Los Gatos to Alviso

All summer we’ve trained for a European bike ride in the fall.  We love to find new bike paths, but our regular training ride is a lovely route too.  Sometimes it is good to appreciate what we see each week and that is what this post is about.

Lucky to be able to ride so far with very few city streets involved, we ride the  Los Gatos Creek Trail to downtown San Jose where we catch the Guadalupe River Trail to Alviso, 42 miles roundtrip.

From downtown to the airport, homeless line the route.  Those without homes like to camp along the creeks, but their presence is detrimental to the wildlife and to the health of the water systems.  For years, we’ve participated in creek clean-ups organized by the South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition.  This group, founded by and led by Steve Holmes, has been the driving force for re-establishing beaver and salmon in the Los Gatos Creek and Guadalupe River.  The group regularly patrols the creeks, organizes creek-side clean-ups, and works with municipalities to get rid of the accumulated trash.  Facebook posts.

The trail skirts the San Jose airport for a couple of miles.

North of the airport, the Guadalupe becomes more scenic with fewer homeless.

A dredging project has been active all summer, and this past week we learned that the primary purpose of the dredging is to protect wildlife habitat.  All dredging activities along the Guadalupe must end by October 15––after that the salmon will be traveling upstream again.

Our destination for a 42 mile ride is Alviso, where we can eat a carnitas tostada before heading home.

Or we can get off the trail at the airport, and swing through north San Jose to eat at the 4th Street Bowl––a journey back in time.

It’s a great ride!