Circle the Bay: Day 23: Damon Slough to Oakland Airport

Day 23: Damon Slough to Oakland Airport
(Oakland to Oakland)

Circle The Bay Part 3

June 29th 2018

11.4 miles in 2 hrs 25 mins

(Total: 250.2 miles in 62 hrs 5 mins)

This part of the trek was focused on biking around Bay Farm Island, which historically must have been a low-lying yet above sea-level farm that sat out at the end of San Leandro Bay. It seems to have got connected to the mainland when most of the marsh around it was converted into the Oakland airport. Since then it has been developed into a completely suburban development with houses, apartments, and office parks.

There is a rush-hour ferry that services Bay Farm Island (called Harbor Bay, which is kind of redundant). Maybe I should have waited an hour for that ferry, but instead I proceeded to the Oakland Airport and took the BART people mover to the regular BART Coliseum station. They weren't surprised someone was getting on the people mover with a bicycle at the airport.

Then as it turns out, for my next leg of the journey, I first have to pick up 200 lbs of compostable BioBags at the warehouse near 98th St., the Oakland city street that terminates at the airport. This will be the one exception of using my own car to get to the trail for the day. And this offers two low-lying flights over the bay on CA-92, so what's not to like? Praise all you want the BART under-the-bay tunnel from San Francisco to Oakland, but a view is one thing it doesn't have on a bridge.