The less you do, the worse the payoff normally, but our February Send It out of Bike Dog Brewing did the exact opposite.
I am far more familiar with Sacramento than other big cities in California visiting friends, doing a marathon and coming for the Cal Bike convention a few years ago.
While I have biked a few times, even all the way to Folsom, the off-roading aspect has somehow been vacant other than riding in the foothills.
I had always kept an eye on Bike Dog Brewing’s Thursday night ride (taking place during daylight savings), but Thursdays tend to fall on a Thursday, so my timing never worked out until I went up for the Lassen Gravel Adventure Ride in September.
Meeting in front of In Velo Veritas in Old Sac, there was a very large group that thankfully was broken into an “A” and “B” ride that helped handle the size.
Most of the ride centered around the Sacramento River and a side levee finding some interesting pockets on the side.
Afterwards the meetup at Bike Dog Brewing’s Broadway location felt like you were in a movie diner where everything was popping.
So I knew that next time I was coming through town I had to put together a Send It next time coming through.
Mind you, the difficulty factor in planning raises the further out of town I try this, but Kevin from In Velo Veritas put me in contact with owner of Bike Dog Brewing Sage and it was pretty much hands off from there.
Local cornerstone Frank Waterman put the route together and led ride that was perfect for this newbie because I love watching local knowledge play out.
The start of the ride was familiar from the Thursday night ride taking the Sacramento River Deep Water Channel southwest providing steady miles of gravel, but the key is to look for the little trail offshoots to the side where all the extra fun is.
We had some gooey fun exiting our way towards the main river crossing through relics of the Oakland, Antioch, and Eastern Railway that I never knew was an intercity train into Sacramento.
While this section was fast again, the end was punctuated with another set of misdirectional trails that would be playful on a number of types of bikes.
After crossing under the iconic Tower bridge, there was more maneuvering around the excess water where new paths make up for the lack of access.
We rolled back into the welcoming venue of Bike Dog Brewing where no one had problems transitioning to post-game mode.
The fact that I was so hands-off and just building relationships isn’t just a testament to Sage, Kevin and Frank because we do it for the community and Send It Sacramento is just a reflection of what a special vibe they have going here.