S. F. Bay Trail in Hayward Regional Park - 9/6/2001

The Hayward Regional Shoreline covers 817 acres along the bayshore between Hwy 92 and San Lorenzo Creek. It consists of sloughs, marshes, mud flats, rocky shoreline, and former landfills. In 1854, John Johnson built levees here in the salt marshes to create the first commercial
salt production ponds on San Francisco Bay. In those days, salt was used for food preservation and silver mining. The ponds are no longer used for salt production and have mostly been restored to marshland. Landings were built on the shoreline in the 1850's to transport passengers, salt, and farm products to San Francisco. The Bay Trail runs mostly along the Bay here on dirt levees originally built for salt ponds and across newly-built bridges.

The Hayward Shoreline is a great place for seeing how the tides affect the Bay and the inland marshes. The bayshore changes radically, from wide mudflats at low tide, to wave-washed rocky and terraced shores at high tide. On the many bridges in this area, you can watch the tide waters rush in and out to feed and drain the sloughs, creeks, and marshes. At low tide, the marshes are mudflats, covered with scurrying birds probing in the mud for food. At high tide, the marshes are flooded, with birds lazily floating on the surface, wading the shallows, or diving underwater for a meal.

We started at the Grant Ave. (North End)

Coyote Hills Bike Trail 8/15/2011

Coyote Hills Regional Park   The Coyote Hills look like a small group of mountain peaks that got lost on their way to join the Diablo Range. The hills seem to pop straight up out of the Bay, surrounded as they are by flat expanses of water and marshland. Actually, they are remnants of an ancient mountain range. At one time, they were islands, but the channel to the east of the hills gradually filled in and became marshland.

Coyote Hills Regional Park, which encompasses most of the Coyote Hills, is at the northwest corner of Fremont, south of Hayward and Union City and north of Newark, right at the edge of San Francisco Bay. It is just north of Hwy 84 leading to the Dumbarton Bridge. The park, part of the East
Bay Regional Park District, consists of 976 acres of rolling rocky
hills, meadows, freshwater marshes, salt ponds, and Indian shell mounds
and village sites. It got its name in the 1880's for the coyotes that howled
when they heard the whistles from the trains that ran by here. You won't
find many coyotes here anymore, but there's still a tremendous variety
of birds and plants to be found among the hills, meadows, and wetlands. Alameda Creek runs along its northern boundary, flowing into San Francisco Bay. The Alameda Creek Regional Trail follows along the creek banks east to the historic town of Niles. Trails lead south from
Coyote Hills to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which also has trails throug
the hills and along levees near the Bay. The combined network of trails

makes for many miles of bike riding and hiking along mostly flat (if not
always paved) paths, away from automobile traffic. If you like hill-climbing
with a mountain bike, there are some challenging hill trails here too.

The guided photo tour below runs from the southern end of the park at
the Quarry Trail entrance, crosses Hwy 84, follows the unpaved Apay Way
Trail to the paved Bayview Trail, and then to the paved Alameda Creek Trail
to San Francisco Bay.

The official Bay Trail route runs along the Apay Way Trail to the Baylands
Trail and on both sides of Alameda Creek from Union City Blvd./Ardenwood
Blvd. to San Francisco Bay. The
Dumbarton Bridge and Marshlands Road are Bay Trail routes from the
West, which lead to the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife headquarters
in Newark. East of Coyote Hills, along Ardenwood Blvd. is Ardenwood
Regional Preserve, an historic farm. Together these parks and trails
make this area one of the jewels of the Bay Trail. Unfortunately, it is
an isolated jewel. So far, there are no completed Bay Trails segments along
the Bay or any body of water for several miles north of Alameda Creek or
south of the refuge headquarters..

From San Francisco Bay Trails

This is one of our favorite places, it's so lush and beautiful. Donna loves
to bird watch in this park, there are so many varieties to look for.

American River Bike Trail - 9/9/2001

After picking up trikes from in Dixon, CA. We went to the American River Bike Trail.

