B + M

hi, I want to do some short one or two night trips leaving from sacramento. Anybody have some ideas or routes for me? I will be camping, no credit cards or hotels involved. Thanks

raybo

Check out this page: https://centralcaliforniacycling.com/

It has a list of routes in Central California, several of which start in Sacramento.

Ray

B + M

thanks for the link! some good rides in there.

rodar y rodar

Awesome! That link is going in my collection as soon as I get home!

mtnroads

The previous link posted has some great routes but most of them are from Sac westward, and the poster obviously does not mind traffic. The one Sierra route posted that I saw is for Sac to Truckee/Reno and involves riding on I-80 past Gold Run. I would never do that due to the horrible road debris, speed of the cars trying to get up to Tahoe, and the number of trucks which pull ont the shoulder to allow cars to pass on the steeper sections. Sorry but that's nuts.

If you want to get up into the Sierras, go out the back roads from Folsom to Pollock Pines and up Mormon-Emigrant Trail to Hwy 88. But that is a lot of climbing for short 1-2 night forays, so consider some loops through the foothills south of Hwy 16 (Jackson Hwy) instead. There you will find many beautiful 2 lane roads that lead you out past Ione to several reservoirs where camping is available such as New Hogan and Pardee. It is gorgeous in the Oak foothills in the Spring. Just Google "cycling", "Ione", and Jackson Hwy" to get lots of links with maps.

Raiden

Just another Sacramentan saying thanks for the link :]

If you want a ride to kick your own butt with, ride the 100+ miles from Sacramento to the Napa Valley, past Lake Barryessa (or stop at Lake Solano; not as scenic but a fraction of the distance and no hills to cross, either). A friend of mine has done weekenders to campsites east of Folsom Lake via the end of the river trail; I'm not exactly sure where they are, however.

raybo

That is part of the ACA Western Express route. I rode it from San Francisco to Carson City (I didn't go to Pollock Pines, I went through Pleasant Valley instead) and it is uphill (in both directions) all the way to Carson Pass (8574 ft). From Placerville to Kirkwood was the hardest day I've ever had on a bike tour.

Here is my journal of that trip: https://www.biketouringtips.com/bike....City/index.htm

Ray

soyned

Hi, I couldn't get google maps to draw me a good route to show you, but this summer I biked from Sacramento (started at the airport) to Vacaville. It's about 40 miles on back roads and it was SO beautiful and amazing. You pass lots of fruit orchards, one of which is obviously abandoned, and an old barns you can stop to rest in. In vacaville I camped out at this location: pleasants valley rd and cherry glen rd, vacaville, ca. Plug it into google maps and choose the Satellite view, and you can see just to the southeast of the intersection there is a short driveway leading into a copse of trees in the middle of a wheat field. It's just trees in the middle, and it's perfect for camping. I actually slept in the wheat field for a couple weeks, sleeping bag only, when it was really hot in the summer. This is also about 1 mile from Animal Place Farm Sanctuary, if you are interested in visiting it you should try to coincide your trip with one of their volunteer orientation days. It's super fun if you are into that kind of thing.

This is the route I took, starting at the Sacramento International Airport. You should look at Google maps to familiarize yourself with the city portion before taking off.

Go south through crossfield way
Go south onto N Bayou rd
Cross river going west (you have to bike on the freeway here, but the bridge is the only freeway portion of the whole trip).
^^2.3 miles

Take the first exit after the bridge to River Road/County Rd #22
Follow directly West 3.9 mi
Enter town, becomes E Main St 1 mi
Turn left @ County Rd #102 6 mi
Turn right @ #29 4.0 mi
Turn left @ #98 2.0 mi
Turn right @ #31 5.0 mi
Slight left becomes 93A 1.1 mi
Slight right becomes Russel Blvd 3.3 mi
Becomes CA-128/E Grant 4.7 mi
Turn left @ County #86/Pleasants Valley Rd 10.8 (fun hilly portion at very end when I thought I was going to die)
Turn right @ Cherry Glen
Turn right again, right away, at the gravel driveway with the abandoned mailbox
Camp!

Getting to town (very easy):
Go back to Pleasants Valley Road and bike north (maybe 6 miles?)
Turn right @ Foothill Dr
Follow Foothill Dr a mile or two and suddenly you are downtown.

Also if you want to add an extra day I would recommend biking from vacaville to davis, ~20 mi. Just look at google maps to find a backroads route and write down the directions to take with you. Make sure your route includes Old Davis Rd, and when it crosses South Fork Putah Creek, you should stop and climb down to the river and go swimming or just check it out if it's not hot. It's all pristine and perfect, and there's a pool dammed up with a built-in waterslide. You could probably camp there too. Again look at the satellite view to get an idea before you go. You can see the dam on the map and even the little waterfall that is good for sliding down. I washed my one set of clothes there. This thread makes me wish I was still biking around.

B + M

I've done the ride from sac to davis many times, and davis to winters a few times,but never stretched it into an overnighter. I think I may be trying your ride in the near future. thanks