After returning from the ride to Del Valle without having seen the lake, I'd told myself that I'd return the very next day, to be able to tick it off my list of places to see. Today, I woke up to a cloudy day, but more importantly, it was dry, which meant that I could ride up to Del Valle, as I'd intended.  Even as I was getting ready to leave, Arvind Mallya, a friend from Facebook who I'd met earlier this month in California, pinged me to tell me that he was going birding with a friend and that he could pick me up by noon, if I wanted to join him!  I did the math in the head; I'd ridden to within two kilometers of the lake the previous day, in an hour and ten minutes, and had taken a little under an hour for the return.  Since it was already past nine and I wouldn't be able to start before ten, an hour and fifteen minutes both ways and a half hour for some rest/photography would mean that I would be able to get back by 1300. It seemed tight, but doable, so I told Arvind that I'd go birding with him, if he could pick up up after one.  On the previous evening, I'd carried a heavy backpack with my tripod and my camera case slung around the neck.  The camera sling had dug into my neck, causing some discomfort and the weight on the back had been less than pleasant.  I switched to a compact backpack with just a small water bottle (in addition to a bottle of pomegranate juice in the bottle cage) and a banana. I used laces from my non-biking shoe to secure the tripod to the underside of the top-tube, and it worked like a charm.  The tripod and case were slim enough to not cause any obstruction when I pedalled.  I also ensured that the camera sling went over my jacket and not onto the skin of my neck.  Having made these changes, I was optimistic that I'd be able to ride faster than I had managed, the previous evening.

Within minutes of hitting Greenville Road, I spotted a whole bunch of scavenger birds picking their fill from a skunk which had turned into road kill.  I slid to the side of the road and took a few pictures, before speeding cars drove the birds some distance away.

A lovely house atop a hill grabbed my attention. It even had a clock tower! It was high time I stopped clicking pictures and continued the ride! A peloton shot past, after shouting out "To you left". They went like they had rocket packs powering them. Nice place to stop for a rest. I rode the remaining two kilometers down to the lake, and it sure was worth the effort. I sighted some Canadian Geese. The sky was breathtakingly beautiful. A glimpse at the watch indicated that I had to leave right away, in order to be able to return on time. I'd also not known that the last two kilometers would be a steep descent, which meant that I had two more kilometers to climb on my return! I put my head down and pushed down, as smoothly and continuously as I could, trying to keep the cadence up. Before long, the climb was over. Just before I could begin the descent, I spotted a man next to a stylish looking Harley. I stopped, asked and took a picture of both the man and his machine. After that last stop, I started off on the downhill run. What had taken me a painstaking eighteen and a half minutes to climb up shot past in just over three minutes, as I hit speeds upto 52 kmph. I could have easily gone faster if I'd adopted a more aerodynamic posture and pushed a bit, but I was too chicken to go any faster. There was too much loose gravel and stones on the bike path and I thought the risk of skidding off or picking up a flat was high, so I took it easy. I made it back with just enough time to shower and change before my friend came by to pick me up, to go birding near Dumbarton bridge. Ride stats: http://www.strava.com/activities/229580897