American River Trail.

This morning we said goodbye to Paul and Mary who are on their way to Idaho, it was great to meet them and we are very appreciative that they introduced us to Gypsy. After we saw Paul and Mary off we prepared for a bicycle ride on the American River Trail along the American River in Sacramento.

We drove to a spot along the American River Parkway where we set up our bikes and rode toward downtown, unfortunately the trail ended at Old Sacramento. We rode for a block or so on the rough railroad tie surface along the river then turned around and set off along the river.

 

Our starting point along the river.

 

Old Sacramento.

 

 

 

At Discovery Park we continued riding along the south side of the river for about 3.5 miles before the trail turned toward downtown and became a bike lane trail on the street. We turned around and rode back to Discovery Park where we crossed the river and rode along the north side.

 

The trail along the south side was deserted but not very long.

 

Crossing the river at Discovery Park.

 

We stopped at a shady spot to eat our lunch before we continued on to the 10 mile mark where we turned around; the return trip went fast as we upped our speed to the 15 mph range and only took one water break. We rode over 27 miles today, it was a warm day and we both got plenty of sun but enjoyed the ride.

 

It was a nice trail and a great day for a ride.

 

At times we had a nice view of the river.

 

On the return ride Sandy upped the speed but John made sure she did not exceed the posted limit of 15 mph.