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After not riding for a couple of weeks, it was great to be back out on the trail. I'd originally planned to crib the North Ranch Mountain Bikers' Santa Rosa/Wildwood Loop, but ran a little short on time. Plans for Saturday night meant that I want to be sure I'd get home on time. So I skipped the Santa Rosa portion of the ride and headed for familiar territory.

(Map: "Wildwood - Lizard Rock - Lynnmere Loop")

I've been hiking in Wildwood park for years, so I know the plateau area and the trails down to the falls pretty well. But I'd never been down the switchbacks south of Lizard Rock, or over to the Lynnmere trail at all. I didn't have a lot of time to explore, but trading boots for wheels makes all the difference.

I headed out from the parking lot at Los Arboles Ave. out along the Mesa Trail to Lizard Rock. The trail has seen some maintenance recently, which is great, but the final few yards up to Lizard Rock itself still aren't bikeable (at least by me). So I hoisted my bike on my shoulder and up I went to enjoy the view.

Then it was time to head down the switchbacks toward the water treatment plant. Great trail, and I wish I'd been confident enough to put on some real speed through here. But two weeks off the bike doing tough workouts had taken the spring from my legs, and there were just too many hikers out to risk carrying any speed through the corners. Still a great section of trail, though.

From there it was back west to the falls, then a quick retrace of my path to the base of the fire road heading back up to the Tipi.

And here I hit a problem. Until now, I was basically in familiar territory. But I'd never been on the Lynnmere trail, and didn't know where to catch the connector trail. And I didn't have a paper map: I was using the screen on my digital camera to look at a photo of the trailhead kiosk map. So I kind of had tunnel vision, and didn't realize that there was a more detailed inset section of the map that would have pointed me right where I wanted to go.

In any event, I reminded myself that I was just exploring after all, and could easly be back to the car in ten minutes from where I was standing, and still had more than an hour before I had to be back at the trailhead. So I took my best guess, and headed out.

Thirty seconds later I spotted an easy-to-miss trail heading off the main road, marked with a sign: "Lynnmere Trail" with an arrow. Awesome.

The Lynnmere trail is fantastic. Great fun. I climbed up the connector trail, then headed east to Lynn Rd. Nothing very technical, but plenty of fun with lots of sharp turns and rolling hills to negotiate. I took one spill while trying to climb a set of stairs that I'll chalk up to a nearly treadless rear tire. Aside from that, it was all good all the way to the road, and a quick ride up Lynn to Arboles and then to the trailhead took me back to my car right on time.

I've heard a lot of people talk down on Wildwood, and I really don't know why. The trails are first rate, once you get off the major thoroughfares, and while it's never technical, it's a great place to work the legs without having to endure major climbs. (Then again, after making Rocky Peak my regular loop, I'm not sure I'm the one to judge whether there are any "real" climbs on a route.)

I can't wait to head back, and ride the whole Lynnmere trail from the Lynn Rd. trailhead all the way to where it meets (at leat according to the map I have) Hill Canyon Rd. west of the park. It would take a few hours, I think but might really be something special. I'll let you know.