Fitness * Slalom * Artistic *

From Interstate 680 in Pleasant Hill, take the Willow Pass Road exit, heading northeast. After two miles, turn left at East Street, proceed three blocks, and then turn right at Bonafacio Street. A block away, you'll pass under the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) tracks and over Port Chicago Highway. The sidewalk trail parallels the east side of the highway. Map: For a copy of the Bicycle Transportation Map of the East Bay: Map 2, East of the Hills, send $1 to the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, P.O. Box 1736, Oakland, CA 94604. No phone orders are accepted.

An eight-foot-wide concrete bike path runs alongside the Port Chicago Highway next to a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) line that was installed in 1995. It connects neighborhoods starting just north of Willow Pass Road with the BART station at the north end of Concord. If you don't mind skating in a landscaped concrete corridor or within earshot of the highway and the occasional passing train, you'll find the Port Chicago Highway trail a very acceptable spot for an in-line workout. The trail makes a gradual climb all the way from Bonafacio Street up to its termination at the North Concord/Martinez BART station. If you get tired, benches shaded by arbors that sport pink blossoms in the spring are provided in strategic locations. Happily for the skaters of the world, what goes up must come down, and that means you can enjoy the gradual descent all the way back to the start of the path.