Mixin' it up

#281 / #87

This afternoon, Red Leader and I headed out to the Folsom South Canal, rather than our usual Wednesday ride on the American River Trail.

I like to start at the park on Spoto, just off of Zinfandel, near Mather Airport. Spoto neighborhood park has restrooms, and an entertaining pair of half-pipes for the skateboarders. I like to start here also because there are no pesky road crossings on the canal south of this point until the Jackson Highway.

Heading down Spoto, we turned right (away from the South Canal) and headed over to a stub of a road that took us up onto a service/road bike path, then over to the Stone Creek subdivision, and up on to the South Canal service road.

We went about 13 miles total today, down to where Kiefer crosses the trail. We saw two bicyclists and one other recumbent trike.

This was Red Leader's first ride on the canal. He was not thrilled with the canal ride, calling it "unaesthetic." There was the usual headwind from the south as well.

I like the canal because it is empty and wide. I can buzz along, concentrating on technique and speed rather than keeping strict watch for other trail users. A late afternoon ride was nice because the steep walls of the canal blocked the sun.