Bl. So, we were only on it for about a mile. I also missed getting a photo of that area. After that we connected to a neighborhood with a long and well made bike path called the Villages at Zinfandel on International Drive. That got us a stone’s throw from the hotel I had booked on Quality Drive.

We had stayed there a few times and liked the hotel a lot there but the place is literally a giant parking lot. When we had checked in, we did laundry and went swimming. I also found us a Chili’s and when we went back to the hotel, I got the boys mochi.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

The Granite of Granite Bay

On May 24, I wrote that we woke at 6:45 at a hotel in the Folsom Historic District and I was able to get my nine year old boys to organize by 7:45. We went downstairs and had fppd before riding over the rainbow bridge and up to Folsom Lake crossing by 9:30.

One of the boys was riding pretty slow but we took in the cool air on the way and got photos. The route I was counting on for accessing the lake shore no longer existed so we went to the next available access at Natoma Street. I noted that access to the lakeside was poorly maintained.

The boys and I looked at mafic stones there— it’s called La Colina Del Lago. The joint between the granite of Granite Bay and the Gabro pluton above New York Creek is right about at the reservoir’s main levee. I found levees four and five really interesting. The gravels, which were all likely brought into the area by truck had both granite and mafic rocks in it.

We followed some e-Bikes over to the lakeshore. I had taken a stop to catch my breath, so the boys got a little bit ahead of me and they were so fast that I thought I had lost them. We went to Folsom Point. The air was still cool there and the boys were skipping rocks. Levee Seven was undergoing construction, so the ride ended up being terrible through there. I couldn’t tell if we could get to Brown’s Ravine, but I used our binoculars and that helped.

Once we made it to the other end of Levee Seven we found a gate blocking access to Green Valley Boulevard near the Sophia Parkway entrance. However, getting into Brown’s Ravine turned out to actually be possible. We went halfway up the lake side to a couple of paths and I was able to find a route into Brown’s assembly.

From there we ascended a couple of other forest paths to Francisco Drive and took a break ata cafe. The boys were righty tired from all of this exertion. We stopped at the store before riding up Kingston Street to visit Lake Forest Elementary where we had ginger ale and visited the playground. Some kid on an E bike kept buzzing us.

From there we followed the path near Inverness and went to Wolf Creek Lane. We had to leave the Lake Forest area around Francisco Drive to enter an adjacent are called Lake Hills. Unfortunately we found gates and fences barring a connection to the “Equestrian Village” near at the end of Wolf Creek Lane. So, instead, we rode Lake Hills Dr to Carnelian where we rode up Norwich to look at a hole under a fence.

From there we climbed Sheffield to Francisco and descended to Guadalupe. We took in the view at Encina both north and south before taking Loma Verde to Lake Hills (we saw the fence with the hole again). We returned to Lake Forest Elementary to take Francisco back to Starbucks. We passed through Brown’s Assembly, but this time went to Lakeridge Oaks Drive and descended to Green Valley, past the fence at Sophia Parkway and along Levee Seven. The last climb was hard.

Once we had rested the ride resumed from Folsom Point to the Johnny Cash Trail. I noted that one of the boy’s bikes was having a chronic problem. The real rear derailer was hard to figure out. It had a lot of problems. However, we descended from there to the Folsom Historic District with no problems beside that. Once we had re-organized at our hotel room, we had some Pizza at Classico and headed to Fat Rabbit for dessert.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

The Sunshine Boulevard Train

On May 23, 2025, I wrote that around 11 in the morning, I got my 8 year old boys from school and we took the 1 bus to Market Street where we had stored our bikes. We then jumped on a Richmond BART Train.

I got Amtrak tickets there but forgot to get the return trip which isn’t always a problem but it can complicate the return since we are often in a rush. The air was warm. The boys did fine with getting to the platform and the boarding worked too. Unfortunately, the boys hadn’t understood that we just needed a seat – not necessarily seats together.

