Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Laura Senteney walks her dog, Toby, four to five times each week along Highway 9.
Getting There
For joggers, bicyclists and walkers, it's an exercise in locomotion
By Jason Baker
For some, it's a necessity. For some, a force of habit. Some view it as torture, and others treat it like religion. But whether they're jogging, biking, running, hiking or walking their dogs, none would argue that Saratogans love to exercise.
This is a beautiful land, they say, with beautiful weather--God's own perfect gymnasium, if you will. Why strap yourself to a fitness machine indoors when you can feel the burn free of charge in your own neighborhood?
Drivers trapped like sardines marvel at the freedom--and courage--of the fitness fanatics that litter the sides of Highway 9 and Saratoga Avenue during the morning and afternoon commutes.
Highway 9: More photos of bicyclists, joggers and walkers.
Young women with babes in strollers brave the pass between Los Gatos and Saratoga with no worries, paying little heed to construction trucks as they rumble past.
Bicyclists clad in outfits resembling the togs of your average comic-book superhero whiz by groups of ladies out for their morning constitutional.
These two-wheeled terrors shame even the finest Bavarian auto with their displays of speed and handling. Some drivers curse the riders as they dart by--usually out of sheer frustration--but have no recourse save returning their gaze to the bumper three feet in front of them.
But not all is speed in the Saratoga outdoors. For some, endurance is the key. Runners young and not-so-young challenge the grade of the highway daily, employing the world's oldest form of transportation in contest with body and spirit.
Some sport looks of sheer exhaustion as they struggle up the road, while others glide like Olympic champions, dodging construction and traffic. Questions as to why they put themselves through the paces every day would probably elicit a simple response: because they can.
And that, perhaps, is all the reason in the world.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
