Distance: 22.3-mile lollipop
Elevation gain: 2504 ft

This is another mellow Sierra foothill ride, much like the rides around Grass Valley and Nevada City. It has more climbing/descending than the others (check that elevation total), and it sports two small, charming back-back roads that are cozier than anything the others have to offer. The route covers 5 roads, each with its own character, so the riding experience is varied.

Pleasant Valley Rd. itself, which is the spine of our ride, is a very mixed bag. It’s a cut-off from Hwy 20 to Hwy 49, and it goes through at least 5 distinct personalities along the way. In order, starting at Hwy 20:

1. From Hwy 20 to Lake Wildwood and just beyond: big, trafficky, over-developed, and without merit.
2. From past Lake Wildwood to Pleasant Valley Elementary School: generic rolling ranch country, pleasant enough but not special.
3. From PVES to Bitney Springs Rd.: only 1/2-mile, but the best 1/2-mile of the road—snug winding road through gorgeous fairyland forest.
4. From Bitney Springs Rd. to Bridgeport/South Yuba River/South Yuba River State Park: steep, very twisty descent on poor pavement (this leg is part of our Bitney Springs ride).
5. From the river for the next 3 miles: steady, noticeable (often 9-11%) climbing out of the river canyon.
6. From end of climb to Hwy 59: more pleasant rollers past working ranches.

Our ride covers sections 5 and 6. It would be nice to add section 3, but to do so necessitates climbing the challenging and fairly unpleasant pitch from the river to Bitney Springs Rd., and it isn’t worth it.

In addition to Pleasant Valley Rd., our route covers 4 other roads: Sweetland Rd., Birchville Rd., Oaktree Rd., and Tyler Foote Crossing Rd. The first two of these are sweet little off-the-grid back roads that I love. The other two are bigger, busier, straighter, typical forested main roads for the area. They’re OK, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to do them except I need them to get from Sweetland to Birchville.