We settled in until Davis and got off fine. Not having my cargo bike made the experience a little better. We transferred to Sacramento Transit fine. I thought it was the Folsom train but it turned out to be the Sunshine Boulevard train. I resigned to having to transfer at the end of the line but when we got there our train had a broken door and was taken out of service onto a spare track for the repair instead of going back to sac.

This ended up, causing the flow of trains to be disrupted and there were several turn backs. Eventually after two missed trains, a new train was brought in from the other direction. This indicated it to me that it was actually a better idea to catch the first train out of Sacraento Valley Station because had we opted for the the Folsom train, we would’ve been off boarded because of the turn backs. So thankfully we ended up being only 40 minutes later than anticipated instead of as many as two hours later.

At Folsom, we checked into our hotel. I took a short nap. The boys and I discovered that the pool was closed, which was sad. I took the boys to a cute little pub in Old Town Folsom for sliders. They were pork and beef, which I discovered is really good. Also, I think they over salted it, but I also liked that.

The toy store across the street was great. The boys and I walked down to rainbow Bridge and then we went to the local ice cream shop. We visited the round house and stopped in at the hotel for a beverage. The boys played iPad while I napped. I finally got them to sleep and started writing in my notebook late.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Lake Solano

On May 12, 2025, I wrote that the previous Saturday the boys and I rode to Davis. The arrival in Davis crept up on us, but everything was packed well so we got off quick. I noted that my boys took care of the bags. We only had one kid’s bike so the other one would have to ride on the back of my cargo bike. I got us return tickets because I knew that the return trip is often rushed.

We went to Temple coffee and sat out in front and we ate for a little bit. I sent out some tweets. Then we visited the dorms and rode around the quad for a little bit. As my sons were trading the second bike back and forth, occasionally I would allow them to lead. Other times I would. As we crossed the 113 to Russell Blvd, I let my son lead until the path crossed the road and then they switched.

The boys were really into the tractors. Russell Blvd is long and easy to use as a cyclist given the separated bike paths and it is often the case that riding along this type of path warrants no comment. However, it should be noted that this portion of the ride was idyllic and had many sweeping views of the Vaca Mountains, local birds and various crops being tested in UC Davis’ experimental plots.

At Stevenson Bridge we made a quick stop and the boys switched again. Here one of them took the lead. Putah Creek (apparently, according to locals it is pronounced like the state “Utah”) is a long, low traffic road where “roadie” cyclists like to visit. It wasn’t very hot but the boys switched again before the town of Winters. The boys managed ok but occasionally they get worn out.

We hung out in town until I had gotten a few beverages. We had a pancake, eggs, etc. snack. After that we rode to the edge of town to see how the road network connects with Putah Creek. We found a wash there which runs the length of the west end of town. We also found a fun playground which had a lot of kids.

We continued then to Putah Creek Road and one of the boys volunteered to lead. We were concerned about cars since this section connects Winters to a town further south. However, that stream of traffic breaks off pretty quick. The road then turned into a series of right angle turns with short sightlines and a long dull rise.

The boys inevitably got worn out again despite their trading the extra bike. At the Lake Solano Canal we had to take a long break and give each other big hugs. At this point we could see much of the agricultural Lake Solano, with its flooded fields and orchards.

The other boy lead us through Pleasants Creek then and once we topped the hill there we arrived at the campground where we settled on a site. They set up a tent and then we left the second bike behind, got on the cargo bike and headed up Highway 128.

There were so many speeding drivers! They also had boats and other large trailers. However, they were all traveling in the opposite direction as it was late in the day. The ride went fast enough. At the Cold Canyon resort we tried to get some water but the one person we saw their basically said they couldn’t provide us with any because we weren’t customers

We got back on the cargo bike, crossed the Putah Creek Bridge and rode up Thompson Canyon. Monticello Dam loomed above us as we approached. A few cars passed us, but it turned out fine. We had some beverages when we got to the top. At the dam, we investigated the turbidites, which are fossilized remnants of oceanic sedimentation found in the joints between blocks of metamorphic sandstone related to the local geological epoch known as the Great Valley Sequence.

