It looks like we have stumbled onto something hot! Today Judy and I bicycled about four miles of the California Aqueduct Bikeway north out of O’Neil Forebay near Los Banos California. They have some very tricky gates to get your bicycle through, and it took Judy and me both pushing and pulling to get Path, the green dragon, through the slot. From our campground start we rode a one mile segment to a rural road and then over to Santa Nella Village and had a nice lunch at Pea Soup Andersons. We checked out another Geocache while there, but that is another story. On our way back we turned back onto the California Aqueduct and headed north for another two and a half miles to the next rural road crossing. We looked longingly on down the aqueduct as it curved and swooped in the shadow of I-5 heading north and wondered how far it could take us. We reluctantly turned around and came back to camp, but we still had a very nice ride alongside the river-in-a-ditch.
Back to the computer I fired up the map program and traced the California Aqueduct all the way to the San Joaquin river near Byron California about 60 miles north of us. In fact the aqueduct has mile markers on it and we rode from 67 to 63.5. There is a second branch of this California Aqueduct, perhaps 200 miles long that heads south and apparently ends in the Antelope Valley just inland from Los Angeles. Now this is where the story gets interesting. I found several “rants” on the internet about the “former bikeway along the California Aqueduct.” It appears that there were about six years that this bikeway was open to the public and annual events were even scheduled. In 2003 the bikeway was locked up to bicyclists but still open to pedestrians and fishermen. The rants would have you believe that the implied threat was terrorist related, go figure!
The question now is; were we on the bikeway illegally and didn’t realize it? Has the bikeway been reopened? Was this northern segment never closed? My research on the internet was unable to answer these questions. All we know, it is a wonderful place to ride. It is quiet, free from cars except at the occasional rural road crossing and it is paved and flat. Best of all, from where we are parked today at San Luis Reservoir the bikeway starts right at our front door.
To our friends back in the Pacific Northwest we want you to know we have been sharing your misery. Those storms that have been lashing our home states have been spilling over into California. We have been waking up to temperatures in the thirties and cold rainy weather. We have to choose our riding times carefully. So far we haven’t gotten caught out in a downpour on the bicycle.
We close now with love for all from stormy California.
Gary and Judy
