Another successful adventure. I've been wanting to check out Crockett Hills Regional Park forever and after many different route iterations came up with a ride that goes through 7 parks - Fernandez Ranch, Pinole Valley Watershed, Briones Regional Park, Mount Wanda, Martinez Regional Shoreline Park, Carquinez Strait Regional Seashore, and Crocket Hills - all of them never visited before. So total unknown. Such a nice day. I was going to start with a base layer but it was so warm, I didn't need a base layer or any warmers all day - just shorts and short sleeves. Within the first three miles, we already had to hop or crawl under three locked gates/fences. On the second gate, Emily handed her bike over to me and I grabbed a thumb full of cow poop! After that we still encounter many unlocked cattle gates. In the end, I lost track of how many we encountered. I think there were cows at all the parks we visited, right on the trail. Some of the trails were super bumpy from all the cows walking on them. We were very fortunate to have a week to dry everything because there were some steep bits and some of the descents would've been treacherous if they were muddy. The parks and trails weren't anything like I was expecting. Instead of gravel fire roads, they were grass. Other than being flat, it didn't look like they were really used - no worn, dirt tracks. And they were wide open hills with very steep, punchy, climbs. For some reason I was expecting more trees and it to be not as steep. But it made for some gorgeous sweeping vistas. Once we got into Martinez, there was a discussion about the right way to go. I had routed some dirt, that ended up being really steep, to get to a downtown area near the water with lots of food options. I guess where we were, it was five minutes to the downtown area but I suspect a different on than what was planned. We ended up doing the steep dirt and made it to a quaint downtown where we had delicious BBQ. After hanging out with the cows all morning, I was hankering for a cheeseburger. :P Emily got some ribs. Catherine needed some greens. :) The second half, by the Carquinez Strait was super scenic. Again, I was thinking, seashore - flat. Instead there was a lot of steep climbing again and getting a little lost in the neighborhoods. Thanks to Catherine for double-checking my route and correcting some mistakes and for also navigating the ride. Crocket Hills was probably the longest sustained climb we did all day and towards the end, my legs were feeling done. The trails weren't really that bumpy like everyone was saying they were. And there were some really nice flow trails. Definitely want to go back with the MTB! Lastly, the "garbage miles" to get home weren't bad at all. We had a massive descent into some quiet industrial roads followed by a pleasant bike path populated by feral cats. :) Did I say it was a great day yet? Because it was! At one point, I was thinking, I don't want this to end. I just want to remain here in this moment. * Post ride thought - it was the perfect day for this route. Wouldn't want to do this in the summer (or if it's hot) since it's so exposed. Plus it's so nice when everything is green. But you definitely want to do this when it's dry, as mentioned earlier about trail conditions.