I had us find a shaded location nearby and we sat and contemplated the lake. We had brought a snack of apples and carrots. A short while later, we descended from Monticello Dam back to Cold Canyon Resort. My boys have a tradition when we ride together on my cargo bike down big hills where they hold my hat to avoid it getting blown away.

This turned out to be prescient given the speed we traveled through the hot, windy Thompson Canyon. The ride was not impossible, but it was work, and there was one big truck with a pontoon boat, which passed us at an inopportune moment and that made me really upset.

We returned to the campground, unpacked and started winding down for the evening. The boys did their thing. Later we ate a little food and hung out together until bedtime. The boys came and found me a couple of times but they mostly just played until well after sunset. At the end of the night they drank some milkshakes and crawled into the tent.

I had gotten our site set up for the evening in that period. Only a few sites were available but I still believed that I should’ve found a better spot. Once I had finished up and had gone to sleep, I slept all right but probably could have done better. I gave the boys some allergy medication around 5 AM because I figured we needed it. However, we slept for two more hours after that.

By 9 AM we got packed up near the RVs and ate the last of our food. There was an ok place to charge up the bike’s battery. When we got back on the road, one of the boys lead us to Pleasant Creek and Putah Canal and then they traded with the other boys leading us to Winters. I taught them how to anticipate automobiles coming from behind. At Winters we had French toast at the steak house.

A short while later we returned to Putah Creek Road and the boys were trading the second bike back and forth. This time the boys did really well. They switched once we got to the Russell Blvd Bike path and we made really good time until we crossed 113. I followed as the boys led me through UCD campus and we arrived at Temple coffee.

There we refreshed myself before boarding the crowded 3:10 PM train. There was so little seating that the boys had seats but I did not and I had to shuttle between both ends of the train to check on them. I had a beer while standing watching them look at their iPads.

At Richmond station, we went over to BART. This leg of the trip is always a hard time but I managed. My big cargo bike is a real challenge for traveling by train. We rode home from Civic Center and were really lazy once we finally got back home together.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

How to Find Bike Party

On May 3, 2025 I wrote that the day before I was really frustrated because I needed to work but instead went to visit my dad. I caught a five bus with my bike and at Eighth Avenue I rode quickly to his house where he Dad was watching the Warriors.

I knew I would be going to Bike Party later so when I said bye to my father I caught a 48 bus to Noe Valley instead of riding through the Haight.

I calculated how to find Bike Party from Diamond Hights but realized the ride website was a static webpage. That caused me a little bit of frustration. However, I found the bike ride right after getting off the bus at 24th and Douglas. The group rode around Chavez to Potrero del Sol.

There were these two guys standing near the group I was with who were making snide comments at us and I could tell they were relative outsiders, but I didn’t know that they had been going around harassing people the whole time we were at the park. One of them threatened us after we told him to bug off. At this point I could hear people in the background saying “...Time to go..”

I was shaken, but I was still happy that we had pushed back on the guy. Everyone around me was very supportive of each other about it. The way the acted towards us could have been worse. Some of the people around me really helped reduce tensions. I thanked everyone much later. Others were very concerned. I told a few people about it after the ride had gotten back on the road.

The group rode to hunters point Yosemite Slough and I chatted with more people about the incident. The whole thing turned out OK.

We rode to the Embarcadero. An acquaintance told me to meet him in North Beach. So, I said bye to everyone on the ride at ferry building plaza and I rode to go see him. He was having a good time. We had a drink and later got tacos. When he left, I took Grant Street and the ride home was fine.

 
This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Going to Butter Lap

On May 1, 2025, I wrote that the day before I rode home on Gough Street and swapped my cargo bike for my regular bike and then I rode on Bart to Embarcadero to get empanadas before going to Butter Lap.

When the group got to Fort Mason, I met a bunch of new people. One guy was helping a lady with a broken spoke. There was a guy from the Diablo Ride a few weeks earlier who I had met. I couldn’t remember his name. A couple I knew from my neighborhood were also there.

