20 September 2010

Bridge, anyone?

Ride #10. Monday September 20th. Whooooo I am not ready for very big hills yet. My glutes they are a-talkin'!

I set out this morning from Old Folsom, heading downstream next to the American River. There is a section of the ABRT (also known as the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail, the American River Parkway, and so on and so forth) that is flat and runs right next to the water.
Of course, to get to the flat you must go downhill, which means uphill to return to one's starting place. I went about 7 miles total. Some at a creepy crawly 2 miles per. Some screaming down hill (not literally - mustn't scare the peds) at 24mph.

To get across from the parking areas to the trail, it is necessary (lovely Latin construction there) to cross the river. One can beat one's way through traffic and cross a cool old wooden bridge now dedicated to pedestrians and HPV (human powered vehicles) or one can use the new bridge (but not the newest bridge which is farther upstream (Lost yet?)) and take advantage of the dedicated ped/bikeway - separated from the traffic by nice thick concrete.

I chose the newish bridge. The ped/bikeway feels very narrow, but I suspect it is about as wide as a regular path; the concrete on one side and the railing on the other make it seem smaller.

And it is smaller in places: whenever there is a light pole the cylindrical concrete bases stick out into the path. So I behaved myself and pulled over and stopped for overtaking and oncoming bicycle traffic. And was politely thanked for doing so. Hm, I wonder if there is a bike lane on the bridge (naw, don't care if there is - traffic on the bridge is at least 50mph).

After the bridge, one can descend to the trail on a switchback section of path with turns about as tight as I can manage on the trike.


After that one passes under the bridge one just
crossed.


Once on the trail proper, it is charging down hill and slogging up hill. Heard some rustling in the shrubbery that was probably squirrels, saw some groups of pedestrians, and a number of cyclists - including a crowd of fast moving folks in a rather ragged paceline. I had just passed a group of walkers all abreast in the oncoming lane,  but I suppose the paceline avoided any problems since I didn't hear the sound of crashing bikes behind me.
View upstream from the newish bridge to the old bridge (previously
unmentioned) beyond which is the cool wooden bridge.


2.1 mph when the shutter tripped and a max speed of 24.7

Tune in again on Wednesday: same bat-time, same bat-channel!

View Interactive Map on MapMyRide.com

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