South Central California Valley Bike Tour, November 2025
Escaped Portland's grey winter (again) for a week and a half of fairly sunny miles
Trip Summary
Distance: 510 miles in totalClimbing: 7551 feet total
Difficulty: medium
Full photo gallery from this trip
Late last year, I was getting a little cabin fevery during the rainy, cold and dark Portland winter, so I hunted a bit for "winter-recommended bike tours nearby" and found this gem:
The Great Cental Valley Bicycle Route
Since I can easily get to Sacramento with my bike, by train, I planned to arrive in Sacramento in early November, and ride south towards Los Angeles. In the end I stopped in Bakersfield to avoid the less-awesome routes and extra climbing, combined with some heavy wind/precip in the forecast and headed home from there.
You can read more about the trip in the individual daily journals linked below, which will also link to my per-day routes on Strava in case you want to peek at the route or how fast I was going when I went past your old elemetary school :)
Day 1: Sacramento to Stockton
Day 2: Stockton to campground near Livingston
Day 3: Campground to Fresno
Day 4: Fresno to Lindsay
Day 5: Lindsay to campground past Earlimart
Day 6: campground to Bakersfield