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Applegate Lake trails offer mountain biking fun Friday Sep 23, 2005 at 2:00 AM Dec 18, 2010 at 4:40 PM BOB KORFHAGE,for the Mail Tribune Bike Trails I spend most of my bicycle riding time hovering over the skinny tires of my road bikes. Although I own a mountain bike, most of the time I ride it on gravel roads, seldom venturing onto single-track trails. Last spring, however, relatives from Washington state came to visit, bringing their mountain bikes. They were experienced riders and not interested in gravel roads, so I had to scope out trails for them. I had only a vague idea of what to recommend until I stopped at a bike shop and picked up a Treadmaps 3-D Topographical Mountain Biking Map & Guide for Southern Oregon. Wow! For & 36;9.99, this map, printed on water-resistant paper, features 138 miles (40 trails) of single-rack mountain biking for riders of all levels. Each route is shown on a topographic map, accompanied by a profile, level of difficulty, elevation gain/loss-and a brief description of the trail and where it starts and ends. Already familiar with Applegate Lake, I honed in on that area. I consider myself a step up from a beginner (based on earlier trail motorcycle riding experiences), but I was looking for some easier riding for my first single-track experience. Because I couldn't find any beginner trails, I chose an easy intermediate ride. When my guests arrived, we headed for the French Gulch Campground to start our ride on Payette Trail No. 970. Our intent was to ride clockwise around the lake to the Manzanita Trailhead. This is a 9.2-mile-long, scenic trail along the lake's eastern shore. — I had a blast riding this narrow, hilly, windy trail as we dipped into water drainages with tight turns, brushed the trees growing close to the trail and avoided the overhanging poison oak. It was springtime and many wildflowers were showing their colors adjacent to the trail. I would not recommend this trail to a true beginner as there are numerous places that require good bike handling skills. Much of the trail has steep drops that go right to the water's edge. When we reached our turnaround destination, I pushed my bike back up a steep, rocky section of jeep trail, which eventually connected to Road 1041, and proceeded to ride the pavement back up the west side of the lake, while my more experienced nephews and their dad retraced their earlier route. Both of the boys are expert riders and were impressed with the riding opportunities in the Applegate area. The map/guide I mentioned earlier shows 19 designated intermediate to advanced mountain biking trails in the Applegate Lake area. Additional information is available from the Forest Service's Applegate Ranger District, 899-3800, or from Southern Oregon Mountain Bike Association at . SOMBA members this summer spent an arduous day building trail at Applegate Lake. The result is an impressive section of new trail, designed to bypass a damaged section of the Payette trail on the east side of the lake. It is always gratifying to see users of our natural resources put their positive energy back into the areas they use. Way to go, SOMBA! Bicycling enthusiast Bob Korfhage of Phoenix is a former president of Siskiyou Velo bicycle club.