Hide and Seek

Yesterdays commute home was a bit interesting. Never mind the tired legs....I was meeting Marja, Jenni, and Joel at Sutters Landing with all the mutts, so I took off on my "spin" down the single track on the Slac State side of the river. As I rode across the parking area under Howe, a ranger I have spoken with before, she was giving someone a ticket, saw me and made a bee-line back to her Durango...."hmmmmm" thinks me.

I cut up onto the bike trail for some good karma and about 100 meters later, once out of sight, I cut back down onto the single track. Keep in mind that none of the trails are "signed" on this side of the river, and this same ranger told me that dirt is off limits period below Hazel. No one else has heard of this....anyway, as I am cruising the single track as I have many many times, I notice through the trees something that should not be there, so I slow....sure enough its the rear end of a pickup, a ranger's pickup, poorly hidden in the trees over looking the single track with the bike trail behind it...its about 50 meters down the trail from me, so I pop up on the bike trail and as I pass I see the ranger off the front of his pickup ready to spring on anyone riding the single track. Glad I wasn't....I was tempted to sneek up behind him, tap on his shoulder and ask him what he was looking at, Bugs Bunny-esque, but alas I thought better of it. About 100 meters later I dropped back onto the single track up to Watt, crossed over the river and raced to Sutter's Landing to meet up.

After conducting a little research this a.m. I have yet to find anything that states bikes are allowed ONLY on paved trails, but better safe than sorry. The good news, a new master plan has been submitted that allows "multi-use" of trails along the American River Bike trail in several locations. Currently the access roads between Blue Diamond and CalExpo are legal with a handful of other access roads (all dirt) between Expo and Goethe (oopps River Bend). The south side of the river has no signs stating otherwise, but after yesterday I think I need to ask the dreaded question....

My rational, several signs state, "No Mountain Bikes"....good thing I am on a Cyclocross bike...