Cycling in the Almaden Valley

On this page:

Bike Ride, July 23, 2000
SBAY Geek Ride, August 27, 2000
SBAY Geek Ride, March 25, 2001
Links for Cycling in the Almaden Valley and Santa Teresa Park

Bike Ride, July 23, 2000
The simpler version of this route which stays within the relatively-flat Almaden Valley is shown below. This track was taken from a bike ride that Gary Haussmann and I took on July 23, 2000. We had talked about this ride at the previous weekend's SBAY Pizza. It became the template for the SBAY Geek Ride event, which Gary agreed to be the organizer for.

[Los Alamitos Creek Trail]

SBAY Geek Ride, August 27, 2000
Here's the GPS track image from the inaugural SBAY Geek Ride on August 27, 2000. The starting point of the ride was at the Almaden light rail station, where the Los Alamitos Creek Trail begins. We rode the trail to Santa Teresa County Park, where we took the park's trails over the range of hills back into South San Jose. The last mile and a half of the ride were a quick hop on city streets (Bernal Rd and Santa Teresa Blvd) to the Santa Teresa light rail station. The back entrance to Santa Teresa Park on the Fortini Trail has some rough areas that require a mountain bike. Pay attention to the trail - some of the downhills are steep. But the uphills are more gentle in this direction.
[Los Alamitos Creek Trail and Santa Teresa Park]

[picture]
(1488x992 715K) (500x334 43K) Oops! "Trail Temporarily Closed". The inaugural SBAY Geek Ride runs into a problem just minutes into the ride. But there was a detour on the dirt trail on the other side of the creek so it wasn't a big problem.
In the photo, SBAY Geek Ride Coordinator Gary Haussmann looks in disbelief at the "trail closed" sign. The bike on the right is mine. Notice the GPS on the handlebars - that's how I collect the data to make these GPS track graphs. (Aug 2000)

[picture]
(1488x992 670K) (500x334 45K) This is South San Jose viewed from the hills in Santa Teresa Park, facing northeast. What a great view! It was quite a treat to turn the corner on the trail and find this. (Aug 2000)

(1488x992 588K) (500x334 27K) Another view of South San Jose from the same spot, now facing north. There was some haze that day but it looked worse with the camera at full optical zoom like this. (Aug 2000)

SBAY Geek Ride, March 25, 2001
The SBAY Geek Ride on March 25, 2001 was back to the Almaden Valley. It took close to the same route as the August 2000 SBAY Geek Ride, going through Santa Teresa Park. There were some changes to the route within the park and going through the neighborhoods (instead of following the main streets) to the Santa Teresa light rail station at the end of the ride.

This time the photos focus more on the scenery along the ride, something that was lacking from the previous visits to this route.

[Los Alamitos Creek Trail and Santa Teresa Park, March 25]

[picture]
(1488x992 599K) (500x334 33K) The Almaden light rail station is the meeting point for this route. It's at the end of the line for the Almaden spur of the VTA light rail. (Mar 2001)

(1488x992 516K) (500x334 20K) From the trail just after the ride begins, you turn the corner to this view of Almaden Lake and the Santa Cruz Mountains. (Mar 2001)

[picture]
(1488x992 494K) (500x334 25K) For the first few miles, the creek is to the right of the paved trail. (Mar 2001)

(1488x992 602K) (500x334 29K) After a bike bridge over the creek, the trail continues with the creek to the left and Camden Ave to the right. (Mar 2001)

(1488x992 596K) (500x334 24K) After Harry Rd, we change to an equestrian trail which links the Los Alamitos Creek Trail to the Santa Teresa Park trail system. (Mar 2001)

[picture]
(1488x992 555K) (500x334 25K) The sign marks the point where the Fortini Trail ends at the Mine Trail in Santa Teresa Park. (Mar 2001)

(1488x992 752K) (500x334 48K) A wet spot in the trail... The bike was placed there for scale. (Mar 2001)

(1488x992 674K) (500x334 41K) The Pueblo picnic area in Santa Teresa Park. It's almost all downhill from here to the Santa Teresa light rail station. (Mar 2001)

