Dimond, Upper Dimond, Glenview
Day Miles: 14.9(J) / 15.0(S)
Cumulative Miles: 33.5(J) / 33.8(S)
Day Hours: 1:30(J) / 1:32(S)
Cumulative Hours: 3:33(J) / 3:35(S)
Before we get too far into the ride descriptions, I should explain a bit about how we're planning for this project, and how we're documenting it. The answer is, to start with, a little haphazardly. One of the ironies with this task is that the easiest neighborhoods to ride (flat, low traffic, gridded streets) tend to be concentrated in the highest crime areas of the city. We'll probably ease into those areas, starting in the safer 'hoods, alternating neighborhoods enough to keep us interested in the project.
We customized uniforms (t-shirts) for our ride, with Oakland's flag on the back and our birth years on the front (1969 for Joel and 1970 for Shimon). We plan on carrying around a laminated photo likeness of ourselves in uniform (our "avatar") for photo ops - with special emphasis on taking pictures of ourselves in front of Oakland's many parks and green spaces. Here's an example (albeit a bit blurry), taken at the Dimond Recreation Center:
We're recording both mileage and riding time (time we're actually moving). These measures differ slightly between our two odometers (as they will with any two odometers), so we're reporting both Joel's and Shimon's readings. The true distance and travel time are somewhere near what's reported here, probably within 5 percent or less. At the end of each riding day we also record the start and end locations. We map the areas we've ridden (see links at right). In some instances, in order to finish our day, it has made more sense to ride (and log) a single stretch of road not in the day's larger coverage area. These instances are also noted on each map. Depending on geography, sometimes this approach may save us from having to double back on future ride days.
You can imagine that much of the time devoted to this project consists of poring over maps. Google Street View has been helpful in resolving what is actually a street from what may just appear to be. And, while we make every attempt to ride every street, we're only committed to riding those that are publicly accessible and legal. It is no small challenge finding the most most efficient (least time doubling back), safest (least time on busy streets with no shoulders), and easiest (fewest steep hills) route that covers every roadway stretch in an area.
On this, our second riding day, we endeavored to finish riding through the Dimond neighborhoods and then moved on to Glenview. Shimon attended Glenview School as a boy, so this again is a familiar neighborhood to us.
Like so many neighborhoods in Oakland, this area is an odd mixture of old and new, scruffy and charming, bucolic and urban. Spacious and beautiful Dimond Park is only a block away from Quarter Pound Giant Burgers where we ate on late nights in the 80s.
Leaving the Dimond District, we proceeded through Glenview, from Fruitvale along MacArthur, all the way to Park Blvd. I'm hoping to see more of this theme throughout Oakland, but we did find this nice little chicken coop yard. Crafty people in Oakland.
Cheers,
1970
