Northern California - daily commuting in sacramento area?

i'm considering relocating to northern california/sacramento area and am wondering what the commuting scene is like. bike lanes? racks? shops? motorists? number of other cyclists?

i currently commute year-round in boston, with its poor roads, aggressive motorists, crap weather, and only a handful of lanes in the city proper. but with all those negatives, there are a lot of cycling commuters, and growing bike scene, and lots of cool shops.

any feedback would be helpful. i've checked out some websites, but would like to hear from cyclists "in the trenches."

The American River Bike Trail is a major cycling artery for commuters. My wife uses it for half of her commute. Most roads have bike lanes. Some motorists are aggressive, but the vast majority are courteous. Lots of shops in the area, and a lot of cyclists.

+1 for Joel's post. I commuted for almost two years from Fair Oaks to Cal Expo area, about 19 miles one-way. Very peaceful in the morning on the bike trail. In the afternoon, people can get into some fun pacelines. You get to know the regulars.

My neighbor worked in the building next to mine. He drove. I would usually beat him in to work. Don't know how you commute during the winter. but you will find it really easy, compared to Boston.

Yeah, the bike trail is the crown jewel of the area. Not your average MUP.

I commute to Sac from Davis, so I don't get the priveledge of riding the trail much. My friends come from the East and that's their main route in. Overall a great area for cycling. Though, you have to ride a ways to find some hills.

As much as I like to complain, Sacramento is very well suited for bike commuting. In addition to the ARBT mentioned above, the city itself is pancake flat and the city center is laid out in a grid, so it's easy to get where you need to go without having to brave the major thoroughfares. And even those have gotten or are about to get bike lanes. The weather is decent for the most part: rain and fog but no snow in the winter. Blazing, frying pan heat in the summer. The spring and fall are ideal.

We're still behind Portland and the Twin Cities (!?!) but Sacto has the highest percentage of bike commuters in the state and has the potential to lead the country.

thanks, everyone. good to read the positive feedback. makes moving there more enticing. i especially like the mention of grids (take a look at map of the boston/cambridge/brookline area sometime; the confusing roads will make your head spin). never biked in the fog really, but imagine it may be easier than riding through blizzards and single digit temps.

I commute using bike lanes, bike trail and with light rail 25 miles aday one way (When i'm not healing from a broken collar bone that is.) Sacramento is a great place for bike commuters.

Sacramento is quite bike friendly. Lots of bike lanes around the city college, as well as nice bike stores there too

The suburbs get hilly with winding roads - either due to hills (Roseville/Rocklin/Loomis/EDH) or rivers (Folsom).

I commute almost every day (not today thought!) - all bike lanes, busy road and cars are still nice, but I do have (2) 6% grades to climb

I commute some during the summer. I always use the ARBT - it's great for commuting, especially if you work close to the river and need to cross town. Out of 23 miles, I only have 6 miles of riding that put me on the streets with traffic, and the rest of the ride is along beautifully paved MUT along the river. It's fun to see the differences in plants and terrain between downtown and the Rancho Cordova/Folsom area. It's like two different worlds.

My buddy used to bike from Folsom (east of Sacramento) to Sacramento daily on the bike trail, about 22 miles one way, and no problems. Lots and lots of shops, and some really good clubs. Check out the Davis Bike Club site for info in this area (Davis is just west of Sacramento): http://www.davisbikeclub.org/

Sacramento bike commuting is like Sacramento car communting: east-west is good, north-south not so much (Only I-5 or Cap-City Freeway for cars - no better for bikes). That said, I go north and south (North Natomas to Downtown) without too many annoyances. Word is, Elk Grove is virtually cut off.

Sacramento bike commuting is like Sacramento car communting: east-west is good, north-south not so much (Only I-5 or Cap-City Freeway for cars - no better for bikes). That said, I go north and south (North Natomas to Downtown) without too many annoyances. Word is, Elk Grove is virtually cut off.

Good point. I do have some friends that commute from Elk Grove. However, I do not envy them.

I ride down past Freeport to Courtland often and it strikes me that if they opened up the road through the Beach Lake Preserve to cyclists, they could link up Laguna Blvd. with Freeport Blvd. and it would be a straight shot into downtown. I think that this was part of a long-term plan, but as far as I can tell there's been no movement on it.