Call me an idiot. Tell me I'm a fool, but in my own defense, I need to say that the first time I tried a Google bike map recommendation, it led to Shepherd Canyon bike trail, a neat and pretty route.
So when Google recommended this little 1.5 mile shortcut off Bear Creek Rd as a the way to get to Alhambra Valley going to Pleasant Hill, I looked at the map. It seemed OK to me, and it was probably pretty right now, and it would cut some miles off the route from the Bears to Pleasant Hill Rd -- maybe even cut out Pig Farm Hill.
I decided what the heck, I'll try it. It's only a mile-and-a-half, so what's the worst that could happen?
So when the paved road turned into gravel at about 1/4 mile in on Garcia Ranch Road (on the way to Rancho del Lago Rd. and Rancho La Baca Rd.), I thought, "this has got to be just a short little glitch ... Google wouldn't recommend a route like this..."
I definitely should have turned around when after another 1/4 mile or so, the gravel ended and the road turned into dirt... but I was curious and the road was still rideable...
But then there were unmapped forks in the road, and there were no road signs, so it was impossible to tell whether this way was the road and the other way was just a long ranch driveway, or vice versa.
I met a rancher tending horses and a friendly driver along the way, who gave me directions to get back on the right path... Instructions like, "Go back and take a right at the sign that said, 'Half Horse Ranch.' You can't miss it."
I got back on the right road a couple of times... but by the time the road turned into deep gullies that reminded me of the Grand Canyon, I was not about to turn around. This was a matter of pride and accomplishment, after all. And it just couldn't be that much further... this was only a 1 1/2 mile shortcut...
Of course I had to get off the bike walk up the gullied road, but that was OK because it was way too steep to cycle up anyway.
It wasn't really suitable for road bikes. Or mountain bikes, or for that matter, cars or trucks, short of say, jeeps fitted for off-road driving. Come to think of it, that road was best suited to mules or mountain goats, although a good, sure-footed pack horse would probably have done OK.
I'm not certain where Google got its information that this was in a road, other than it carried the name, "Road," as a sort of abstract idea...
At any rate, it only went on like that, nearly straight up, for about another 1/4 mile or so before it started to level off, at which point there was a gate and on the other side there was ... gasp... pavement...
In fact, this was very good news indeed, because this little back road came down to the top of Pig Farm Hill... turned out to be the road, Rancho La Baca Rd., that shoots off from Alhambra Valley right at the top of the hill. It was a shortcut after all .... just not one you could ride or that would save time.
But I was saved and endlessly thankful to be back on an road I knew, and I knew to be paved and to go to another paved road....
Two lessons from this little adventure:
- Take people seriously when they say that Google bike maps is a work in progress and still needs input to let them know what roads aren't really roads.
- No matter how well-intentioned people are, don't believe them when they tell you, "It's just up there on the left. You can't miss it."
You may find that it's not up there on the left and you can miss it.