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Landmark #260
I left the house at almost exactly 2 o'clock. The sun was shining but it
wasn't hot, which suits me just fine. I dropped off a copy of Rhaeva at Karen's
house, and then got myself back onto Wolfe Road.
From Wolfe, I took Homestead, and that's the street that brought me into
Santa Clara. I was trying to avoid the heavy traffic and stop-start of El
Camino Real, but as it turned out it really wasn't that much better. There
were many lights and many stops, road signs and the like. I did do a few
lane changes and things, and managed to keep it going.
Eventually I got to Lincoln Avenue, and made a left. I crossed over El
Camino and was at a place I'd seen so many times from the road and
admired: it was the Civic Centre Park with the great big statue of Santa
Clara, complete with a whole colony of pigeons (which can often be seen
perched on her head). Santa Clara is in the middle of a small lake with
fountains, some of which sprayed me as I walked past. The marker is at the
front of the park, near El Camino Real.
I did indeed run into trouble with that marker, and I know already I will
have to come back - but that's no tragedy. I simply couldn't get an angle
to include me, the marker, and the all-important ID number. All I got was
a series of funny faces... When I got home, I started looking into
tripods. Even though Don fixed my zoom (you would be amazed at how tiny
the little parts are inside my camera) I couldn't find a suitable
staging-place, and I bet this will be a theme.
An interestingness: there was a calm to the park. It may have been that
there was nobody else there, but even with the busy El Camino next to it,
I felt peaceful there. I might go back with some sandwiches sometime, and
a book. I felt kind of protected. It was a good place.
Landmark #904
My route, carefully planned out before, took me back down Lincoln and a
left on Fremont St. I counted the many stop-signs and learnt to quickly
figure out which block I was in, and eventually found the Charles Copeland
Morse Residence - "the house built on seeds". The house was a nice
old-fashioned jobbie which I completely forgot to photograph. The placard
was pretty, with ivy trained all around it. This landmark was easier,
because I could park right by the placard and thus photograph my bike. I
still managed to get one shot with a wonky placard and one with only the
rear end of my bike in it. Sure hope these photographs qualify. You can
tell it's me but it's hard to know if they will know which placard is
which. Hm, maybe I can use my bike as my tripod in these photos.
The Rest
I'd planned to see three other landmarks, two of which were literally
round the corner. However, when I took my right on Lafayette, I kind of
missed the turn-off for the adobe, which was silly because the only thing
stopping me was that it wasn't on my carefully-planned route. Note to
self: improvise already! I then rode past what must have been the rear end
of the old mission, you can see history oozing out of the walls. By this
time I made a snap decision that enough was enough, and ended up riding
around a maze of twisty roads, all the same. I kind of followed my nose,
guessing, until I came to Stephen's Creek/Winchester. Hey! I was in San
Jose!
I could have ridden to the Mystery House (another landmark to collect) but
pulled into a Safeway car park for a rest and a map peer. I had just
figured out my route when a lady came up to me and chatted/gave
directions. I must have looked very lost. I was actually grateful, it is
good to have one's route confirmed by a local. She liked my accent. It's
good to be English. I was touched by her kindness, coming up to a scruffy
female biker and offering help.
I decided to take Stephen's Creek home. It is a big, multi-lane road and
very busy, perhaps the busiest road I have taken. At the lights, I was
feeling a distinct burn on my left thigh, and had to learn to shift to a
less heated position. Arnie is air-cooled, and still gets rather hot in
stop/start traffic. I managed to only have one near miss, with which I
dealt quite mellowly, and noticed that there is much less fear. I am just
riding the bike, not thinking about riding the bike. This is very good.
I found Wolfe, and that was familiar, so I went home that way. It was four
by the time I got home, and I was very tired, particularly my hands from
all the clutch and brakework. I think we need to add "check the brakes" to
the list of things to sort out before my Big Trip.
All in all, I enjoyed this ride. I will probably come back and do it
again, and get the others at the same time. It would be nice to do better
photographs. The back streets of Santa Clara are pretty, with quite a few
old and interesting houses. A cyclist grinned at me and I grinned
back. For the first time this year I've gone on a ride two days in a
row. Yay for me. :-)
Photos
Landmark Data
California Landmark #260
Santa Clara Campaign Treaty Site
Marker is in the Civic Centre park. If you're coming from the west, it'll
be a left turn off El Camino Real. From the east, a right turn, and you'll
ride right past the marker. Turn right to park on the street (there are
spaces), then walk through the park and you'll see the marker on the El
Camino side, left of the pond/statue. |
California Landmark #904
Charles Copeland Morse Residence
Marker is outside the house. If you're driving from the previous marker,
you get back onto Lincoln, make a left on Franklin, and keep on going. The
house is on the left hand side. As this one has an address, $981 Franklin,
it's quite hard to miss, and you can always go around the block. You can
park your bike sufficiently close to the marker to get both it and the
marker in it. |
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This page created 05 May 2003
Last update 30 Apr 2007
© 2003-2007 White Raven
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