After a long time, we decided to hike in Castle Rock State Park in Los Gatos.
When we arrived, we were surprised by the large parking lot, which had been converted from gravel to a fully paved one with many paid parking spaces.
As a moderate hike, it required some climbing over rocks, but not too much. There was plenty of shade, and we were not significantly exposed to the sun.
The loop we chose took about two hours, with some huffing and puffing going uphill.
I was offered a chance to ride from Palo Alto to Filoli Gardens and I decided to give it a shot. Initially, I was looking for a gravel bike for the long ride, but I did not want to pay $150/day to rent a bike at Summit Bicycles.
My Specialized FSRS-Works is not the ideal bicycle, but I made it work. When I arrived at 11:30 in Palo Alto and parked at the Car Garage on 350 Sherman Ave, I realized that my bike's brakes were working poorly. The rear brake was completely non-functional, but the front brake still worked. I decided to proceed as is since Summit Bicycles explained that bleeding both brakes would take some time.
The ride was quite smooth, with a few uphill sections. It took us about 70 minutes to reach Filoli Gardens, where we turned around.
After we returned to Palo Alto, I dropped off my Specialized FSR mountain bike at Summit Bicycles to have the brakes bled and the drive chain replaced.
