Route ATOC Nevada City - Sacramento (unofficial)  

I wouldn't expect the route to come into Sac south of Hwy 50. It would probably come in on Fair Oaks Blvd. as this shows off some of the nicer areas of the city and is the route of the CA Intl Marathon. They may also want to cross the Foresthill Bridge (highest in CA). To do that they would either take Hwy 174 to Colfax, knock out a huge first day climb up Iowa Hill Rd. to Foresthill and then to Auburn, or go through Auburn first, then cross, and head down Hwy 49 past the Coloma 1848 gold discovery site, and then into Folsom from the east.

Thanks John. Made some changes as you suggested; however, I read that stage 1 will only be 78 miles long. Therefore, it's not possible to include Foresthill and Coloma.

Very interesting! I think the beginning and end make a lot of sense now. By taking 174, they would get to visit another enthusiastic foothill town in Colfax, without going very far out of the way. They may travel a little further into Grass Valley, though, and head up Empire St. If you heard 78 mi for the total, they may not bother with the Foresthill Bridge at all. That actually makes sense, because they probably want a sprint finish in downtown Sac and to avoid any hill selections that would spread the field on the first day. In light of that, they may take Auburn-Folsom Rd. as you originally had. The entrance to Auburn may cut over to Hwy 49 in North Auburn to see more of the town and less of the Interstate frontage road. There are several possibilities, but Bell Rd. might make the most sense. The entrance to Folsom may take the new Folsom Lake Crossing to E. Natoma St., which would provide a nice helicopter shot in front of the dam. Then go through town and back across Rainbow Bridge, as you have now.

http://auburnjournal.com/detail/135148.html

Thanks again John. Looks like the route will be longer than the proposed 78 mi. with a detour to Iowa Hill & Foresthill (as you suggested earlier). In-progress insighton the Nevada City-Sac route as of Nov 16th

http://auburnjournal.com/detail/136071.html