Biking Almaden Quicksilver County Park

I decided to mountain bike at my nearby Almaden Quicksilver County Park in south San Jose, this time using the Hacienda Park entrance (Eastern side of the park).

When I arrived at 8:45 a.m., there were not too many cars. I assembled my Specialized Ground Control bike and started on the ascent of Mines Hill Trail.

The park map is below:

During one short downhill run on Randol Trail, I lost traction on my bike's front tire and had a minor crash. I got a few scratches around my knees and arms.

I shot a video on my GoPro Hero4 Silver of the descent to Hacienda from Mines Road. I saw 3 deer on the trail!



Before starting on Mines Trail, I turned on the MapMyWalk app on my iPhone 5S to record my mountain biking session. As you can see below, the trail took me 1:27 hours to complete non-stop (with a minor crash), and I burned 608 calories. It was not a bad ride at all - but I was overtaken by one mountain biker, so I need to improve my uphill performance.

More details can be found here.

 

DISTANCE

11.11mi

DURATION

1:28:08

AVG SPEED

7.6 mph

KCAL

608

BIKE RIDE: MOUNTAIN BIKING

NOTES

JUNE 7, 2014, 8:48 am.by BORIS LITINSKY

CURRENT POINTS

10 

CURRENT AWARDS

X

1

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TIME
START	8:48 a.m.
ACTIVE	1:28:08
TOTAL	1:28:09

	SPEED
AVG	7.6 mph
MIN	--
MAX	24.4 mph

Map data ©2014 Google

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1 km 

ANALYSIS TYPE:     Choose a segment type ...              Splits               Course Repeats               Average Power               Average Heart Rate               Segment Highlighter               Laps       

0.1 mi

0.5 mi

1 mi

5 mi

10 mi

DISTANCE	SPEED	ELAPSED TIME
1 mi	4.2 mph	00:14:10
2 mi	9.8 mph	00:06:07
3 mi	7.6 mph	00:07:50
4 mi	7.9 mph	00:07:35
5 mi	11.1 mph	00:05:22
6 mi	6.9 mph	00:08:43
7 mi	4.5 mph	00:13:22
8 mi	6 mph	00:09:54
9 mi	10.8 mph	00:05:31
10 mi	14 mph	00:04:15
11 mi	16 mph	00:03:44
11.2 mi	7.2 mph	00:01:19

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VIEW ROUTE11.11mi mountain bike on 6/7/14

MAPPED 06/07/2014 BY BORIS LITINSKY

ELEVATION

SPEED

• COURSES
• HEART RATE

Learn more about courses

• 
  Almaden Quicksilver Full Loop
  

  DISTANCE

  11 mi

  BASE POINTS

  10

  ELEVATION

  2408.1 ft

  CURRENT POINTS

  10

  CURRENT AWARDS

  

  BEST TIME

  1:28:48

  TIMES COMPLETED

  2

  TIME

  1:27:25

  +/- DIFFERENCE

  - 1:23

• TOTAL WORKOUT ACHIEVEMENTS

  CURRENT POINTS

  10

  CURRENT AWARDS

  
  

  1

Courses without points 

Type	Time	Best Time	+/- Difference	Dist	Name	Elev	Owner
	18:57	19:00	- 0:03	1.8 mi	Mine Hill Trail to Randol Trail course near Almaden Reservoir County Park	538.1 ft	MapMyFitness C.
	5:32	6:04	- 0:32	0.4 mi	The course along Mine Hill Trial near Almaden Reservoir County Park	154.2 ft	MapMyFitness C.
	12:42	12:03	+ 0:39	1 mi	The course along Mine Hill Trial near Almaden Reservoir County Park	449.5 ft	MapMyFitness C.
	1:23	1:25	- 0:02	0.4 mi	The course along Randol Trail near Almaden Reservoir County Park	59.1 ft	MapMyFitness C.
	4:29	4:36	- 0:07	0.5 mi	The course along Randol Trail near Hanging Tree	55.8 ft	MapMyFitness C.
	7:04	8:30	- 1:26	0.9 mi	Mine Hill Trail to Castillero Trail course near Guadalupe Reservoir County Park	150.9 ft	MapMyFitness C.

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Sunday Brunch at La Foret

Today, we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday with brunch at La Foret Restaurant in San Jose.

La Foret is located in Almaden, near the Almaden Quicksilver County Park. It's tucked into a semi-rural area of San Jose. Nearby, there are lots of ranches with horses and other domesticated animals. It's a very romantic setting.

We arrived right around 1:00 pm for the Sunday Brunch. La Foret is a relatively expensive restaurant, so we wanted to experience it on a budget. I ordered a bottle of Asti Spumante Cinzano Piemonte for $40. The Italian sparkling wine was sweet and delicious, much better than the standard Brut champagnes.

Our brunch included a platter of assorted cheeses (blue cheese, Gouda), marinated mushrooms and artichokes, jumbo prawns in cocktail sauce, honeydew melons, and grapes. We were also served delicious fresh-baked French bread and sweet danishes. All of these items were delicious.

For the actual entrees, I ordered "Fusilli and Scallops" - a dish of corkscrew pasta and mushrooms, with 3 large scallops - all marinated in olive oil. The dish was marvelous, and Inna wished she had ordered Scallops, too.

Inna ordered the "Wild Game Special," which was Elk today. The Elk tasted like liver to me - tender but not like beef. The Elk was delicious but different from the usual animals we usually eat - Chicken, Beef - so it was a bit unusual.

Grandpa Neal ordered the "Breast of Chicken," with mushrooms and cream.

Grandma Bella ordered the "Salmon Entree". While the Salmon was not King Salmon - as we had hoped- it came in a port wine sauce that Bella enjoyed.

Vladik ordered the grilled "Ahi Tuna." He wanted it well done, but tuna is best served undercooked/raw, as in sushi. I don't think he liked it as much.

Alex ordered the "Scrambled Eggs," prepared on top of muffins with Canadian Bacon. He was not used to the Hollandaise sauce there.

We really enjoyed all of our entrees and were ready for dessert.

Inna and I ordered the two Grand Marnier Soufflés, which were soufflés floating in a Grand Marnier dish. They were good, but I don't think I am a big soufflé connoisseur. The dish was light, but I would have enjoyed the "Chocolate Truffle Torte" more.

Since it was Bella's birthday, La Foret prepared a special dessert plate with samples of all the different desserts. She really liked all of the samples.

Vladik enjoyed the "Vanilla Ice Cream Creme Brulee with Berries.

We really liked the service, atmosphere, and, of course, the delicious entrees served. We hope to come back again.

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