Day 1: Sacramento to Placerville, California

April 29, 2010

My train arrived in Sacramento a little before 6AM. I assembled the bike in the large lobby of the old train station. It's a classic early 20th century train station. I wish I took a picture of the huge mural depicting the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. It took me until about 7AM to leisurely assemble the bike and change into cycling clothes. I went outside to look for Bil at about the same time he arrived on his new custom-built Rivendell Atlantis. I hadn't had breakfast, so we went to a nearby Denny's restaurant where Bil watched me eat. Then we rode a few blocks to the state capitol. The sun angle was awful, but I got a halfway decent view of the capitol from the side. It's white!

Bil Paul and me posing at the state capitol grounds in downtown Sacramento.

California state capitol, looking into the early morning sun.

From the capitol we rode a mile on downtown streets, past Old Town Sacramento to the American river.

Sacramento is a city of several hundred thousand people. Biking out of the city on streets would be a nuisance. Instead, we rode a bike trail 32 miles from downtown to Folsom. Sacramento is inland but the elevation is only 40 feet above sea level where we got on the trail. The Department of Homeland Security ranks Sacramento as the most likely city in America to have a catastrophic flood.

Everybody calls this the American River trail. The official name is Jedediah Smith National Recreation Trail.

The first 25 miles of the trail is flat, in a wide river delta. The last 10 miles has some hills, but not much net climbing. Downtown Folsom is only 238 feet above sea level.

Practicing for a major rowing competition on the American river.

Near Folsom the flat river valley gives way to some bluffs.

We stopped for lunch at the Karma Cafe in downtown Folsom. The area east of Sacramento was one of the major centers of the California gold rush in the 1850's. Many historic buildings date to the gold rush days. We routinely saw piles of mine tailings along the river.

From Folsom we pedaled east on Green Valley road, climbing steadily into the oak forested foothills. We passed the entrance to Folsom prison (Johnny Cash never was an inmate there). Traffic was heavy and the road seldom has a shoulder. Typical fringe suburbia. I didn't take any pictures because I had a hard time keeping up with Bil, and because it was mostly just suburban sprawl anyway. The countryside was still quite built up in the Placerville area, so we camped at the only campground, Placerville KOA. $33. We climbed to 1500 feet elevation but still have two long days of climbing ahead to get across the Sierra Nevada.

The weather turned out to be better than forecast. Mostly sunny with afternoon temperatures in the 60's. Well below normal but not bad. As expected we had a tailwind from the northwest. The wind persisted into the evening, so it felt cold even in the late evening sunshine.

Bil Paul took this photo of me writing in my journal book.

Distance: 54 mi. (86 km)

Climbing: 2517 ft. (763 m.)

Average speed: 9.5 mph (15.2 km/h)

Maximum speed: 33 mph (53 km/h)

Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 54 miles (87 km)

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