Day 4: Motor cycle and Claremont Canyon Trail

 29 May, 2022

Pleasant Hill - San Pablo - Inspiration Point - Grizzly Peak

Marci asked me if I was interested in riding the motorcycle with him. I said yes. I am now pretty open to any new experience and yet this sounded a bit too wild, even for my taste. But I just did not want to turn such an offer down. He had all the equipment necessary at home so why not try it?
I took the BART to Pleasant Hill and met him at the station. We went to his house where I was going to go after my race to stay. Kornél was at home, his flatmate. He also rides motorcycles and when he found out we were going, he decided to come along. Before that they were talking about some movie night downtown SF and even though may not have necessarily wanted me to tag alone, I think my eyes went wide when I heard movie and then Kornél said
"Erm, would you be interested in coming? If so, I think we could ask our friends?"
"Yes, I'd love to. Of course!" I said probably even sooner than he could finish asking. I love going to the cinema, especially here. And finally, I would not have to go alone.
They settled the details of that: ride the motorbikes together for a while, then Marci takes me back to Oakland, I do my running with Jon, until he comes back to pick me up. Then we'd go in to San Francisco for dinner and movie with their friends. Sounded like the plan for a perfect day.
So we headed out. At first it was super scary, did not know how to react but I only screamed a little. Then I just let go, held on tight to Marci and enjoyed the ride. So much. My God. 

Stopping at San Pablo Reservoire: Marci, Kornél and I

Kornél raced motorbikes at an amateur level, you could definitely tell that he was experienced and talented at it the way he handled sharp turns.

San Pablo Reservoire

San Pablo Dam Road - Danger zone?

I asked him if we could ride down San Pablo Dam Road since I wanted to bike it but people kept telling me it was dangerous. He agreed, so we went there and back - and saw what I did not expect: a dedicated bike lane for bikers. Whether it's safe or not, I knew I was going to come back. Damn it. Awesome. Check. On the way to Oakland we had some vista points, like Inspiration Point - which once might have been inspirational but was now covered by mother nature so much that you could barely see much.

Grizzly Peak

Grizzly Peak, however, was a blast today. You could see the red paint of Golden Gate, the skies were so clear with not much keeping us from seeing but the perfect San Francisco skyline. That view. My goodness. Is to die for. Eventually, we landed in Bakers and Commons for a quick bite and then headed back.

Claremont Canyon Trail

Jon going up the hill like it was flat

Once I got back and shedded the layers of motorcycle outfit, Jon picked me up and went up to Tanglewood for a run. On the way up, he warned me several times when there was posion ivy that I should watch out and let its oily leaves touch me. It never touched me, and as we were climbing up, he kept praising me how fit I was, even though, he was obviously a better climber than myself. He said, "Most Americans would not be able to do this climb. You're in a great shape." I was either jogging or walking the super steep parts, so I really don't know how you can call that fit. Yet, it felt nice getting such positive feedback. Boosted my confidence. 

Coming up the hills: always a struggle but worth the pain

Once we got up, we and me once again, gazed down at the wonderful, immaculate view over San Francisco from Grizzly Peak since that's where the trail took us. 

Jon and I: before the descent started

We went on concrete on the way down, usually I am neither great at that but have recently improved in it. So I ended up getting a bit ahead of Jon - also my speed bursts started on the way down. As a result, either Jon yelled from behind "Watch out, there's a car coming!" or I asked, "Left or right?" and speeded on based on his response.
It was really nice, I almost said "hi" to everyone but surprisingly not many greeted me back. Jon also added a compliment to one of the walkers, "What a cool shirt you have there, man!" Something I felt I was also close to doing during this run but eventually did not come to me fast enough to do it like a local. Ha! Something I need to improve.

View from the top: Grizzly Peak

Motorcycle to SF

As the evening fell, we rescheduled our meeting with Marci to 7:30pm. As soon as he arrived, I tried to get out fast so that we could get going to San Francisco on his motorbike. That meant, yes, it did... crossing the Bay Bridge... on a motorbike. That was so hard to believe that I was actually going to do that. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm. I had nothing to lose or left to do than going for the experience. So I did, I got on the motorbike and we rolled in to San Francisco with me sitting behind Marci, holding onto him as tightly as I could, and kept peeking at the city bathing in the last rays of the run. It was truly like a dream come true. 

Sunset in SF from our friend's flat.