tarsi 

Thinking about a riding from East Sacramento to Thousand Oaks on a fully loaded road bike, Any camping/route suggestions?

HelpSingularity 

If the weather is nice head to the coast and go south.
Lots of info online.
What is fun is to take the Capitol Corridor Amtrak train to the East Bay, transfer to BART and then go into the city and then head south.
Leaving it vague since there are lots of different ways to go.

stevepusser

Time of year for the ride, and how many hills and how much heat are acceptable to you are major factors. I'll agree that the coast is the classic choice for good reasons, with abundant hike and bike camping, but there are some state parks inland.

Eggman84

Only problem with the coast route is that Hwy1 is still closed between Lucia and Limekiln State Park due to rock slides. I know that people have bicycled thru the central valley. I believe its pretty in the spring when trees are blooming, but I am not sure what dates those are. Want to avoid the summer when its hot. Doing an internet search I found what Ride with GPS calls the Great Central Valley Bicycle Route (Redding to Bakersfield passing thru Sacramento). From Bakersfield you can take an Amtrak bus to LA (they allow unboxed bikes in the luggage hold) or riding over the mountains.

HelpSingularity 

Unless there has been a new closure there have several posts about just waiting till the workers go home at 5 pm and then crossing.

jamawani 

When?
It's still a little early - and seriously wet.
But April is ideal for wildflowers and gorgeous hillsides.
Especially if you stick to empty roads in the Coast Range.

South out of Sacramento, riding thru the Delta is sweet.
Getting thru East Bay is a bit tricky, but there are back roads and bike trails.
South of Hollister there are roads paralleling Hwy 25 for a while, then Hwy 25 has little traffic.

The really great part is south of Bitterwater thru the Cholame Hills
If it is late March/early April and dry - Carrizo Plain National Monument is gorgeous.
But the road is not paved all the way - and wet caliche is like wet cement.

https://ibrakeforwildflowers.com/car...n-wildflowers/

After Carrizo take Hwy 33 over the mountains to Ojai.
Which is just a short ways from Thousand Oaks.

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Camping at Pinnacles Nat'l Park and Carrizo N.M. -
Other places trickier because of early season.

stevepusser

The slide bypass route follows the Salinas river valley along 101, not the central valley, but it's just as hot in midsummer. Less climbing to get back to the coast, though, and possibly some better campsites a bit off the route in the hills surrounding the valley.

After this week's storms (yes, I know they were not as bad in Central CA, but still...), plus more that are forecast, I don't hold out a lot of hope for Hwy 1 being open soon.

travelinhobo

Do NOT bike thru the San Joaquin Valley. Sure, it looks all flat and nice on the map, but they neglect to show all the local dogs not fenced in which will chase you endlessly. And apparently, which I'm sure you know, the entire valley is crime ridden. Which I didn't know. Which is why my bike and all got stolen the first week of my tour in Visalia. The other inner route via Salinas I had no problems with. Between Avila Bch and Pismo Bch next to 101 there are basketball courts for sleeping. Have done it twice. Safe tho a bit noisy from the fwy. If you're looking for freecamping for other places, contact me directly.