Three River's Century ride, 2019 edition.

Nimbus Dam, from the American River Parkway.

I've been gradually getting in shape after a slow Spring and decided it was time for an "easy" century ride. For me, that means doing my "Three River Ride", which passes along the Feather, Sacramento, and American Rivers.

I chose the King Of Mercia for this ride.

This would be the longest ride I've attempted using the mustache bars on my KOM. I was curious how I wold like them for a long ride. The forecast high temperature was "HOT", 101-104F, so I wanted to get an early start. I did manage to get away before 7 a.m. but I should have tried to start earlier! I wore a wicking T shirt under my white jersey with sun sleeves, just like the Camp Far West ride.  This combination has proven to be pretty comfortable in hot weather.

On Pleasant Grove Road

This route starts from Loomis and goes to Lincoln, via Sierra College Blvd. and Highway 193.
After Lincoln, you take Nicolaus Road, (9th Street in Lincoln), to Pleasant Grove, turn right and then take the first left which is, Nicolaus Ave. you'll stay on this road to the Garden Highway.  These are generally quiet country roads but with occasional traffic including a large truck every so often, so you need to take care. the day I rode was a weekday, so the roads were fairly quiet, and Nicolaus seemed deserted!

Quiet day in Nicolaus

Past Nicolaus, you will cross under Highway 99 and the road then becomes the Garden Highway. Here I was treated to the sight of three deer,two young bucks and a young doe, darting in front of me! Eventually, you pass River Oaks Golf Club and ascend to the levee road which you will be on until you enter Sacramento. The levee road is generally in good condition but the shoulders can be a bit narrow. On a weekday, traffic is no problem at all, but I suspect this road could be pretty busy on weekends! Near Verona there are two stretches of very bad pavement, really rough and chewed up.

Along the Feather River

After the second stretch of bad road, a little past Verona, the pavement improves. Soon you cross the Sutter-Sacramento County line and the road is very good. You can soon see Sacramento International airport.

On the Garden Highway with the Sacramento skyline in the distance.

Eventually you'll be able to make out the Sacramento Skyline and soon you're passing under the I-5 overpass. There is a small park with a boat ramp here that makes a good stopping place for a snack and a break.

After a short break I continued on the Garden Highway, heading to Sacramento. The surrounding become more suburban than rural, soon you come to Discovery Park, the start of the American River Parkway.

On the American River Parkway

The Jedediah Smith Multi-Use Trail is the path you ride when riding the Parkway. It's a wonderful trail and it takes you through stretches that seem wild while only being yards from the city! Wildlife can be seen and there are lots of places to stop along the way which have restrooms and water available. I traveled uneventfully up until just past Nimbus Dam, where the trail follows under some steep bluffs. There I was met by a literal brick wall!

Why yes, the parkway is closed at the Bluffs! Note the path around the roadblock on the right!

There is an alternative route on the south side of the river now, I've taken that before but frankly didn't care for it; at this point of the ride I'm getting tired and don't want to have to find my way through Folsom! I noticed that there was a well worn path going around the barrier, so I decided to take a chance and try to get through the blockage.

As you can see in the picture below, there was a good reason for the closure! But again, there are paths going around these blockages as well! I again walked around the debris and continued on.

...and here's why it's closed! Note again the paths around the obstacles.

Eventually I came to the second and final wall which again had a path around it. Then I was clear! I was getting close to Negro Bar and Folsom.

I was now on the final leg of the ride. From Folsom, I rode the bike trail up to Beals Point State Park and stopped there for a break and a cold soda. It was now starting to get pretty warm. The final stretch followed Auburn-Folsom Road up to King, then King to home in Loomis. Final mileage on "MapMyRide" was 101.1 miles.

Today's ride proved to me that temperatures have a lot to do with my performance on longer rides. My legs were threatening to cramp up quite a bit on the final leg and I'm pretty sure it was because of the 100+ temperatures at the end of the day.

Equipment wise, I had two issues. One I noticed while riding; shifting was getting a little unreliable between 3rd and 4th gear. It turns out that my derailleur cable had become badly frayed and had lost several strands of material! See below:

This may have affected my shifting slightly!

Replacing the cable seems to have eliminated the problem. The other issue I did not discover until I began working on the rear derailleur; I found that I had lost the bolt connecting the right rear fender stay to the frame!

Finally, the mustache bars worked out fine. I noticed a little more, or maybe just different, pressure on my hands that I compensated for by shifting hand positions. But my neck and back felt very good after the ride, no stiffness at all.