The missus and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and hopped on bikes for a quick ride around Lake Merritt today. Since we are recent returnees to the area we're looking for changes that have been made in the community since departing 15 years ago. We were delighted to find that there are well marked bike lanes nearly the entire route around the lake. The one section that was a little dicey was a short leg just in front of the Lake Merritt Hotel. Other than that, support for bikes around the lake is very nice, especially the newest section along the Lakeshore Avenue side. 

Back in the late 70s we lived near the location of the dicey bike lane in a small apartment behind what is now a massively tall high rise right next to the Lake Merritt Hotel. When we lived there we used to get up early in the morning for a walk around the lake. In those days the pathways were not particularly smooth or hospitable, especially on the Lakeshore Ave. side, so it's good to see that the city is paying attention. I note that the ride around the lake is pretty short -- it's not long enough for a particularly challenging aerobic workout, but if you go around twice or three times you can get some useful exercise. If you only have time for one trip, it's still a nice way to get a breath of fresh air and see some birds. 

One of the particularly interesting sites is the birds sitting on the logs that stretch across the lake from Lakeshore to Bellevue. these birds sit in nearly perfect spacing on every log, all the way across. Next time I go around I want to get a better photograph so that I can try to identify the species of bird. Or, perhaps someone who already knows what kind of birds these are can let us know.