Day 3 of #ridingeverydayinNovember

Today was a big day, in more ways than one. I had an 1100 mile drive home and I stopped about halfway through it to ride my bike in the American River Bike Path. In doing that I added considerably to my mileage for the month.

As I drove up I-5 I kept my eyes open for a park that I could not remember the name of. Discovery Park sounded familiar, and the exit was very near the river. I took the exit but within a few blocks I ran into this:

After several failed attempts to find the park I pulled into a parking lot and brought up a map. I found the entrance and seeing a lot of barricades and caution tape strung across road, I parked on the street a few blocks away and pedaled in.

It was a nice day for a ride. I arrived before most people has shown up. That situation changed during the time I was there. With all the construction going on it was difficult for me to navigate. I could tell by the topography that the river was sooner distance to the south. I brought up the map on my phone again to make sure I took the correct turn in the braided trails. It was fun playing the roll of discoverer

As I came around a bend in the trail I found a bike share bike just sitting miles from the nearest trail access.  I thought it was strange to see that someone had left it here, unless they parked it while going for a hike.

Before too long I found another bike, this one in the canal. It now all made perfect sense.  The first bike was standing vigil over its mate.

I eventually found the namesake Sacramento River.

I messed around a bit looking for the best setting to get a photo. 

 Soon enough I just got on the bike and pedaled.

After about 8 miles I came to a bridge.

Considering I had over 500 miles to drive yet today I determined that the bridge would be a good spot to turn around. Before leaving I went to mid span to get a photo of the Sacramento River.

A couple of older guys pedaled up and we struck up a conversation. We talked about the weather, the issues surrounding homelessness, climate change, and #ridingeverydayinNovember!  As we leaned over the railing discussing the issues, I noted a large fish in the water below us.  It had to be in well excess of 20 inches.  It was fascinating just watching it hold position waiting for lunch to drift by. After about 15 minutes of killing time, it was time for me to get going!

I pedaled back pretty much non stop, but did stop to read an informational sign.

I got back on the bike and pedaled.  I arrived back to the car, loaded the bike, and took off on the last leg of the long drive home. The 16.4 miles I pedaled today isn't much, but it managed to more than double my total mileage this month, and was more than the combined total of 5 months this year.

Jan...........0.................. 0..................0.....................0..............0
Feb...........0..................0..................0.....................0...............0
March.......0..................0..................0.....................0...............0
April..........0.................0..................0......................0...............0
May..........0..................0..................80....................0..............80
June........63.................0..................59....................0..............122
July..........86.................0..................78....................0..............206
August......24.................0.................0.....................0..............24
September.23................0.................0.....................0..............23
October........0................0.................0.....................0................0
November....27..............0.................0.....................0.............27

YTD.........260...............0................218.....................0.............479