29 MILES / 390 FEET
54 MILES / 545 FEET
70 MILES / 630 FEET

• Travel from Carmichael through Central Sacramento to the Sacramento River Bike Trail, negotiating (29 mile ride) Riverside Blvd or (54 & 70 mile rides) Yolo County's South River Road.
  
   

• SETTING

  • American River Parkway Bike Trail:  a quiet, traffic-free, scenic, and direct conduit through the metropolitan area (all routes).

  • Streets of Central and Southern Sacramento:  quiet, shady passage from Eastern Sacramento to the Sacramento River (all routes).

  • Sacramento River Bike Trail:  nice river views from the east side of the Sacramento River (all routes).

  • South River Road:  quiet and scenic river views from the west side of the Sacramento River (54 & 70 mile routes).

  • Clarksburg: quiet, attractive, productive farmland (70 mile route). 
    
    

• 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, or a point near the ride itself, can be used as the start / end point.
    
     

• 29 MILE RIDE

  • This route passes through Central Sacramento and down Riverside Blvd to the southern end of the Sacramento River Bike Trail, which leads to Central Sacramento and the ride start.

   

• 54 MILE RIDE

  • This route goes through Central Sacramento to Capitol Mall and the Sacramento River Bike Trail, which it takes to Riverside Blvd, Pocket Road, and Freeport Blvd.  From the town of Freeport it follows Yolo County's South River Road back to West Sacramento, Discovery Park, and the ride start.

   

• 70 MILE RIDE

  • After passing through Central Sacramento this route takes the Sacramento River Bike Trail to Riverside Blvd, Pocket Road, and Freeport Blvd.  From the town of Freeport it crosses the Sacramento River, but instead of proceeding north on Yolo County's South River Road (as in the 54 Mile Ride), it goes south on South River Road to Clarksburg.   After a loop in the Clarksburg area, the ride returns on South River Road to West Sacramento, Discovery Park, and the ride start.

   

• RIDE CHARACTERISTICS

  • Climbing:  29 Mile Ride:  390 feet.  54 Mile Ride:  545 feet.  70 Mile Rice:  630 feet.  These rides almost define "flat" terrain.

  • Difficulty:  easy.

  • Central Sacramento:  lovely streets.  However, don't be in a great hurry!  Whereas bicycling east or west in central Sacramento is relatively fast, travel north or south is slow due to frequent stop lights which (synchronized for cars) stop bicyclists.

  • 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. 

    • Urban cycling (generally easy). 

    • Occasional assaults on bicyclists have occurred on the American River Bike Trail between the H Street Bridge and Discovery Park (54 & 70 mile rides).