A page in transition: Folsom:0, me: 1ish!

Yes! The trip to Folsom was more or less a success. It was completely a success in that I got there right as Chris John was getting off work, so Huzzah for me! Around 27 miles in two hours and five minutes, here is the recap.
I could not find my lil' bike pump, so I took off with all the other listed items from last post and some chapstick. I figured that in the worst case scenario, I would have to walk a fair amount and call someone to pick me up or find a bus route that would suit my needs. I took off at 3pm because I lost a fair amount of time looking for that rascal of a bike pump. By that time, I had been running around in my helmet for ~1/2 hour, loathing it the whole time but fulling expecting to leave the house any second.
For those unfamiliar with the American River Bike Trail, it is nothing short of lovely.

It is well paved and more or less flat with some gentle rolls that would not ever be called hills. When I first heard about it, I thought it was some gravel path perilously close to sheer drops into the American River. It is like I was living on a different planet back then, or I was just simple.

These pictures give you an idea of how pleasant it is. The river is off to your right in this shot, there is a healthy amount of tree cover for most of the trail, and some crazy looking birds with yardstick long tails and urban squirrels who were tired of the rat race at the Capitol. Wild turkeys too.

Previously, the farthest I had been on the ARBT was to Sac State with Chris. This is me, a fire in my belly from covering new ground!

For most of today's ride, I was as regal as a sack of cement in my bike saddle--I could not tell you why I was sitting so un-pretty, but I'm sure I'll feel it much more intensely in the morning.

By the way, the river looks freakin' wonderful right now. I repeatedly considered taking a tumble into it, in spite of the beautiful mid-60's weather.

Looking a little worse for wear somewhere around 15 miles (in skinny leg jeans, I might add). No, I'm not drunk, you can tell because both of my eyes are open.

Things were straight wonderful until I got to where the ARBT ends and where the Folsom Bike Trails are supposed to pick up. Here is a shot across the five lane highway where Folsom Bike Trails were supposed to make an appearance.

WTF, Folsom? Anyhow, it took a little bit of resolve to bounce back from that, I got my adrenaline levels amped up by biking on Hazel and Iron Point on a scabby looking shoulder with the occasional faded bike emblem chipping away from the pavement. It actually wasn't that bad except for the first part when I was acclimating to being off the trail. It was like being in detox, very scary and painful. But after that, it wasn't too bad except for the terror of knowing that most of the drivers overtook me without seeing me at all.

I made it to Intel, though. Glory days!