If you live around San Jose’s St. Leo’s neighborhood, even if you haven’t seen Opera Bikeman, you’ve probably heard him because of the music he plays from his bicycle as he rides around the area.

Shiloh Ballard, executive director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, has been a fan for a while and appreciates the way he spreads creativity and joy while on two wheels. Last week, she organized a bike ride with a group of friends — including fellow nonprofit leaders Cayce Hill of Veggielution and Alex Shoor of Catalyze SV — for a leisurely Friday morning ride. The special guest was Opera Bikeman, who also goes by Vinny (every hero needs a secret identity).

After meeting at Crema coffee on The Alameda, they rode around the St. Leo’s and Shasta-Hanchett area with Opera Bikeman — who has flown a Ukrainian flag since last year’s Russian invasion — providing the soundtrack with opera music from the speaker in a milk crate attached to the back of his Aventon electric bike.

“It makes so many people so happy,” said Ballard, who would like to make the Opera Bikeman ride a regular gathering. “People can’t help but smile when they see us ride by.”

COMMUTING BY KAYAK: You might remember a few years back, I took a kayak ride on the Guadalupe River with Carl Salas, principal at Salas O’Brien engineering firm and a resident of San Jose’s Naglee Park neighborhood. He has continued to ride the mighty Guadalupe regularly — without me — but had been itching to try taking a kayak on Los Gatos Creek from Willow Glen to downtown.

On Jan. 2, a little fearful of the higher water level on the Guadalupe, he thought, “If ever there is a time for a longer distance kayak run on Los Gatos Creek, today is the day.”

He set off from the pedestrian bridge off the Three Creeks Trail near Lincoln Avenue and found himself soon kayaking in what he described as a beautiful, forested river run. He floated by Palermo’s creekside patio — no doubt surprising some lunchtime diners — and was surprised himself as he watched a hawk dive at a duck in the creek looking for a little lunch as well.

“The few miles along the river were exciting and enchanting,” he said, adding that you do need rose-colored glasses to ignore trash and the unfortunate sight of encampments along the creek bed.

The trip took only a few minutes from his launch point to Confluence Point near SAP Center; the water flow that day was 22 cubic feet per second and the creek level was just under 6 feet. If he’d tried it this Tuesday, the water would have been about two feet higher and running at an incredible 638 cfs — a ride I’d think was too fast and dangerous even for Salas.

PRICELESS TRIBUTE: In October, many of us lost a friend when Steve Yvaska, the Mercury News’ longtime antiques columnist, died in San Jose at age 68 from a rare degenerative disorder. He was a delight to anyone who crossed his path and always seemed happy to answer questions about what people would find in Granny’s attic — whether it was in his column, “The Seasoned Collector,” or at the various antique events around the Bay Area he frequented.

A memorial service will be held for him at 4 p.m. Jan. 12 at St. Christopher’s Church, 2278 Booksin Ave. in Willow Glen. It’s the perfect venue, as he was a volunteer adviser to the St. Christopher Antique Show and Sale for many years. The church’s Ladies Guild, which has put on those fundraising shows for 50 years, will host a reception following the service.