Sacramento, CA

Sacramento is a pretty good town. Not too big, but not small either. There is a growing influence from the Bay Area and "Midtown" is quite bohemian, diverse, young, and energetic. J Street runs from Old Sacramento (touristy) through downtown, midtown, and all the way to Sac State on the East side. It's about 5 miles from Old Sac to Sac State. You can think of J St as sort of the center of town. The city spreads out in all directions, though, and is growing very fast, both in population and in its business. I'm up in the Northeast in Roseville.

One of the nice things about Sacramento is that it's 2 hours from everything. 2 hours to San Francisco, 2 hours to Reno, 2 hours to the beach. There's also a good amount of nightlife and some very good restaurants. Lots to do.

There's a tri club and tri shop downtown. I haven't been to either of them. There is a chain of very good running stores that also carry tri gear called "Fleet Feet". There are also some good bike stores -- City Bicycle Works is where I bought my bike. There's a Performance Bike here, and some other independent stores. There's also a tri club up in the Roseville area (even further Northeast in Rocklin). And nearby Auburn is known as the "endurance capital of the world" and hosts the Western States 100 and the "Worlds Toughest Half".

It's also been in the triple digits for a few weeks, so you need to be prepared for that. It's a fairly dry heat and it cools off for early morning workouts.

PM me if you have any more questions.

Mike

You forgot to mention the American River Parkway (ARP). The ARP is a paved trail that runs from downtown Sacramento out to Folsom (approximately 28 miles in length) along the American River. I find the ARP to be a great place to train by doing a long run or train on the bike. There are no hills along the ARP so you can't get in any hill training. Access to the trail is free and it is shaded for most of its length.

I'm moving to Sacramento at the beginning of September. When looking on the web I noticed that there was a speed limit of 15mph on American River Parkway. Is this enforced? Is it easy to ride, or are there a lot of runners walkers to watch out for?

What is the general attitude of drivers with cyclist? Sorry to hijack, just curious.

The 15 mph rule is completely ignored and not enforced. The trail is completed paved with two lanes (one in each direction) and has a dirt shoulders averaging 3 feet wide for runners. I run and bike out there all the time and I have never had any conflicts. The only potential conflicts I have experienced are with squirrels while biking. The parkway is a great escape from the surrounding urban development and activity.

As for drivers and cyclists, I personally ride as little distance alongside drivers. But overall, I feel drivers in Sacramento area are respective of bicyclists and do not pusue a "death threat" against us. There are many other bicyclists and bike clubs throughout the Sacramento area to get involved with also.