stella-azzurra wrote:How far apart are these places in California?
Seems like if you lived in Boulder or Denver Colorado it would be ideal.
You do not to have to drive out to these place with the bike.
The ideal would be to live no more than 10 miles away.
From Pollock Pines/Placerville/Tahoe, there are countless rides that require NO driving. I have been living in Pollock for exactly one year. I've made a great friend who i ride together with often and it is rare we don't hit a new road on each and every ride...and we've been on more than 50 rides together. The geography/topography is incredibly diverse....from the foothills with the vineyards and apple orchards of Camino, to the high Sierra climbs that I described earlier. I understand the appeal of Boulder, but it's mostly because of the culture/yuppy appeal that it brings. For outdoor activities, it doesn't compare to El Dorado county. Whitewater on the American/Truckee and the countless steep creeks; climbing at Lovers Leap/Tuolome/June Lake, Bishop, etc; off roading on the Rubicon/Barrett, etc; the Western States 100 Trail Run is less than 30 miles away; the Death Ride is in our back yard, the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail are ridiculous for backpacking; snowboarding/skiing is less than 30 minutes away at places like Kirkwood/Heavenly/Northstar/Sierra at Tahoe, etc.
And, for the road cyclist, this says it all....I can ride from my house in Pollock Pines to Lake Tahoe in about 70 miles with 10k feet of elevation gain and see less than 50 cars along the way. I don't understand why our population is less than 5000 people....it's the best kept secret in the US.