xenomera

My wife and I thought it might be fun to take a little ramble from the Bay Area up to Sacramento via the delta. We'll start at the Pittsburgh/Bay Point BART and take a slow ride up to Walnut Grove to spend the night at a BnB there, and then on to Sacramento with Amtrak back. Lots of time to bird watch at this pace.

I see that there are a couple of ferries north of Rio Vista that might be fun, but it looks like we have to get across the Rio Vista bridge from the east to do that, and the Google maps view show that there is a sidewalk, but the sidewalk looks pretty impossible to get to by bike, especially from the east side. Is it possible to cross that bridge on the sidewalk?

For the way to Walnut Grove, it seems like there are enough bike-friendly roads, but if anyone has advice, I'd love to hear ideas.

From Walnut Grove to Sacramento, I was thinking of taking part of the route from Lodi to Sacramento as shown here:

https://www.visitlodi.com/things-to-...turn-by-train/

Any advice on this trip?

shotwellian

I've ridden through the Delta a number of times. It's quite a nice trip, and heading north, you'll typically get a tailwind. Here's a route I'd recommend from Pittsburg / Bay Point BART to Walnut Grove and on to Sacramento: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26677136

This route skips the Rio Vista Bridge. It also skips the ferries...these are cool but are often out of service for one thing or another. Other tips: It's worth checking out Locke, the 19th century Chinese settlement outside Walnut Grove. And be careful on the Antioch Bridge: there's a shoulder, but also a low guardrail and a somewhat unnerving drop-off. Highway 160 north of the Antioch Bridge is also not great--the route I recommend gets off it onto the bumpy but traffic-free Sherman Island Levee Road.

bikingshearer 

Shotwellian's route is excellent and would make for a wonderful gentle, flat jaunt - the only real climb is the Antioch Bridge and that is eminently doable. I've ridden on most of these roads and have driven on the rest, and the suggested route is very close to what I was about to recommend. Here is are some thoughts and possible tweeks meant as additional food for thought, not as criticism at all.

Possible Tweek #1 (depending on your time and mileage considerations) - Highway 160 north of the Antioch Bridge does not bother me as much as it bothers shotwellian. Yes, it has a fair amount of traffic moving at pretty good speed, but it also has good shoulders. I have not done Sherman Island Road, but assuming the surface is okay I have no doubt it would be fun. (Also, the Antioch Bridge does not bother me as much as it does shotwellian - I remember the old Antioch Bridge, which was a significantly narrower, significantly scarier horror show - but it is unavoidable and it poses more of a psychological than physical barrier. It also has adequate if not luxurious shoulders.) If you want to avoid traffic as much as possible, use Sherman Island road. If you don't mind traffic as long as you have a decent shoulder, Hwy 160 is okay. 'S up to you.

HOT TIP - Brannan Island State park is a great place for a bathroom and water break. But don't go in the main entrance on Hwy 160 unless you feel like paying $5 a head to enter. Instead, keep going, turn right on West Brannan Island road where indicated on shotwellian's route and go in the unsigned but not hard to spot back entrance. It looks like a gated dirt road on the right, but just on the other side of the gate is the end of the paved road through the park. Follow it to the faucets and bathrooms. Come back out the same way to rejoin the route.

Possible Tweek #2 - Once on West Brannan Road and past Brannan Island State Park, instead of turning left onto Jackson Slough Road, consider staying straight on West Brannan Island Road all the way to Highway 12. You will go under the highway and circle up to it. Turn right (west), and take the first gentle right onto Terminous Road and reconnect with Jackson Slough Rd. Hwy 12 is a major high speed artery here, but the shoulders are ample and you will be on it for maybe a quarter mile. The extra miles along the water and the fun bit through a surprise resort area make this a very small price to pay.

Possible Tweek #3 - Just past Isleton (1/2 mile?) on Hwy 160, turn right onto West Tyler Island Bridge Road. Cross Tyler Island Bridge and turn left onto Tyler Island Bridge Road. Go a few miles, turn left again onto Race Track Road. I mean, how can you turn down a chance to ride on something called "Race Track Road"? This will take you to the outskirts of Walnut Grove, where you can pick up the rest of the route. The river road between Isleton and Walnut Grove is not super trafficky, but Tyler Island/Race track is all but desserted. And if you are really lucky, as you come up to race Track Road, you may see swarms - and I do mean swarms - of birds. I have seen a few birds here, and I have seen them darken the sky. Ya pays y'r money and ya takes y'r chances.

I do have to say that the indicated route along Andrus Island Road is very pretty and also pretty much zero traffic. You can't go wrong either way, unless its august and 103 degrees out.

Possible Tweek #4 - The ramble along Road 143 and Road 144 is wonderful, and you might be able to stop for wine tasting at the Bogle winery. Equally wonderful is to turn left a little before Road 143 onto Courtland Road, go about 1/4 mile, cross the bridge, and immediately turn right onto Road 145 (it might be signed as Waukensa Road or something similar, but you can't miss the turn - just turn right before you go down off the levee after crossing the bridge.) Just a great road. it will be on the opposite side of the slough from the indicated route. It will tee into Netherlands Road - turn right, ride on into Clarksburg and pick up shotwellian's route. Again, you cannot go wrong taking wither option - I have family just off I-5 at the very southern edge of Sacramento, and when visiting I sometimes rise to Clarksburg and go south on Road 144/143 and back on Road 145/Waukensa.

