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 :)