[picture]
(1488x992 534K) (500x334 22K) South San Jose viewed from an overlook adjacent to the Pueblo picnic area. The hill on the right with all the power transmission lines is Tulare Hill. The transmission lines come from the enormous Metcalf power substation on the other side of the hill, which is also where the controversial Calpine power plant was/is proposed to go. You can clearly see in this picture that the nearest neighborhoods are on the other side of the hill from the proposed site. That hasn't eased the controversy over the plant, but the California power crisis has brought the proposal back from the dead. (Mar 2001)

[picture]
(1488x992 704K) (500x334 41K) The Santa Teresa light rail station is the end of this route. It's at the southern end of VTA's Guadalupe light rail line which spans 22 miles from South San Jose to North San Jose. From here, the group traditionally goes via the light rail to wherever they decide they want to eat. (Mar 2001)

Links for Cycling in the Almaden Valley and Santa Teresa Park
Other links about the Los Alamitos Creek Trail and Santa Teresa County Park:

[Back up to Ian's Cycling Pages]

(1488x992 715K) (500x334 43K)	Oops! "Trail Temporarily Closed". The inaugural SBAY Geek Ride runs into a problem just minutes into the ride. But there was a detour on the dirt trail on the other side of the creek so it wasn't a big problem. In the photo, SBAY Geek Ride Coordinator Gary Haussmann looks in disbelief at the "trail closed" sign. The bike on the right is mine. Notice the GPS on the handlebars - that's how I collect the data to make these GPS track graphs. (Aug 2000)
(1488x992 670K) (500x334 45K)	This is South San Jose viewed from the hills in Santa Teresa Park, facing northeast. What a great view! It was quite a treat to turn the corner on the trail and find this. (Aug 2000)
(1488x992 588K) (500x334 27K)	Another view of South San Jose from the same spot, now facing north. There was some haze that day but it looked worse with the camera at full optical zoom like this. (Aug 2000)

(1488x992 599K) (500x334 33K)	The Almaden light rail station is the meeting point for this route. It's at the end of the line for the Almaden spur of the VTA light rail. (Mar 2001)
(1488x992 516K) (500x334 20K)	From the trail just after the ride begins, you turn the corner to this view of Almaden Lake and the Santa Cruz Mountains. (Mar 2001)
(1488x992 494K) (500x334 25K)	For the first few miles, the creek is to the right of the paved trail. (Mar 2001)
(1488x992 602K) (500x334 29K)	After a bike bridge over the creek, the trail continues with the creek to the left and Camden Ave to the right. (Mar 2001)
(1488x992 596K) (500x334 24K)	After Harry Rd, we change to an equestrian trail which links the Los Alamitos Creek Trail to the Santa Teresa Park trail system. (Mar 2001)
(1488x992 555K) (500x334 25K)	The sign marks the point where the Fortini Trail ends at the Mine Trail in Santa Teresa Park. (Mar 2001)
(1488x992 752K) (500x334 48K)	A wet spot in the trail... The bike was placed there for scale. (Mar 2001)
(1488x992 674K) (500x334 41K)	The Pueblo picnic area in Santa Teresa Park. It's almost all downhill from here to the Santa Teresa light rail station. (Mar 2001)
(1488x992 534K) (500x334 22K)	South San Jose viewed from an overlook adjacent to the Pueblo picnic area. The hill on the right with all the power transmission lines is Tulare Hill. The transmission lines come from the enormous Metcalf power substation on the other side of the hill, which is also where the controversial Calpine power plant was/is proposed to go. You can clearly see in this picture that the nearest neighborhoods are on the other side of the hill from the proposed site. That hasn't eased the controversy over the plant, but the California power crisis has brought the proposal back from the dead. (Mar 2001)
(1488x992 704K) (500x334 41K)	The Santa Teresa light rail station is the end of this route. It's at the southern end of VTA's Guadalupe light rail line which spans 22 miles from South San Jose to North San Jose. From here, the group traditionally goes via the light rail to wherever they decide they want to eat. (Mar 2001)