Photos: Cyclists, joggers and walkers traverse the 2019 Niles Canyon Stroll & Roll
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FREMONT — Simone Archer, a Newark-based artist, parked her silver Specialized Sequoia bicycle on Niles Canyon Road to stop and paint a scene early Sunday as dozens of other cyclists, joggers and walkers passed.
Archer stood near a railway bridge about a mile and a half from the western starting point of the Niles Canyon Stroll & Roll, a biennial event where Highway 84 is closed to vehicular traffic.
“I love it. I wish they’d open up more for artists to paint,” she said as she spread a drop of blue across the top of her landscape.
Archer was in the middle of her third Stroll & Roll when inspiration struck. The event provides an opportunity for people to walk and bike six miles safely through the canyon between Fremont and Sunol with their friends and family. Organizers arranged round-trip shuttles for attendees at free parking lots on both ends of the six-mile course, as well as service to and from the Fremont BART station.
The Stroll & Roll began in 2015 by Alameda County Supervisors Richard Valle and Scott Haggerty in an effort to promote an initiative to create a Class 1 Trail through the Niles Canyon.