Touring * Slalom *

From Highway 99 in Manteca, take Highway 120 east to Oakdale, where it makes a 90-degree turn to the east and joins Highway 108. At the Yosemite Junction, the two highways split and 108 becomes the Sonora Pass Highway. Follow 108 4.6 miles beyond the Yosemite Junction and turn right onto Bell Mooney Road. One mile up, you'll find the beginning of Algerine Road. Turn right and follow it 2.2 miles to "Stent Cut off," a junction at Jacksonville Road. Find a strip of shoulder nearby where you can park and skate on Algerine Road.

Map: For a free map of Tuolumne County, call or stop by First American Title Company at 71 Shepherd Street, Sonora, CA 95370; (209) 532-3156.

Algerine Road is truly a find for skaters in the mood for exploring. The pavement is smooth and the grassy Sierra foothills are still gently rolling, not yet the rugged granite slabs found a few miles further east. The occasional lone oak cools the road as you skate past a few homes. Along the way, you'll encounter some relatively gentle hills and cross a one-lane bridge over the creek where cows often stop to enjoy a slurp of water.

A series of sharp curves follows the bridge, and you'll climb to the top of a hill where a curious yellow sign warns "Residential Area." It turns out that a small farm straddles the road, with its dusty corral on one side and several other ranch structures on the other. Down the slope, and four miles from where you started, you'll meet Twist Road. Turn left onto Twist and proceed three quarters of a mile through a big meadow to reach Murphy Road on the right. The pavement on Murphy looks much worse than it feels, and you can continue on through more gentle curves, meadows, and hills for another three miles until you reach Old Wards Ferry Road, where you should turn around and skate the seven miles back the way you came.