Touring * Fitness * Slalom * Artistic *

From U.S. 101 outside of Palo Alto, take the Embarcadero/Oregon Expressway exit. Follow the signs to the Oregon Express- way, heading west. After passing under the Alma Street overpass, turn left onto El Camino Real and then right on Matadero Avenue. Continue to where Matadero terminates at Cornelius Bol Park, and park on the small gravel area next to this neighborhood park.

The Cornelius Bol Park Bike Path is a favorite not only for residents of the nearby neighborhood, but for employees of the Lockheed, Hewlett Packard, and Syntex Labs, all located nearby in their Silicon Valley office parks. Starting from tiny Cornelius Bol Park, the trail follows a canal between the office parks and Henry M. Gunn High School, until it reaches the major intersections of Miranda Avenue and Foothill Expressway at Arastradero Road. At press time, the original trail at Bol Park was closed due to a flood-control canal project. Bright orange signs marked the detour on Laguna Avenue and Ilima Way through the neighborhood. At McGreagor Way and Paradise Avenue, the trail picks up on a new (temporary bypass) section of gently sloping asphalt that dips and winds through the high school playing fields, bordered on both sides by chain-link fences. Take the crosswalks over Miranda and Foothill to get to the north shoulder of Arastradero, where a wide concrete sidewalk beckons invitingly. From here on, no bicycles are allowed. On your left, the wooded hillside offers a decidedly rural scene, belying the high-tech goings-on in the area. On the right, the Syntex buildings and parking lots are set back from the road, made almost unnoticeable by landscaped strips next to the street, with many leafy trees for shade. Keep a sharp eye out for cars during business hours as you cross two Syntex driveways. Two street intersections are served by stoplights. After you cross Deer Creek Road, the trail becomes rural on both sides, and you'll actually pass a horse stable on the left. The scenery is very pretty, with grassy hills rising up on all sides--and a long hill of your own to slalom back on. This bit of pure nature must seem far, far away from the stacked-up in-baskets and voice-mail calls awaiting the return of the lucky people who can take their lunch breaks here. Conveniently, a drinking fountain marks the trail's end at Arastradero. After you return to Cornelius Bol Park (a breeze, since it's generally downhill) you'll find another short section of the trail at the north end of Bol Park where Matadero Avenue meets it. The setting here is mostly ivy-covered chain-link fencing and the backs of buildings bordering a wide corridor with varied asphalt. The trail emerges and terminates less than a mile up at Hanover Street. If you want to skate a few more blocks, turn right and cross a driveway to get to the excellent 10-foot-wide concrete sidewalk that curves around Hanover Street and meets Page Mill Road. Local bicycle and running enthusiasts turn this into a seven-mile loop. To follow their route, after the water fountain at Arastradero, continue further west on the road's shoulder to where it passes over Interstate 280. Turn right when you reach Page Mill Road on the other side and pass back under the freeway heading east. Cross to the north side of Page Mill after just a quarter of a mile to skate on one mile of Old Page Mill Road in very light traffic. Turn right onto Porter Drive at the end of Old Page Mill (Porter curves around to become Hanover Street), and then turn left after the Lockheed employee parking lot to follow the Bol Park Bike Path back to the park.