The Alpine Loop

This morning I finally succeeded in riding the Alpine Rd Loop! Right-click on the link to open a google map of the route in another window and follow along with the description. (You have to imagine the two ends of the route being connected by a squiggly dirt road that google maps doesn't know about.)

I got out of bed shortly after 6 and was on the road at 7:20. I began the ride from the Enid Pearson open space parking lot on Arastradero Rd just west of Page Mill (marked on the map). I then proceeded counter-clockwise around the loop. The weather was cloudy, but I could tell that it was fog that had rolled in from the ocean and that it would eventually clear.

The first leg of the ride, up to the "start" symbol on the map, is a gradual climb. Alpine Rd runs along a creek bed, it's very lush and beautiful. Past the intersection with Portola Rd, Alpine is only 1 lane wide but I didn't see a single car on it. This leg of the ride ends at a gate, and took about 40 minutes. At this point the fog had lifted and it was brilliant sunshine in a blue sky.

Beyond the gate, it's a dirt road comparable in width to the Switzerland Trail in Boulder County. It's just wide enough for a car if you don't mind scraping the vegetation on both sides. The road is dirt, rutted by the rain but not rocky, so a mountain bike isn't really required. The grade starts out about the same as the paved road. However, there is a point at which the dirt road is closed by a landslide and there is a detour trail around it. That trail is about twice the width of a hiking trail and still fairly smooth, but is so steep in parts that I had to walk some of it. Eventually you pop out on Page Mill Rd very close to the top. This took about another 30 minutes.

Page Mill, it turns out, is not one long descent -- there's a fair bit of uphill when you're going downhill. Usually the uphill is right around a blind corner, so you are braking when you hit it! Also on the descent I had a sweeping vista of the valley and it was still fogbound! It turns out that the fog hadn't really lifted, I had simply climbed above it! I actually had to put my vest back on because I started getting cold. It took another 30 minute to descend on Page Mill. I was done riding at 9am and was at work by about 9:20. Whew!

By the time I got there it was too late to get a hot breakfast. I stopped by the Slice Cafe and they had some french toast that was too dense to eat. But they also had some delicious heavy breads and cakes. All of it was gluten free. I think the secret is the banana puree. They were moist and not crumbly. One was banana and goji-berry (I don't know what these are but they seem to put 'em in all kinds of stuff around here) and another was dark chocolate - heavenly!

For lunch I went to a new place (suggested by Tushar): Cafe 7:

• Grilled Ribeye Steak with Roasted Shallot Port Wine Reduction ****
  
• Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes **1/2
  
• Thai Basil Broth with Shell Fish *****
  
• Mango Lassi w/coconut macaroon ***
  
• Butter brickle ice cream w/toffe bits and choco chips
  

The cafe seems like every other google cafe except for two things: it has a sushi bar (although I don't eat the stuff) and it has a soft-serve ice cream machine with plenty of mix-ins!

For dinner I went back to American Table, because they were doing some special event in Charlie's. It's still "food of the northeast" (read: Italian) week:

• Sautéed Grilled Sausages ****
  
• Pan Seared Snapper **
  
• Pasta Fazool **
  
• Red and White Summer Spinach ***
  
• Grilled Chicken and Bacon Pizza Mushroom, White Cheddar, Fontina Cheese, Cream Sauce *****

I was planning to make the snapper my main course but I was very disappointed with it -- it seemed to have a fried breading over it -- not my idea of pan-seared! The sausages were good but I just took a little taste of them. The real standout of this meal was the pizza -- just looking at that ingredient list can stop your heart in its tracks! And it had a taste to match!