The Western States Tour will depart the city by the bay, San Francisco. We will head over to Golden Gate State Beach to dip our rear wheel in the Pacific Ocean and begin the trek Across America. As you can imagine, the terrain is very rolling. From the beach, we�ll get an elevated view of the city as we ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. We�ll then continue through Sausalito and ultimately around the bay to the north. Central California flattens out, warms up and is very agricultural (they grow everything here). The flats continue as we cycle past the University of California at Davis, cross the Sacramento River and spend the night in the state capital of Sacramento. You�ll want to stop in Old Town and see what things were like 150 years ago in California. The next day, we�ll follow the America River to Auburn, a town that rests in the foothills of the Sierras. After a few moderate riding days, we�ll pick it up a little and head up into the mountains. Cycling up into the Sierras is awesome. The views and vistas are beautiful. The closer we near the Donner Summit, the more beautiful it gets. You will be rewarded for all the climbing as we crest the summit and get an awesome view of the Truckee Valley. Then it�s a wild ride down to Donner Pass Lake and the quaint town of Truckee. You will sleep well comforted in the knowledge you have conquered the toughest climb day of the tour. The next day, we�ll climb some more, first over Brockway Summit and a nice descent down to Lake Tahoe. Then say goodbye to California and welcome the biggest gaming state in the union, Nevada. The final climb for the day will take us up and over Rose Mountain (8990�). The views over your shoulder of Lake Tahoe are staggering. After the summit, it�s a long winding ride right down to the desert floor in Reno. The Nevada desert calls as we roll up off the desert floor and continue through the Nevada Badlands. We will ride through quaint old western towns with a lot of history. Just imagine as you roll through Winnemmucca, where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid robbed their first bank and began a crime spree that made them legends, you are riding through history. We will continue across the Nevada desert in springtime bloom. The high desert plain slowly gives way to the Rudy Mountains. We will roll up and over eastern Nevada and then stretch out our legs for the final push across the Bonneville Salt Flats and cycle into Salt Lake City.