A Slice of San Jose

Those pesky Canada geese ... everywhere. The white specks in the treetops on Almaden Lake's island are nesting egrets (and their noisy chicks).

When I decided to take a bit of a summer vacation, I imagined many restorative days of biking and hiking ahead. But after somehow tweaking my back three weeks ago, I reluctantly admitted it would be best to give it a rest.

Enough of that.

Time for a test ride. Today's leader eschews route sheets and rarely shares a plan in advance, so we all trail her like obedient little goslings (lest we get lost). I imagine her favored routes would become familiar after a while, but to me they're fresh adventures.

With today's flat slice of San Jose, I covered 31 miles with less than 700 feet of climbing.

And my back? No better, no worse. Might as well keep moving.