Mojo Slim

Sometimes you just want a flat ride. Five of us took off in a cool morning, heading for the levee (insert song lines here). The route takes us from our neighborhood out through the rice fields of the western county. We pass through three towns that are so small, no population is not listed on the "Welcome to ___" signs. We stop briefly at a little store for a break at 18 miles. It is unlikely we will see another store for many miles.

So far, we have climbed nearly 30 feet. We pass construction of a highway overpass that will eventually become the worst hill on this route.

At 22.23 miles we hit our first hill climb. It's over at 22.26 miles. Below is a picture of some of us climbing up on to the levee road.



The levee road is actually called "Garden Highway" and it follows the river for about 30 miles. Most of the pavement is very smooth, albeit we hit some areas where there are more patches than original paving. Three of the riders have never been on the levee before and enjoy the it greatly (except for the road surface). EDIT: One fun little thing. Many of the homes had mirrors placed opposite their driveways to help see on coming traffic as they pull out. It was fun to see our little squadron roll by as we passed the mirrors. One seldom gets to see oneself actually riding a bike.



At about 32 miles, we pass the outer most point to which I have been. We pass into the Forbidden Zone.



The road gets very rough, but there are some houses on the river that look more like Marriotts. And they're on stilts! Because of the very flat terrain, we are averaging something over 16 mph, without really trying. The road smoothes out.

We begin to get back into civilization and take a brief break under an underpass at mile 52. I'm glad I brought some extra food (PowerBars and Bananas) and we all have hydration packs and two bottles of electrolyte drink, which is not usually the case. We had planned a 70 mile ride, but it's clear this will be more . . . and it's heating up.

After a few moments of indecision and carrying our bikes over some more construction, we find the bike trail that will head us home. It's a rail trail, light rail, actually. At this time, we have climbed over 275 feet! Here's the trail.



Now on a trafficky road with a good shoulder, we make another turn for home and search, briefly, for a Starbucks. We settle for a Del Taco at 60 miles.

Now, it into a moderate wind, but the tacos seemed to have energized everyone and we're moving at a good 18 mph clip. A right turn at the dump and the wind is at our back. Passed the Indian Casino, up and over the highway (hill climb!) and soon into the neighborhood cafe for our after-ride Coke. 84 miles and we all agree it was a great ride, taken at a temperate pace and plenty of new scenery to view. We decide that we will do the ride again, in the opposite direction, adding enough miles to make it a century. Maybe next month.

Red Rider

That looks like fun. It reminds me of the Bike Around the Buttes century, held the weekend before the Chico Wildflower century in mid-to late-April.

Sometimes riding flat rides is more of a challenge than riding hills. Way to mix it up.

BikeWNC

Wish I had the option of a nice flat ride like this one. Looks like fun!

SaiKaiTai

Hey! Maybe I should come up your way for a ride.
That looks sweet!

jiminos

and here i sit wishing i had some hills to ride around here.... go figure. if i want hills, i have to haul the bike to the east side of the county... and even then, most of the terrain is flat. all we have around here is wind.... lots of wind.

looks like you had a great ride! thanks for sharing.

be well,

jim

Burr

That looks and sounds like a great ride.

That's not close to where the bus crashed last week going to the casino is it?

zacster

I have a lot of flat rides around here where the only hills are on the bridges. But when you are on the south shore of Brooklyn/Queens/Long Island there is always the ocean wind.

Retro Grouch 

84 miles with essentially no hills is a lot.

Our Monday night ride here in St Charles generally runs around 30 miles or so. I've never seen any profiles, but the nearest thing to a hill is where the road goes up about 6' and crosses a railroad track. Of course, that means you get to coast 6' down the other side. Wheeee!

Mojo Slim

Different casino. That crash was about 75 miles north of us. Tragic.

NOS88

+1 Very entertaining ride report. A flat ride is good for the soul every now and again.

howsteepisit

GReat ride report, wish I could have been there.

Kurt Erlenbach

Six hundred feet? Sounds like you got some hills there. On a fourty-miler out to the beach and back, I get about 200.

BlazingPedals

Two hundred feet, six hundred feet. Both sound excellent for lowracers. Too bad I won't be driving to either Florida or California until my paycheck catches up with gas prices - which may be a loooooooooong time!

Nice pics, Slim!

stapfam

Out to the cafe and I get 400ft. and that is only 10 miles and downhill most of the way.


Great to see some flatlands occasionally but the only flat we have round here is the Marshes. Very flat and very boring scenery. None of your local Fauna to deal with- the most dangerous I have seen was an "Escaped" ferret and a couple of herons.

But with scenery that you have- I could enjoy an LSD ride.

Beverly

It doesn't take much to amuse us as we grow older does it

Sounds like a nice ride. I enjoy the rides around here through the flat farmland....as long as the wind isn't too bad.

Allegheny Jet

I feel your pain. 600 feet would be a long way to fall. Near our cabin in Western PA is a paved rail train that is 34 miles long that follows the Allegheny River. I think my GPS showed 61 foot of climbing on the time I did a 68 mile out and back ride. If I take any road up and out of the valley the first climb is a minimum of 550 ft.

Bud Bent

A flat route with a view of a river......... sounds like my kind of ride.

Tom Bombadil

It sounds like my typical everyday ride! And I love it.

Allegheny Jet

Not to hijack the thread but here's a link to the trail. You do need a light to go thru the two tunnels.

https://www.avta-trails.org/allegheny-samuel-trails.html

jppe

Only in Ca!!