When in Rome...
Davis is a small town in the middle of California's Central Valley. It's a college town that is in between the state capitol (Sacramento) and San Francisco. The town's history is primarily agricultural, and as such some of the town's attractions include a fistulated cow and cockroach races. However, there are still plenty of things to do, whether you are just passing through or are in Davis to stay.
Since the town is built in the middle of a flood plain, the local topography is primarily flat. On a clear day you can see Mount Diablo and Mount Tamalpais to the west, and the Sierras streching out on the eastern horizon. But most days the smog is so bad that you can't even see the skyscrapers of Sacramento. Either way, Davis is still flat and temperate. As such it has grown into one of the bike capitols of California. According to urban legend Davis has more bicycles per capita than anywhere else in the U.S. (which is nearly twice as many bikes as residents).
There are a half dozen bike shops scattered loosely throughout the downtown area, many of which rent bikes for day and weekend trips. Their rates vary, but my personal favorites around town are Ken's Bike and Ski ( http://kensbikeski.com/index.cfm ) and the UC Davis Bike Barn ( http://bikebarn.ucdavis.edu/ ).
If you find yourself in Davis on a sunny day with a friend, then I recommend renting a tandem bike and heading out towards Winters. Several of the bike shops carry these unusual two-person bikes, and some of the shops carry multiple styles of them. It's about 15 miles from Davis to Winters and makes for a lovely day trip, just remember to bring plenty of water. Most people bike west on roads that border Putah Creek, and on a nice day you can find whole groups of cyclists on the roads around Davis. It takes about 2 hours each way to bike out to Winters. Once there, you can walk through their historic downtown or grab a bite to eat at one of the cafes. The wonderful thing about biking there is that it raises a furious appetite, so much so that even those clay-coated energy bars start looking tasty.
Photo courtesy of the Davis Wiki: http://www.daviswiki.org
