Sacramento Running News

This is going to take a while. (SRN photo)

The paved trail along the north-ish side of Lake Natoma (below the Orangevale Bluffs) has been closed now for the past six months, due to multiple, large debris slides during this past winter’s record rains.

If you’ve been waiting with anticipation for the day you’ll once again be able run or ride your bike through here, expect to wait another several months.

Apparently, it won’t be as simple as running a front-end loader down there and scraping up the debris.

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South Howe detour (Click to enlarge. Image courtesy Army Corps of Engineers)

If you’ve been on the parkway trail near Howe Avenue and Sac State, you’ll have noticed there are a couple of detours in place that you’ll need to work around.

On the south side of the river (Sac State side), there is a short detour around the bridge at Howe Avenue. You cannot pass underneath Howe Avenue along the river, but must go around on a slightly sketchy gravel trail along La Riviera Drive. (See map. For pedestrians, this is no big deal. For bicyclists, I understand it is annoying.)

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District, this project will  “close a 200-foot gap in the existing cutoff wall located on the south bank of the American River at the Howe Avenue bridge. In addition, crews will install a blanket of low-permeability material on the waterside slope to reduce erosion, and will raise a 175-foot-long section of the existing levee upstream of Howe Avenue by an average of one foot.”

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Ranger Ollie sez: “Be careful!”

It’s the weekend and I’m sure most of us are planning to spend part of it on the American River Parkway. There are a couple of things to keep in mind.

On Saturday, May 17th, the American River Parkway Trail will be closed from Discovery Park to Del Paso Boulevard, from 6:00 a.m. to noon, for the Eppie’s Kid’s Duathlon and Fitness Festival.

The event starts and finishes at Discovery Park. More details about the closure and the race can be found here (PDF).

Then, on Thursday, May 22, Parks staff will be removing a large dead oak tree just east of the Ambassador parking lot near the 18.5 mile marker on the American River Bike Trail (near lower Sunrise).

Work will begin at 8:30 a.m. and should be completed by 11:00 a.m. There may be delays on the trail due to the size of the tree and its proximity to the trail.

Plan accordingly!

Ranger Ollie sez: “Be careful!”

Finally some good news for those of us who use and enjoy the American River Parkway!

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors has approved the hiring of four additional park rangers this year, on top of the two added last year.

The County now has 20 officers to monitor and patrol the 15,000 acre regional park system.

Read more about it here.

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Parkway at Watt (SRN photo)

Due to a levee improvement project, runners, walkers and bicyclists wishing to access the American River Parkway from Watt Avenue and American River Drive will find the way obstructed nightly after 6 PM beginning Monday, July 8th through Friday, July 12th, and again Monday, July 22 through Thursday, August 8th.

Additionally, there will be full day closures will beginning Friday, August 9th and continuing for five weeks through Wednesday, September 11.

Ramp closures will also affect access for those wishing to cross the Watt Bridge from the south side–to get to the north bank of the Parkway trail–using the pedestrian/bicycle bridge lanes.

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Be careful out there!

This morning’s Sacramento Bee once again takes up the issue of conflicts on the Parkway, noting that increased use leads to increased conflict.

There is more information here about the County’s plans for restoring order, and I’m struggling to argue with any of it.

This does seem rather basic. Basic physics, perhaps? (more…)

This is worth protecting. (SRN photo)

If you read the Sacramento Bee, you’ve probably noticed the spate of articles on the Sacramento County Park Rangers’ plans to crack down on speeding cyclists.

There was the original article, which has over 470 comments, (450 of them by idiots), which I responded to here, and the Bee’s follow-up Can’t We All Just Get Along? editorial  from yesterday—plus many, many letters to the editor.

The comments and letters have centered on the visceral “cyclists are jerks vs. runners are idiots” and vice versa.

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Watch out for rangers with radar!

Today’s Bee includes an article about how Sacramento County Parks Rangers are saying they are going to start cracking down on cyclists who break the posted 15 mph speed limit on the American River Parkway.

I was asked to provide comments for the story and I prefaced them with my usual “There is room for everyone,” which naturally didn’t make the story.

There is room for everyone. We all just need to behave ourselves. All of us.

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Hold on to your hats and bust out your favorite running shorts because next Wednesday (June 5th) is National Running Day!

I know. I know. Every day is ‘Running Day,’ but next week is ‘National Running Day’ so the entire country is required to run a little bit.

This even includes that neighbor of yours who always yells “Run Forest!” out the window of his Expedition as you pass each other during your morning run. Don’t be surprised to hear him ask you if he can borrow some Body Glide, but you are permitted to politely decline his request.

If you want to join a bunch of your fellow Sacramento runners, you can celebrate the day with the Sacramento Running Association by running a five mile, scenic loop along the American River. (This is coincidentally the same loop used for the Jed Smith Ultra Classic.)

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Just imagine this running all the way to Freeport.

Sacramento was built at the confluence of two great rivers: the Sacramento and the American. They join near Discovery Park and then flow south as the Sacramento River past Old Sacramento, Miller Park, Land Park, and Pocket.

While you can run along the American River all the way up to Folsom Lake (and beyond if you are motivated), you can only run along the Sacramento River for a few miles before you run into the first locked gate (near the La Rivage Hotel).

In my decades of running in the Sacramento area, I’ve run along this locked portion of the levee at least twice. Once, many years ago, a friend and I simply climbed each fence in our way. We were yelled at by homeowners and I cut my hand on one of the tall, chain-link fences, but it was a fun and interesting look at what was possible.

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