"The American River Bike Trail near Sacramento, California is a 32 mile paved bike trail along the banks of the American River. The trail connects Old Sacramento and Folsom Lake. The trail was previously called the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail. The trail is well marked and equipped with mile markers, trail maps, water stops, restrooms and telephones.

The trail is very popular with bicyclists, runners and walkers with over 5 million users each year. The trail is well shaded for much of the ride and is relatively flat is except for the section from Hazel to Beals Point. Other highlights of the trail include Discovery Park, the Nimbus Fish Hatchery on Hazel Avenue in Rancho Cordova, the Folsom Zoo Sanctuary in Folson City Park and the annual Eppie's Great Race Triathlon. The trail follows the American River Parkway."
From Rails to Trails -http://railstotrails.us/ca-american-river-bike-trail.html

Half Moon Bay Coastside Trail - 9/9/2011

"Half Moon Bay State Park's Coastside Trail runs parallel to the Pacific Coast along what used to bethe Ocean Shore Railroad. The railroad itself was in operation for just14 years before it was driven out of business in the early 1920s by theautomobile. However, the railroad had a tremendous impact on the Northern California coastline. It opened the area to agriculture,
created new communities along the shoreline, and made the coastal
beaches prime tourist destinations.

The Coastside Trail is truly a destination trail. It offers users sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, access to several beaches, and excellent nature viewing. Bird watching is quite good and a popular activity here. Red-tailed hawks, blue herons and red-winged blackbirds are spotted frequently, and large hawks can
often be seen perched on benches and the trail's split-rail fence. Half
Moon Bay State Beach is also home of the world-famous Mavericks, a
surfing spot near Pillar Point that's visible from the trail. In winter,
surfers can ride waves up to 80 feet high here.

You can park at the Half Moon Bay State Beach Visitor Center for a $6 day-use fee and pick up the trail here. Heading north you follow the paved trail for about 2 miles in total. On your left is the coastline, and on your right, the
equestrian trail. Beyond this trail are views of gorgeous beachfront
properties. A mile into your walk, you reach another parking lot with


access to Venice Beach. The rail-trail continues for about another mile from this point, then merges into Mirada Road. If you continue walking on Mirada Road for a few minutes, you will end up at the Miramar Beach Restaurant, a bar and restaurant that overlooks the ocean. This is a great place to watch the sunset-the Miramar even posts a daily sunset schedule on its website.

Heading south from the visitor center, the Pacific Ocean is on your right and the equestrian trail on your left. Beyond this horse trail are open, green fields. The trail hugs the bluff's edge here. As you head south you see a landscape of
wind-sculpted trees. It is typically windy along the bluff, so be sure
to bring a jacket for this leg of the trail. The rail-trail officially ends about 1 mile in, and the surface changes to dirt. However, you can continue walking south along the cliff's edge, as there is still a path to follow. This path, which the Coastside Trail is also a part of, is a segment of the much longer California Coastal Trail. The Coastal Trail is currently about halfway completed and will eventually run along the entire coast of California." From TrailLink.com"



I only rode about 3.3 miles of it. Donna rode the whole thing. the map and video are of her ride.

Purchase of Trikes and Accessories

FINALLY!

Trikes ordered. We pick them up on Thurs. 8/4/11. Yahhhh!

All the accessories have been ordered also. I bought the GoPro locally so I can document the arrival of the trikes and accessories.

Changes:

Rover will have NuVinci Hubs.

Clipless Pedals for me

      Help keep knee and feet inline and stop "leg suck",  and knee issues.

Sling for Donna

      Stop "leg suck"

Sunlite Alloy Single Speed Crankset - 152mm x 32T

     Shorter crank arm with same chainring, need this for knee issues.

Big Apple Tire for me.

      Cushion the ride for big girls

Our customized flags arrive on either 8/1/11 or 8/2/11.

While I wait..

Tapping foot, checking date, researching accessories, and reading about the pros and cons of short cranks and smaller sprockets.

