It's summertime, and the biking is easy

With the nice, warm weather - a sign that summer is almost here - we recently decided to break out our bikes for a short ride along the Truckee River in Sparks. We headed to Cottonwood Park, at 777 Spice Island Dr., in the industrial part of Sparks.

The mostly paved Truckee River Bike Trail, which passes by the park, stretches for about seven miles from downtown Reno to the east end of Sparks. The trail is generally pretty flat and runs parallel to the Truckee River. Flooding last January washed out some portions of the trail in Sparks but it remains passable.

As soon as we unloaded our bikes, my daughter jumped onto hers and began scouting out the area. Eager to ride, she rode in circles around my wife and I, urging us to get moving.

Cottonwood Park was filled with families who were picnicking and barbecuing, so we made our way through the crowd, cautiously trying to avoid any collisions with the Frisbee-tossers and wandering small children.

A few yards from the park and we were suddenly alone. As we leisurely rode northeast on the trail, we took in the pleasant surroundings. The Truckee River is running extremely high, so it's quite a sight to behold, and serves as a perfect backdrop for the ride.

My daughter stopped after a couple of hundred yards to scamper down some rocks to look more closely at the river. She told us that next time she was going to remember to wear a bathing suit so she could check out the inviting water in a nearby eddy, where the current wasn't so strong.

Sitting on the rocks, she watched a couple of ducks riding along on the river current and heard a variety of other birds hidden in the thick foliage that borders the channel. Here, the river is lined with large, mature trees, many of which are cottonwoods, as well as green, full bushes and shrubs.

To the north of us we could see the Sparks industrial area, an unsightly mess of warehouses and businesses, but to the south was the river and, on the other side of it, open fields with cows - the University of Nevada farm.

A bizarre thing was that we could not only smell the delicate scents of wild flowers and shrubs in the air but also the faint odor of baking dry pet food from the nearby Ralston-Purina plant. Weird.

We rode on for awhile, chatting as we went about the nice weather, how my daughter's school year was soon coming to a close, and whether any animals lived inside of the virtual forest of low-growing bushes that lined the path.

We stopped at one point to search for an animal lair and found a large opening deep inside of the shrubs that looked promising. She and my wife climbed off their bikes and crept into the tunnel in the bushes.

As I kept on an eye on their bikes, I could hear them rustling around inside of the thick foliage, talking about how the opening was large enough for a person to make a reasonable home. They emerged from another opening, excited about their discovery.

After about 45 minutes of casual riding, with frequent stops to admire the views of the river, my daughter suggested we turn around and return to our car. She was suddenly hungry and all we had brought was bottles of water. Come to think of it, I was also a little hungry. I was still thinking about some of that delicious barbecue we had smelled back at the park.

• Richard Moreno is the author of "Backyard Travels in Northern Nevada" and "The Roadside History of Nevada" which are available at local bookstores.