Ha! I do this ride nearly every week and I'm not sure I would describe it as "short and very pleasant" to a general audience. Unless you have a decent road bike and are fairly fit you will likely be walking up hawk hill.
Never mind making it up the hill -- the backside descent of Conzelman Road is really what your average person should skip. You'll miss out on some of the old structures by skipping that, but there's still things to see if you go down Alexander, take the tunnel to Bunker Rd, and follow that out.