Arroyo Rd ride, May 7, 2023


Stats (according to Strava, take with appropriate grain of salt):
    Distance: 10.21 mi (16.4 km)
    Elevation: 475 ft (145 m)
    Moving time: 0:44
    Max speed: 30.1 mph (48.4 km/h)

Bike: 2005 Trek 1000, 700Cx25 tires


S' knee was bothering him this morning, so we decided on a 
change of pace for the day. Instead of riding out Del Valle
Rd towards the upper end of the lake, we opted to ride out
Arroyo Rd, towards the lower end of the lake and the dam
that created the lake in the first place.

Quick GeoNote: Lake Del Valle was formed in the 1950s when
the Arroyo del Valle was dammed to create off-stream storage
for drinking water in this area. Arroyo Rd originally ran SE
from town through the valley, but much of the road is now at
the bottom of the lake. Del Valle Rd was then built from the 
next valley over (traversed by Arroyo Mocho) to provide access
to the lake and park that was built around it. This ride has
much lower overall elevation gain due to not climbing up and
over the ridge, but has a lot more small up-and-down sections
that still make it a challenging ride.

Back to the ride: we started out fast, hitting top speed on a
downhill in the neighborhood before we even really got going. 
Traffic was generally light until we got close to the lake, as
there are several parks and a large winery right before the hill.
The climb itself is steep and a bit winding, but fairly short,
so we got an early rest break at the staging area above the dam.

Heading back down, we took a detour along a major trail through a
park, where we encounted a herd of llamas grazing on adjoining 
property. 

Overall, a shorter ride, but still a good workout.