Parking it

So Saturday, in search of novel places for pain, we headed to the end of Prospect to seek a route over the hill to Comer, and another way to connect to Pierce. I guess because Pierce isn't painful enough? Hmm.

Anyhow, we ended up climbing Parker Ranch from Prospect, which wasn't bad, and then turning onto Prospect again when Parker Ranch connected with a 'Not a Through Street' road. However, this took us into Freemont Older, which, while looking like a fine park for hiking and such, really did us no good whatsoever in terms of progressing more than a few feet forward, as our bikes couldn't morph into hiking boots.

Thus we turned around and went back to Parker Ranch, where I figured we might as well examine the 'Not a Through Street' more closely. Dead end 16+% streets can be a little unnerving, and after a bit I stopped (yes, that was lame of me) because I wasn't sure if we could get anywhere. Along came a nice family strolling down the road, (which actually seemed surprisingly full of walkers and joggers) and they thought it went through.

Having thus boosted our confidence, we crawled up Parker Ranch to the top, where there was a fine view across the valley.

Then we got confused again, because it looked like a dead end with driveways coming off it. But there were even more joggers, and they helpfully told us that the seeming driveway was in fact a road. Thus we continued on from this apparent lovers lane, finding that of course we had not in fact been at the top, and there was even more climbing to do. Fortunately, someone had thoughtfully left out a big leather easy chair and divan in next to their driveway, to let passing cyclist take a breather on their way.

Anyhow, we did indeed find the connection down to Pierce, and clearly had taken the easier direction on this route, because the way down was steep.

Our next exercise in pain was the experiment of turning off Pierce towards downtown Saratoga via Sarahills. Last week I explored a little of the other side, which went rather up, so naturally I figured that this side must go...down. Seems logical to me. Nope. Wrong. No way. It also went...up. Not fair at all, one thinks. For some reason it definitely felt rougher than Parker Ranch. Nice view on the downhill, though, and a good view across the valley to Comer, which looked impressive from afar.
And, yes, Eric, I think it was Comer, because there's nuttin' else on the map over there.

Anyhow, from Saratoga we went down as far as Los Gatos, paused to chat with the nice friendly park attendant at Vasona, trying to figure out directions, and then took the safe route and headed circuitously back north. But no more climbing at that point, just semi-random direction choices that eventually took us back to my house.

Next time we figure out some useful ways to get back from the Los Gatos Creek Trail, I think.