Over The Mountains and Through The Woods To Grandmothers…

After 10 minutes of riding In San Jose commute traffic I was on a bike train and 10 minutes late I was on the quiet streets of Los Gatos. 10 minutes after thatI was on the Los Gatos Creek Trail, with a creek on one side and surrounded by beautiful trees.It is a narrow trail with many users, so you don’t go flying around while on this delightful trail.

It is a gentle grade that rises towards the source of the creek which is Lexington Reservoir . As you get closer to the reservoir the trail turns to gravel and increases in gradient, to the point that I ended up pushing the bike for several hundred yards. It then returns to a rideable climb, but finishes with a very steep but rideable climb across the face of the dam.

The road then goes up and down around the east side of the reservoir until you reach the south end of the reservoir. Of course you are surrounded by threes the whole time, At this point you climb into the Redwoods.Yes it is a hard climb at times, requiring me to push the bike at times. I guess my panniers are carrying around 20 pounds. (A good reminder not to gain weight) So it was slow going but breathtaking.

I reach the top and had a 6 mile descent into Scott’s valley on a one lane poorly maintained road. Scott’s Valley and then into Sant Cruz. After dropping my bags at the hotel I rode to the cemetery where my maternal grand parents are buried.After some help from the staff I found their gravesite.

I was looking for the plaque but could not find one.It was an unmarked grave. Given that my grandmother died in 1931 and grandfather in 1942, there probably wasn’t the money for something like that. Which got me to thinking, Why didn’t my mother later in life when she had the means do something like that? She really did want to put that part of her life behind her. The thought occurred to me that my grandparents work did not get completed in their lifetimes,but there was enough there to give my mother as basis to work from.Yes it had it cracks and imperfections, but it was solid enough to launch my brother sister and I on our way.

Let me keep this in mind when I see others struggling, who knows what they have started to grow in their(our) imperfect lives. Thank you Grandma Johanna and Grandpa Ralph

A good reminder