I left a bit early from Fort Mason, but the ride caught up. I surprised myself and was not last. Pacific Overlook was muted. I left early and took it easy.

At the Legion of Honor a few new people showed up, but everything else was mostly the same. I left first and one of the fast riders caught me at the waterfall. I passed people at panhandle. I did the little bit that one of the other riders likes to do at 19th Street to get around traffic.

Bender’s is always great. There were a lot of ladies. I saw a barista from the cafe near my office. She thought it was ironic that I was there. I tried to chat with the new Butter people.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

We Brought Monopoly Out

On April 27, 2025, I wrote that the previous Friday I left work early and picked my 8 year old boys up from school in Pacific Heights. From there, the three of us rode our bikes to Golden Gate Park where they played ping-pong at the “living room.” Then we rode to the Sunset very quickly to see family at my father’s house. The boys and I played Monopoly until everyone arrived.

I made spaghetti bolognese while my sisters were on a walk. They offered me wine and pilsner. The meal with dad went well. There were cupcakes. The boys returned to watching television and eventually dad went to bed. I chatted with my sisters until we brought Monopoly out again. Monopoly gets boring after a while I think. We watched our TV shows and we went to bed.

I slept until 11 the next morning and then I went up and checked the boys and found that they had eaten, made their beds and were dressed. They were playing Risk, which was pretty cute given their age. I had breakfast. We got ready to go by noon.

We rode through the playground at 45th in Golden Gate Park, which has a big boat, and then we continued up MLK. After the waterfall, the coffee cart was not working so I went to get coffee at Alvord Lake. We took the tunnel there. We watched bocce ball and then we went to Whole Foods. Then we rode our bikes down Page Street and carried everything inside when we got to the apartment.

I called one of the dads from the boys’ school and arranged to meet at the Kabuki Theater where we sat through the Minecraft Movie. The boys liked it. Then we went to the pizza place that everybody likes on Hayes Street. The pizza place is really small so we ended up speaking to a lot of people. Later, after we said bye to our friends, we went back to the apartment. We had been riding my Brompton bike around. The boys loved it.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this, I woke up at 8 o’clock, and the boys were already up in the living room. We got ready. We took the bikes down and our three normal bikes rode 13th and seventh to Caltrain. I got us some breakfast.

We rode to Menlo Park playing Uno, but didn’t finish. Then we went to Starbucks and I got a map. A bit later, we stopped at a playground. Then we went to San Mateo Drive and had some water at the bridge.

We were riding along San Francisquito Creek next to the university dorms there and I was trying to get us through a patch of wood chips and I looked back and the boys were just taking their time so I insisted that they catch up but didn’t slow down. It turned out at some point, my son was very concerned that his wheel was moving really slow. So, I stopped to look and sure enough there was a bungee cord in his wheel. The bike turned out fine though.

After that, we rode to the golf course and up campus drive before climbing up to Carnegie and the Observatory. I found the way through to the dish properties, but we descended and looked at the Stanford dish gate from one of the entrances.

In retrospect, I noted later that we probably could’ve hopped the fences at the observatory to pass through the dish property. However, it didn’t matter either way. I noted that there were a number of other potential routes through there. FOr instance there is a pipeline that connects to the reservoir up there and a dirt road behind the golf course.

After that we went to Lagonita, the big lake behind the university and that was really interesting. We had to ford a stream but the rest was great. When we got to the student union, I found the one spot where you can fix your bike and I pumped up my tires and I checked the boys’ bikes.

We went to the Hoover Tower before going over to Palm Street and up Lasuen. I was dissatisfied with those streets because El Camino Blvd is still a terrible place – even with the improvements they were actively adding while we rode through. In fact the crossing was made worse the bike lane construction.

We went to Verve. Then we rode to Caltrain. We sat next to some ladies on the way back to SF. We transferred at Milbrae and the three of us rode on our bikes from 16th St to the apartment.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.