Speaking of wine tasting, if that floats your boat, just north of Clarksburg, watch for signs to the Old Sugar Mill. It's to the left just off the River Road, and it has tasting rooms for a dozen or more local wineries which range from not bad to pretty darn good.

I have no doubt that you will have great time as long as you pick a day that is not too hot or too windy. And I'd rather face 90 degree heat out here than a west wind howling through.

xenomera

Thanks shotwellian for putting this route together, and bikingshearer for the tweeks. I've incorporated much of this, and will (alas) skip the ferries, but I think I will likely see many birds.

We'll do this in late February or early March, so weather should be cool enough (unless it's foggy!).

Eggman84

I have ridden over the Rio Vista Bridge twice from the east, the latest being just this past November 2017. Crossed to the south side of the Hwy 12 at the intersection with Hwy 160, then continued west, lift the bike over the guard rail before the bridge, and then continue on a very nice sidewalk across the bridge. At the west end you have to go down a flight of stairs but very doable. I think the 1st time I rode it (years ago) I went south on Hwy 160 about 100 to 200 yards from Hwy 12 and then caught a dirt road back to the sidewalk (to avoid having to lift the bike over the low guardrail). I do like taking the ferries, they are free and an interesting mode of transportation.

Enjoy your ride, an interesting corner of California. Karl

channelz28

I see this is a little bit of an older post, but this is one of my favorite rides and that route is pretty much what I take. That being said, the Antioch Bridge cannot be underestimated. It's narrow, very small shoulder, windy as hell and traffic moving at 80+. Be prepared, it's much better early in the morning with less traffic and before the winds pick up.

bikingshearer 

You should have seen the old Antioch Bridge that this one replaced. Compared to that one, the current version is a walk in the park. Scared the living shizznit out of me the couple of times I went over it. I will agree, however, that the current iteration is not for the faint of heart or the unsteady of line.

MetinUz

Here is a route we rode in November.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/23493720

You can just focus on miles 100 to 170 (Suisun to Sacramento). Goes through Birds Landing and Rio Vista, taking the ferry. In our case, the ferry was down for a couple hours, so we took the Rio Vista bridge and Hwy 160 instead. Very pretty, really enjoyed the rollers on Montezuma Hills Rd.

You can take Carquinez bridge, Lake Herman Rd to Lopes Rd to get to Suisun. All bike friendly.

xenomera

We finished this trip and had a wonderful time. Thanks for the tips. We followed pretty much the route that shotwellian suggested, with the tweaks from bikingshearer.

I have to say that my wife and friend were not happy with me when we saw the looming Antioch bridge hill, but luckily the wind was not bad. And the quiet loops to the east away from 160 were very pleasant. North of Walnut Grove, I have to say that River Road is not the most bike friendly route out there, with no shoulders and lots of cars, but I'm not sure there is much of an alternative.

We might do some variant of this trip again, but I think we'll start from the Carquinez or the Benicia bridge. Is Benetia bridge OK for bikes?

MetinUz

The route I posted above minimizes time spent on River Road, but it's hard to avoid some.

caloso

That's a great route. Having spent a fair amount of time on River Road, I find the road on the west (Yolo) side to be better pavement and lower traffic than the east (Sacramento) side.

bikingshearer 

Yes it is. There is a separate bike/pedestrian path on the west side, very similar to the Carquinez Bridge.

mango18

Planning to do this.! There I said it now it is real. But planning on going from Sac to Dublin stay with family and come back on train. Is August a good time to do this if the weather is below lets say 90? And is the wind totally against the West bound direction? This would be my first 100 miler. And officially starting my research and training on this. Thanks for any input.

shotwellian

To be honest, doing this ride in August is likely to be absolutely brutal in terms of heat. The prevailing wind between Antioch and Sacramento is also very strongly SW, so you'd likely have a super strong headwind in this direction. If your schedule allows, would strongly advise going in the opposite direction. One of the two Delta ferries, the one that links Rio Vista to Ryer Island, is also currently out of commission.

caloso

Totally agree. The prevailing wind in summer is from the SW so it will be in your face 90% of the time. And it will be hot. So I would also recommend riding to Sacramento. And leave early. Like Zero Dark Thirty early.

Korina

Sticking my nose in to whine about how frustrating this is. I grew up in Tracy, in the 70's. So many things against me that I wasn't really into bike riding. Now I am, and I see all the wonderful rides in the central valley, and I'm at the top of the state. /whine

mango18

Thanks for this. So no way to do it west bound then even at a different time of the year?. Also what is the other ferry that goes over the river thanks.

shotwellian

I mean, you always *can* do it westbound...but you should just know to expect a headwind. Sometimes in the winter the prevailing wind dies down or even reverses. The other ferry (google Delta ferries for details) links Grand Island and Ryer Island.

mango18

Got it. I need another a couple of months or more before I can attempt a 100 miler anyway. So I might just decide to wait out August. Meanwhile in other news the Real McCoy Ferry service (govt with a sense of humor who would have thunk it) seems to be back in service as of yesterday !! See this Real McCoy