I have bad knees, so relieving that is my main focus. Three things can help or likewise not help; crank arm length, sprocket diameter, and pedals. There are others but not for the Rover. Also, strengthening your calves and quads with leg exercises generally reduce the stress on your knee (think of it as stronger support muscles around the knee joint).

And that brings us to the subject of this fill-in blog, short crank sets. Imagine the crank arm as fulcrum. The longer, the more capability for powerful action. Therefore you always want a longer crank arm, Yes? No. Because how your body deals with that longer crank is also a factor. Shorter or less flexible legs will NOT be able the take advantage of longer length. Knees will hurt more because you have to push harder and excessive knee flex. You may be more efficient with less length. Besides efficiency, there's is just plain old comfort. Sure shorter cranks means more RPM's, which means more aerobic exercise, and that may be just what you want and/or need.

So question to self, what can I do, harder pump with less RPM's or less pump with more RPM's? The answer is totally subjective and a product of your strength, leg length and knee pain or lack thereof. Also keep in mind that the above question becomes pertinent when you consider hills. If you have bad knees, obviously hills are going to kill you, if you don't choose wisely. If you don't have bad knees, hills will just hurt, so again,choose wisely.

The impact of shorter cranks is much bigger for recumbent riders than for diamond frame riders. Recumbent trike riders need that lower stress spin a lot more because their bikes are usually heavier and  they don’t have the leverage advantage that getting out of the seat provides.


Now the second part of this equation is the size of the sprocket. By the way, the cranks and sprockets are called crank sets. Since the Rover uses an internal hub on the rear wheel for gear shifts, we'll only work with the front gear, of one.

Which do you think is easiest to pedal? The smaller diameter one (22T) sprocket. Mind you, there is a LOT more to all of this, but what's here are the high points. So far, we will get shorter cranks and smaller sprockets.

Last but not least are pedals. Clipless pedals help knees in several ways; they help you keep your feet an knees in the correct alignment, they keep your feet in the position for maximum force, the ball of your foot.Toes should point relatively straight ahead to equalize the forces generated on knees when pedaling. For trike, your foot slipping off the pedal ("leg suck"), can cause very serious injury.

IT Bands and tendinitis bands help with pain by preventing the offending tendon from snapping back and forth across the bone.

Make An Orthopedic Wedge

Using rubber, make wedges which fit into your shoes and raise the outer front portion of your foot, correcting pronation and causing you to ride somewhat knock-kneed (but not too much; experiment with the height of the wedge). For a while I tried riding knock-kneed without the wedges, but actually putting them in resulted in a surprising increase in power (more than 1 mph average speed) not to mention reduced IT band pain.

Summary:

Lasco 152mm Short Triple Crank Set
   Shorter cranks - 152mm
   Smaller sprocket - 22T

Clipless pedals, cleats and shoes
    Shimano PD-M520L MTB Sport Pedals
    Shimano SH56 SPD Cleat Set
    Nashbar Ragster II Cycling Sandals
   
IT Bands and tendinitis bands - Pro-Tec Athletics Knee Patellar Tendon Strap and IT Band Compression Wrap
   2 on right
   1 on left

Trike Workout Plan

First Few Weeks:

    For the first week or so, pedal on the trike at, medium to high gears on flat ground. Interval training, or short periods of intense speed or resistance, push you beyond your comfort zone, increasing your endurance and strength thresholds.Begin by doing interval training for 30 minutes at a time, at least three times a week. Work up to highest gear until that gets easy, go to "little hill".

Little Hill:

    Find a hill (hill workout on Iron horse Trail). 

Ideally, it will take you 4 to 6 minutes to ride up it. Doubleback and do 1 to 2 hill repeats as able. Again, at least three times a week. Continue to add repeats until riding up this hill is like riding on flat ground. Increase resistance and  increase times a week until a 20mi ride is a walk in the park.

Yes I'm getting very impatient, I have to wait a month. I want my trike!!!