81 MILES / 4,550 FEET

• Carmichael to Folsom on the American River Parkway Bike Trail; Folsom to Auburn via Natoma Street, Green Valley Road, Salmon Falls Road, and Hwy 49; Auburn to Orangevale through the Loomis Basin; Orangevale to Carmichael on the American River Parkway Bike Trail.
  
  

• SETTING

  • American River Parkway:  previously dredged ancient riverbeds

  • Roads about Folsom Lake:  Sierra Nevada foothills

  • Loomis Basin:  shady, attractive, lightly trafficked roads in an area of low density country residences
    
    

• START

  • Carmichael:  mile 13.5 of the American River Bike Trail, William Pond Recreation Area, Carmichael, CA

    • Travel to the intersection of Arden Way and Fair Oaks Blvd in Carmichael, CA (immediately east of Sacramento).  Park in the Five Points parking lot (SE corner of Arden Way & Fair Oaks Blvd, away from retail outlets) or on Arden Way, west of restricted parking.  Mile 13.5 is at the intersection of the American River Pkwy Bike Trail and the Arden Way access path.

  • Any portion of the American River Parkway Bike Trail can be used as the start / end point.
    
     

• RIDE CHARACTERISTICS

  • Climbing:  4,550 feet, none severely steep.  Most of the climbing is found in two sections:  Salmon Falls Road between the Folsom Lake bridge and Pilot Hill, and Hwy 49 between the American River and Auburn.

  • Difficulty:  medium.  Reasonably fit cyclists should not experience undue difficulty.

  • Risks:

    •  Inexperienced cyclists on the American River Parkway Bike Trail:  particularly on weekends there can be significant numbers of young cyclists who are utterly ignorant of the "rules of the road" and who can act entirely unpredictably.

    • Descent on Hwy 49 between Cool and the American River.  This section of road is narrow (little or no shoulder), twisty (limited forward visibility), vertical (descent of 770' over 2.0 miles), and populated by moderate traffic including frequent gravel trucks.

      • Riding this section on a counterclockwise course (per these pages) is not unreasonably hazardous, as the descent enables cyclists to ride almost as fast as vehicular traffic.

      • Riding this section on a clockwise course is unacceptably hazardous, as the slow pace of climbing makes critical the narrow road, absent shoulder, limited visibility, and large trucks.