Cycling to Sacramento

We rode to Sacramento yesterday.  Departure from home at 9:40 AM (later than intended).  BART to Pittsburg/Bay Point.  Ride east to Antioch and cross the bridge over the delta on CA 160.  Meander mostly following the Sacramento River.  Final ten miles mainly on city streets.  Arrive at our hotel (Embassy Suites adjacent to Old Sacramento) at 5:45 PM.  Total distance (including a few wrong turns): 72.3 miles.  Seat time of 5:43.

Not shown in the photos are the long stretches of riding under challenging conditions: shoulder almost unrideable; shoulder nonexistent; and when we found blissfully quiet roads, they had bad surfaces.  Some of the scenery was quite pleasant.  (I especially liked the bridges.)  Weather was excellent.

We had a nice evening in Old Sacramento.  We decided to take the train back.  (Great to have that option!)  We spent Monday morning walking to the Capital and along the Sacramento River waterfront before checking out in time to catch a noon Amtrak train back to Emeryville for the 4-mile ride back home.

Delta de Anza trail heads east from Pittsburg BART station

Antioch bridge was intimidating (steep look and loud traffic)

Three Mile Slough Bridge — no shoulder, so we walked

Blissfully quiet W Twitchell Island Road

Bucolic vegetation along the Delta waterways

At Locke, remnants of the century-old Chinese immigrant town.

Paintersville Bridge crossing the Sacramento River

No traffic on Rd 145 along Elk Slough (but bad road surface).

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Freeport Bridge, our last crossing.

Tower Bridge, Old Sacramento

Capitol Dome, Sacramento