Atypical Ride on a Riv

[Collin A]

Sort-of Ride Report

Most of my rides during the pandemic were the same couple of loops around the American river in Sacramento, which does have some great trails and some not-so-legal singletrack, but gets old if that's all you are doing. I wasn't often able to (or unwilling) to make the 90 min drive to the Bay Area to get a greater variety of riding in - think Mt Tam area, Mt Diablo, Golden Gate Rec area, etc but I did head up to Auburn and truckee when I got the chance and it was on fire or snowed in.

Fast forward a year and I recently picked up a neat little tool to help increase the variety of riding that I can do in a city with a river that runs through it - a packraft! Its a pretty cool thing to be able to bike up to 30 miles and paddle almost back home, or bike 35 miles and paddle into a boat-in campsite (sadly, the mosquito Fire in Foresthill area has closed most of those off for the forseeable future). I've gotten the setup pretty well dialed, so I can load up an S24Os worth of gear plus a raft, paddle, and PFD (I mostly go solo) without the Riv weighing like an absolute tank (its still close to 70 lbs though!). 

The typical route I try to do on the weekends now is to ride from my apartment in Midtown and up to Nimbus dam (or just a little downstream), blow up the raft, strap the bike to it, then paddle about 7-15 miles depending on how I feel and how strong the wind is (wind is much worse on a raft than on a bike). Its a great way to spend the afternoon, and the river almost always changes from day-to-day thanks to drought related water releases and power-requirements (the river is dammed pretty much the whole way, but the last stretch is the USACE Folsom dam and Nimbus diversion).

Anywho, just wanted to share what is fast becoming a more typical ride for me, but definitely a fun and different experience to my typical local ride. With the colder weather setting in, I'll also have to wear something more than swimtrunks and sandals though :(

Some sunny day photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8SjaVxY2ZNV3wJ9v6

Cheers,

Collin in Stormramento

[st nick]

That really looks like a fun adventure Collin.

Thanks for sharing.

14 years ago in 2008 I started a month long bicycle tour in Sacramento riding along that path by the American River and on to Folsom and then on east to meet up with a friend to ride Hwy 50 across Nevada.

I still remember the long climb up Carson's Pass loaded up with way too much gear,  around 70 pounds worth with the panniers .

Paul in Dallas 

.

[J]

Good stuff Collin. I agree, packrafting is great! I haven't had the opportunity to do in some years and my setup was never as svelte as yours appears to be, but I didn't mind that. It was easier living out west where there were far less damns to contend with or maybe better said that distance between damns was greater than it is in the south east.  

[John Rinker]

Very cool, Collin! I've been contemplating getting a packraft for a few years now. I was never sure how my 62cm Hunq would fit on it, but seeing your Appaloosa makes it seem very possible indeed! 

Thanks for sharing!

Cheers, John

[Collin A]

Paul, 2008 was 14 years ago?! Yikes! Hwy miles aren't too exciting up there, but there are some nice forest service roads that connect Sacramento and Truckee if you are willing to share the trail with some monstrous ATVs (and the forest isn't on fire). Here is a shot of one of the roads we took on that route (much better recommendation than Carson Pass, although 50 miles further north). How was that ride by the way? I'm contemplating doing something similar this year to visit my wife in Salt Lake City.

As for dams, it definitely affects the amount of rapids along certain rivers and general access, but I only recently found out that before Folsom/Nimbus was constructed the American river usually dried up by this time of the year. I guess that's why they built the thing - access to water year round. Fun fact, CA has nearly 1300 dams, so we've got A LOT out here in the west on almost every river/creek you can imagine.

John, the long stays of the appaloosa do occasionally get in the way of a good paddle stroke, I'm still trying to refine the orientation a bit more, but I'd imagine even with your 62 Hunq on the bow you'd be fine. Your diag-a-tube would also allow a bit more flexibility in how you strap the frame to the raft.

Cheers,

Collin in Sactown.

[ascpgh]

That is so cool Collin! 

I've used my bike to shuttle from the take out of our favorite white water river (Mulberry River, AR). The take out was on our way upriver so it was convenient to do this. One or two of us would ride back to the vehicle(s) and drive back for the boats. Second time we did that we dropped other gear and supplies with the bikes so those staying with the boats could cook up a fitting lunch/dinner while we rode to and fetched the trucks.  Love the multi-mode days!

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Richard Rose]

Well this would be an interesting way to do the GAP!

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On Sep 20, 2022, at 6:43 AM, ascpgh <asc...@gmail.com> wrote:

That is so cool Collin! 

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[ascpgh]

William Nealy drew a map of the Lower Youghigheny (95 miles of the GAP) that would come in handy.

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[ascpgh]

Forgot a link to the map: https://shop.adventurewithkeen.com/product/nealy-map-lower-youghiogheny-river/

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Brian Turner]

This seems cool and all, but every time I see photos of folks packrafting with their bikes and wheels all precariously strapped to the top of the raft, I just can't help from thinking how much it would suck to capsize with all your bike gear. Maybe I'm just too used to the waterways I've paddled in my part of the country where you can easily find yourself taking a swim if you're not careful or skilled at paddling!

[Mark Schneider]

What a fun adventure, I've done a lot of paddling and biking, but never together.

[Collin A]

Everything is strapped down and the only loose part is the passenger! You can account for the occasional capsize by picking bags that are submersible - think ortlieb bags. I've only run the lower fork of the American River and paddled up in Folsom Lake, so its pretty calm by most river standards.

That being said, I have done a test capsize in some flat water and it is nearly impossible to flip it in the water...I had to paddle it to the shore and flip it there. I could attach some perimeter lines to help rotate it but then you run into entrapment hazards, etc. so I'm not planning on that. But as always, paddle in your comfort zone!

Collin, Clearing skies, in Sacramento

On Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 10:18:02 AM UTC-7 brok...@gmail.com wrote:

[rlti...@gmail.com]

Nice! I may be able to also something similar here. We do have a river that flows out of the mountains and empties into one of our beaches. Not sure how much would be raftable though.

Reminds me of the story I read a while back. Bike tour with Bromptons and rafts in the UK:

Robert Tilley

San Diego, CA

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On Sep 18, 2022, at 11:01 AM, Collin A <collinm...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Eric Marth]

Thanks for sharing, Collin, seems like a great time and fun excursions. I did an overnight kayak trip once and let's just say I should really hone my paddling skills. That was here in Virginia, on the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers.