Nevada City

Todays ride was long and hot. 76 miles in 5 hours 37 minutes (reminder: that's bike time, not including rests). We traveled from Sacramento to Nevada City. The first 20 or so miles were on a lush bike pathway next to the American River as it snakes its way out of Sacramento. Some of the cool things I saw... Two guys fly fishing up to their armpits in the water; a group of six people (a class?) with easels painting a view of the river; some rapids that made me want to jump in; lots of cyclists; A bunch of kids on a group ride (one of the young boys was riding with a cast on one arm up to the elbow!) Note: I'm uploading these pics in a larger format now, so by clicking on a photo, you can view it nice and big. Special thanks to my uncle Ron Rogers for helping us figure out our route for today.



Here's Abby on the American River Bike Path.



The American River from a bridge crossing.



This is a really nice bike path, it seems to go on forever. No traffic interruptions either, just the occasional stop sign.



A bunch of kids and their parents getting ready to ride.



We saw hundreds of these caterpillars making their way across the path. I'm sure I squished a few without even realizing it.



The girls ride alongside the river.



Another view of the river.



Crossing a cool wooden-planked bridge over the water.



We stopped in at Bicycles Plus to ask for directions and get Amanda's front brakes tweeked, and met Clay (pictured with Abby) who gave us some excellent first hand advice regarding our route to Tahoe. He also turned us on to a great bicycle map (Made by Krebs Cycle Products in Santa Cruz) We picked up the Lake Tahoe & Gold Country map which helped us avoid some bad stretches of highway on our ride today. We're also expecting that it will be essential in finding our way over Donner pass.




They had a few bikes for sale.



An old train bridge over Auburn-Folsom Rd.



After riding about 15 miles north on Auburn-Folsom Rd. we paused at the top of a long hill in the town of Auburn to regroup, consult our map, and eat some snacks. I was impressed with Amanda's ability to nosh peppered cashews with one hand while completely sprawled on the ground. (The building across the street is some kind of Court house/ museum; very impressive)



When you're sweaty, things stick to you!



Another 15-20 miles up the 49 (a fast moving 4-lane highway) brought us to our turn-off onto Auburn Rd. a pleasant 2-laner taking us the last 8 miles to Grass Valley. We are making our way into the foothills, cool.



While on Auburn rd. we hit some freshly laid asphalt (about 1/4 mile's worth) This stuff was sticky. After it ended, I rode for a minute only to notice my tire was crusted with tar and pebbles. I stopped and spent 15 minutes scraping the stuff off my tires. As Abby passed me, we looked at her tires, and for some reason, they hadn't suffered the same fate. (maybe because they're 28C tires and mine are 23C?)



After reaching the outskirts of Grass Valley, we had to figure out how to continue on to Nevada City without getting on the 49 (bikes prohibited on this stretch) I stepped into a little thrift store to ask directions and got good ones from this man, Russ Roy, who happens to be a disc jockey on the local radio station KYMR, where we're doing an on-air tomorrow afternoon.



After a quick ride through Grass Valley (including one hillbilly shouting at us from his car) we arrived at our hotel that Greg and Boo found (a rustic cabin job). Right across the street... "Planet Juices". A smoothie bar including mist diffusers over the counter.



Abby takes in the smoothie menu under the spray.