Over the summer I’d heard about a new trail system, just south of Cool on Highway 49, called Cronan Ranch. This weekend we finally had a chance to explore the trails there. Fiona and I met my brother and we headed up there this weekend.

The trailhead for Cronan Ranch is almost on highway 49 and the trails drop down to the river from there. Expect mostly fast buffed singletrack through meadows with some light tree cover.  With all the exposure summer riding is bound to be hot plus there is a lot of thistle and foxtail growing in the park so now is a great time to get out there before it gets too hot and dry. Of particular note was the West Ridge trail. It’s a fun fast section of singletrack that follows along a ridgeline.  You can easily put together some 10-15 mile rides at this park with lots of single and doubletrack.  What you won’t find at Cronan ranch is any technical MTB riding.

This park system is slated to be expanded and the plan is to eventually connect these trails up to the Salmon Falls bridge and Sweetwater/ Salmon Falls.  Kevin and I explored some of the trails which will likely connect these two systems and it looks like there will be plenty of great views and good riding along the American River.

Hopefully I’ll get the chance to return there and put together some nice routes. I have some pictures but none came out very well, I might post them a little later on. For now here is a Map of Cronan Ranch from the Coloma Valley Recreation Page for Cronan Ranch.

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From everything I’ve heard making the adjustment from Geared to SS is generally supposed to be a rough adjustment, this hasn’t turned out to be the case for me. My commuting has been on flat ground so the 34×13 gear ratio I run during the week keeps me cruising at about 20-22MPH with a nice cadence, my commute time is equivalent or often better than it was on my road bike. On the trail I did a pretty big 36 mile ride out of Columbia and this weekend I did a ride at Salmon Falls. On both rides I did wind up walking in a few places where I would normally ride but on the singlespeed I just can’t help but ride faster. Technical riding is the biggest challenge so far. The 29″ wheels help a lot but I just can’t quite ride up to the level that I was able to.  We’ll see how things progress.

One of the biggest reasons I did this was to have an interim bike while I got the fork repaired on the Titus.  The thing is I’m having so much fun I haven’t even taken the fork off the Titus yet

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Well, obviously I don’t need tell you about the trip up but, I had a great time flying up to Oregon with Ogre. For me the best part of the weekend was the fact that I got to actually ride all three days of MTB Oregon and there were skills clinics for women specifically.

When Ogre and I started planning this trip, I visited the MBO website and requested the video CD to see what to expect. I didn’t think the chances were good that I’d be able to ride much and especially not with Ogre. The trail listings sounded like the rides were more advanced than my skill level, but I figured I’d find something that would be fun and maybe I’d be able to walk/ride my way through one ride. Boy was I wrong. There were several beginner/intermediate trails available. The one that kept me coming back everyday was the Salmon Creek Trail. This trail left directly from the camp area and followed along the side of a beautiful creek. The majority of it was covered by lush, mossy forest and even in the heat was a pleasure to ride. Read the rest of this entry »

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This weekend was a HUGE adventure for us and it had several very tense moments, including one point where we were flying at 11,500’ through the pass next to Mount Shasta and the engine of our small aircraft died completely.

It all started late last year, we had signed up for MTB Oregon, which is a great mountain biking event in Central Oregon (how great we had yet to discover). Simultaneously, I was working on getting a friend’s plane flying. Then it occurred to me. What if we could fly to the MTB Oregon Ride? So we set our plans in to motion and the result was an adventure we will not soon forget. Read the rest of this entry »

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Finally after a long hiatas I returned to Salmon Falls and Mickey Mouse (Old Ride Report with pictures here). We had stopped going because several sources said the trail was closed but apparently it was temporary or just vandalism. Anyhow… the return trip was glorious. Mickey Mouse trail was in premium condition and was every bit as challenging as I remembered it.

I brought my helmet cam and captured some decent footage which I am processing right now. In the mean time you can check out some pictures from my ride on MTBR. While on the ride we had a random encounter with a couple of riders who were fascinated by the car at the top of the trail. More Pictures on MTBR, below and this video (3MB) show the results. Hey Josh and Jerry, Thanks for the trailside entertainment. Read the rest of this entry »

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I just got an email and I thought it was an excellent question so I figured I would put it up here to share.

>Mr. Ogre, (I actually prefer just Ogre or Dennis)
> Great site! I love your trails descriptions… I was wondering if you could recommend your favorite summer trails.. I live in downtown sacramento and Salmon Falls, Granite Bay and Auburn are getting waaay too hot to ride this time of year.
> Can you recommend a cooler summer trail, temperature-wise? I don’t mind making a long drive.
> Also, what trails are the best to see some Redwoods?
> Any help is appreciated.
> Thanks!
> – Chris

Chris, you should head towards the coast, look on my website under North Bay or South Bay (East Bay is still pretty warm). Annadel is a great place to ride and has lots of shade. A lot of people really like China Camp, I don’t have a ride report but it’s a fun place to ride if you stick to the singletrack. Skyline Park is also a bit cooler than it is in the Central Valley. Since you want to see some redwoods, consider heading to Skeggs Point (AKA El Corte de Madera/ ECdM) or the Saratoga Gap Trail, or any of the South Bay Rides

In the other direction is the Sierras, Sly Park offers some good riding and there are tons of rides in the Lake Tahoe Area (I don’t have many Tahoe rides on my site but there are plenty out there). One trail in the Sierras that I really enjoy is Elicott’s Crossing, which takes you along the Rubicon River near Georgetown. Another great place to look is MTBSingletrack.com which has lots of Nevada City Area rides. I haven’t been able to explore that area much but it should be cooler than the Auburn Ravine.

Hope that gives you a few summertime options.
—Ogre

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Originally posted by memine on mtbr

“Some news for you: I received an email from a visitor to the Darrington Trail (aka Salmon Falls). He had never ridden there before and was in search of the Mickey Mouse Trail and Flagstaff Trail. Well he found them both along with the landowner of the private property that these trails cross. Yes, indeed these two trails are on private property. Chris Marney tells me that the State Park property stops at 200 feet above the lake level (high water mark I suspect).

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I am finally able to settle down to write the ride report for Saturday’s kick butt ride at Salmon Falls. We started the day with 5, Ogre, Fiona (my wife Char), George, Joseph, and Fred. Weather was overcast and a bit foggy which kept much of the moisture from the previous nights rain on the trail. Overall traction was pretty good though and standing water was only an issue on a few sections of Sweetwater. We did have a few steep spots which were pretty hairy due to slippery conditions though.

Check out the Ride Report and Pictures Here.

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