Bike Touring Day 6: San Luis Obispo to Lompoc

Our 6th day of riding began with a great breakfast.  (Ruth's jam was so good that we didn't want to leave!)  Before long we had our bikes and equipment packed in a couple of pick-ups so that we could leave from San Luis Obispo instead of Atascadero.

Getting our gear out of the trucks brought back many memories from our trip the previous year.  We had met in the same parking lot to start our trip from (San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles).  I was really looking forward to comparing our present trip to the year before.

We topped off our tires with air, said goodbye to our friends, and embraced the misty morning air.  It was fun to see some familiar things - we even stopped at a couple of the same places.  The morning seemed to go by quickly as we pedaled through Pismo Beach and into Guadalupe.






Guadalupe is a small agricultural town.  If you ever find yourself there - but do not know where you are - just look at the side of this building!  It has a big hand pointing to where you are on the map and shows you how many miles it takes to get to more promenant places.

Do you think a lot people get lost in Guadalupe?  Maybe they pull over and go inside this Napa auto parts store to ask for directions.  After the second or third person came in to figure out how to get to Los San FranDiego, or something, the guy says to himself, "You know what I should do? I should paint a big map on the side of the store so that people don't have to ask me no more!"

Actually, the map looks pretty cool - and the people in the town are quite nice.  We stopped at a little restaurant called Romo's to get lunch. 

We took advantage of a great tail wind as we rode out of town.  There is a very gradual ascent over the miles between Guadalupe and Harris Grade Road, but the breeze blew us straight through.

I was struck by the different types of scenery we were seeing on our trip.  The hills and coastline of Big Sur, the flatter coastlines through Cambria and Pismo, and the various types of agriculture in between were all unique.

Another group of riders merged onto Highway 135 just ahead of us.  Our three boys kept pace with them for a few miles before the group broke free.  (You can sort of make out the pink riding jerseys of the other group).  I was impressed with the boys for holding the quick pace that long.  They were keeping up with hybrid bikes and 30 pounds of gear! 

Dal got a flat somewhere along the way, so he and I stopped to fix it.  The rest of the gang rode on ahead and waited for us at the turn off for Harris Grade Road.  Harris Grade would be our challenge for the day.  The rode winds around and over a range of hills and eventually intersects with Hwy 1 in Lompoc.

Once Dal and I met up with the others we all got psyched up for a nice three mile climb.  I'm not sure if Payton's tire picked up some thorns in the picture above, or if it happened after we started riding again.  Whatever the case may be, he soon had a flat tire with two thorns sticking out of it.  I am glad that Rob stayed back with me to change it.  (Rob can change a tire almost as fast as the NASCAR guys).

I'm sure we didn't break any speed records on the climb, but the boys handled the incline really well.  I remember giving the boys at least one rest stop on the way up the previous year.  This time we took it all in one effort.  While resting at the summit, a kind woman who was also stopped along the side of the road offered us a cold jug of water and container of fresh strawberries.  Is that cool or what?!?

Before long we were riding through Lompoc on our way to River Park Campground.  After dropping off some gear, Dal and I headed to the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner.  We decided to go with a Boyscout recipe.  We wrapped pieces of potatos, carrots, hamburger, onion, and peppers in tin foil and let them cook in a bed of coals.  A little ketchup made it into an amazing meal.  

The only down side of the day was that my left knee was hurting.  I'm not sure if it was because I adjusted my left foot position on the pedal (to keep my ankle from hurting), or if it was just the strain of riding.  The good news is that my knee only hurt when riding.  The bad news is that it only hurt when riding!

 

 

Bike Touring Day 5: San Simeon to Atascadero

The plan for Day 5 was to make our way to Atascadero, just under 40 miles.  We would take Pacific Coast Hwy a few miles past Cambria and then go east on Hwy 41 towards Paso Robles.  From there we would take back roads and a little bit of Hwy 101 south to Atascadero.

Normally, I like to study the route and get acquainted with everything - how many miles it is from one place to another, what the elevation changes will be, where we can stop along the way, and stuff like that.  But today would be different, and that made it pretty exciting.  Our adventure cycling maps didn't include our detour, and I didn't bother to look things up on the computer before our trip.  It was sure to be an adventure and I was very curious to know what elevation changes and scenery we would experience.

Our San Simeon Hiker/Biker Site

 Although the morning was overcast, we were not fogged in with much marine layer.  It was nice to put away dry tents for a change.  Soon we were on our way.

The cloud cover gradually faded away as the morning progressed.  It didn't get too hot, thankfully, but we could tell we would be going through some hills on our way to Paso.

At first the ascents were only 1/4 or 1/2 mile of uphill before descending again.  After 8 to 10 miles, however, we encountered a constant ascent.  The curves in the road kept us from knowing how long the uphill climb would last.  Every time we got around a corner, we'd see more hill to climb!  I should mention that though the climb was long and steady, it was not terribly steep.  And it did grant us the enjoyment of some beautiful scenery.  Since I had no idea what the road had in store for us, I was very curious about how much elevation we were gaining.

Rob and I had been hanging out in the back of the group, so when we finally reached the summit, they guys ahead of us staged a dramatic pose for us to enjoy!  The hill had definitely gotten our attention for both length of climb and total elevation.  It would mark the highest elevation of our whole trip.

As the saying goes: "It's all downhill from here."  The rest of the way to Atascadero was indeed mostly down hill.  Better yet, we started to catch an awesome tail wind.  We zipped past a few wineries (no time for wine tasting on this trip), and stopped for lunch just outside of Paso Robles. 

Vineyards outside of Paso Robles

Eating lunch outside of Target

After resting and eating lunch, we rode the last several miles to Rob's Uncle Jim and Aunt Ruth's house.  They have a nice place on the outskirts of town.  We had stayed at their place a year ago on another bike tour, so it was nice to see them again.  Rob's mom and dad were there also.  It was fun to talk about our experiences over the last number of days. 

 

It was also really nice to do some laundry.  And dinner was really good also!  Not to mention a clean shower and bathroom.  Uncle Jim even turned off the sprinklers so that our tents wouldn't get drenched :)