The table
Three Forks Bakery & Brewing
211 Commercial St
Wood-fired pizza and beer out of their own seven-barrel brewhouse. Named for the same three river forks you just drove across.
Wed–Mon · closed Tuesdays
The invitation
One ride, one day, one long table at the end of it.
Ski towns worked this out a long time ago: the thing you did all day is only half of it. The other half is everybody sitting down afterwards, still in the wrong clothes, telling it back to each other.
So this is one day. A single dirt road up a river gorge in the morning — nothing technical, nothing that drops anybody — then the drive south down Highway 49 across all three forks of the Yuba, and a table in Nevada City with the bikes still on the cars.
Après-ski, minus the ski.
The day
How it runs.
09:30
Coffee at the bridge
Meet in Downieville, where the Downie River runs into the North Yuba. Two 1938 bridges, one café, and about two hundred people who live there. Park anywhere — it is that kind of town.
10:00
Up Lavezzola Road
Out and back on graded dirt, inside the gorge the whole way, climbing gently alongside the water and then coming back down the way you came. Nothing technical. Everybody finishes.
Lavezzola Road
Everyone can do this14 mi
Out and back
1,750 ft
Climbing
3 hrs
Unhurried
14:30
Highway 49, southbound
Forty-five miles down the canyon to Nevada City, and the road crosses the North Yuba, the Middle Yuba and the South Yuba on the way — all three forks in a little over an hour. It is the best drive of the day and it happens to be the drive home.
17:00
Nevada City
Gaslights, a main street that has not changed much since the 1860s, and enough good rooms to put a group in one. Table booked once I know the count.
Afterwards
Where we land.
Three blocks, all walkable from each other. First choice is the brewery on Commercial Street — which is, with no help from me, called Three Forks.
If we are a crowd
National Exchange Hotel
211 Broad St
Restored 1856 hotel on the main street. Seats up to eighty, and has rooms upstairs if you would rather not drive home.
Dining and rooms
Later on
Golden Era Lounge
309 Broad St
Cocktails, small plates, outdoor seating and live music. Two doors from the hotel, which is the point.
Thu–Sat
One ask
If you are drinking, take a room or a ride. Highway 49 back up the canyon in the dark is not the place to find out how tired you are.
Bikes
What you need.
Rentals in Downieville
| Pedal mountain bike | $140 / day |
| E-mountain bike | $150–180 / day |
Downieville Outfitters, on Main Street. E-MTB price varies by model. Book ahead — it is a small shop.
E-bike or not
Both work on this road, and that is deliberate. The climb is gentle enough that a pedal bike is no punishment, and an e-MTB means nobody has to train for a social ride.
No shuttle needed for this one — it starts and finishes in town.
Getting there
| Truckee | 1 h 25 |
| Reno | 2 h 00 |
| Sacramento | 2 h 20 |
| Nevada City | 1 h 15 |
When
Let's pick a day.
No fixed date. The season here runs a lot longer than people assume — this road sits around 3,000 feet, and weather permitting you can often still be riding it in December, or at least well past Thanksgiving. Tell me which days work and I will call the one that catches the most people.
Through late October
Prime. Warm afternoons, low water, and the colour along the river turning over.
November
Still good. This road stays low, so it keeps going after the high country has shut.
Into December
Weather permitting — and it often permits. Cold mornings, empty road, and a much better excuse for the fire at the other end.
Would love to have you there if you can make it.
Before you come
Tahoe National Forest is under Stage 2 fire restrictions through 31 October 2026 — no campfires, no motors off established roads. Check the forest and the shop before you drive, whatever the date.