Southern California - The Climb Danno Posted in Road Cycling...

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=1774880&postcount=14

So, this looks like something that should be done!

what's the deal Danno?

I think this should be a new Bike Forum ride. Last time I did San Marcos Pass, I was fearing for my life that I'd get blown off the side of the mountain. Will there be helicopter SAG support?

Looks like a cool ride.

that's far away.

There's always carpooling. I wonder if DaveSANYYZ trusts me behind the wheel of his RSX. :D

The first time I saw that, it kind of looked like a helicopter route. :p

that's far away.

very.

that's far away.

There's a train that goes from Oceanside right to Santa Barbara.

It looks beautiful! :)

What are you guys complaining about ... I have an even farther drive than you guys do.

Who said we're all complaining? Some of us enjoy long drives.

What are you guys complaining about ... I have an even farther drive than you guys do.

Driving south of LA is fun.
Driving north of LA is fun.
Driving through LA is tedious and gets old fast.

So Danno, when you going to lead us through the mountains? I think we've recruited Danno as the ride leader for this fantastic ride.

I've wanted to do that route ever since I went to Solvang for some of the rides up there. This does not appear to be Hwy 154, which would be a cool, but traffic congested ride...

Looks like fun!

There's a train that goes from Oceanside right to Santa Barbara.

hmm.. i'm gonna have to work on my teleportation skills. that's a little far for a day trip(even by train) unless i were to continue north to paso robles to hang out with one of my friends. of course, i couldn't do that because i'd fall asleep while driving.

Danno is so good with the camera (as are some here). It just brings some of these rides alive!!

Some the roads are in pretty tough shape. As far as climbing, I think Gibraltar is one of the best in the area, 7 miles ends you with a terrific view of the Santa Barbara beaches.

One great thing about doing road rallies is that i've driven on numerous back roads that seem to be popular with the cycling crowd. The ones in the link above are no exception. :lol:

In my jaded, grouchy-old-man opinion, this is something to do if you happen to be in the area already. You wouldn't drive from San Diego to do a 48 mile ride that is partly through the city. Some of those roads are pretty rough, but Old San Marcos is brand new pavement. 154 sucks!! Stay off of 154!

Yes, it's far. But I'm sure Danno would throw a wild party for us afterward to make it worth our while. :D

You know... the train-station is about 5-miles from the base of the climb; a perfect warm-up distance. Maybe we can do this ride instead of the next century on June 30th? As it just so happens, I'm throwing a party on 7th-July!!! :)

Photo from the top of the hill looking west...
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/SantaBarbara/CaminoCieloWestS.jpg

Looking west towards the sunset:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/SantaBarbara/SunsetLaCumbre.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/SantaBarbara/SB-MountainsWestS.jpg

View from La Cumbre peak:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/SantaBarbara/SantaBarbaraInspirationPeakS.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/SantaBarbara/GibraltarLookoutS.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/SantaBarbara/TheSign0.jpg

i couldn't do that because i'd fall asleep while driving.
Somebody remind me not to ride with Chuckles during RAAM.

Wow .... that's all I can say. Those are amazing views and amazing pictures.

I think this should be a new Bike Forum ride. Last time I did San Marcos Pass, I was fearing for my life that I'd get blown off the side of the mountain. Will there be helicopter SAG support?

Its a great ride but its hard if you don't climb a lot. Its nearly as much climbing as the century you guys did, but its over only 30 miles. Except for one 16-18% section, its not terribly steep so anybody should be able to do, it may just take a while...

Also, this does not go over San Marcos Pass, that's on the 154. You would get to it if you took Camino Cielo all the way to the 154 instead of turning down Painted Cave.

In my jaded, grouchy-old-man opinion, this is something to do if you happen to be in the area already. You wouldn't drive from San Diego to do a 48 mile ride that is partly through the city. Some of those roads are pretty rough, but Old San Marcos is brand new pavement. 154 sucks!! Stay off of 154!

no... no i would not. might be cool to share the cost of a hotel room with a couple of other folks and make a weekend of it, though. maybe squeeze two rides in

Also, this does not go over San Marcos Pass, that's on the 154. You would get to it if you took Camino Cielo all the way to the 154 instead of turning down Painted Cave.Yup. The route starts at the bottom of Gibraltar road, then goes across the top on East Camino Cielo, then down Painted Cave, crosses hwy-154, and continues down Old San Marcos to the bottom. Then any combination of surface streets to get back to the starting point.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Cycling/SanMarcosGibraltar.jpg

no... no i would not. might be cool to share the cost of a hotel room with a couple of other folks and make a weekend of it, though. maybe squeeze two rides in


That's exactly what I did last weekend. Squeezed in three nice local Santa Barbara rides over the weekend. Danno took us on this exact ride last Saturday and it was fantastic!

You know... the train-station is about 5-miles from the base of the climb; a perfect warm-up distance. Maybe we can do this ride instead of the next century on June 30th? As it just so happens, I'm throwing a party on 7th-July!!! :)

My guess is that there will be plenty of vodka stingers consumed. ;)

The route starts at the bottom of Gibraltar road, then goes across the top on East Camino Cielo, then down Painted Cave, crosses hwy-154, and continues down Old San Marcos to the bottom. Then any combination of surface streets to get back to the starting point.

That looks like a very cool ride. I would be up for a drive to join a ride. Assuming it's on one of the days I'm not off doing some other foolish adventure.

That looks like a very cool ride. I would be up for a drive to join a ride. Assuming it's on one of the days I'm not off doing some other foolish adventure.

It is. If you are ever in the area, let me know and I'll ride it with you.

You know... the train-station is about 5-miles from the base of the climb; a perfect warm-up distance. Maybe we can do this ride instead of the next century on June 30th? As it just so happens, I'm throwing a party on 7th-July!!! :)

Photo from the top of the hill looking west...
Looking west towards the sunset:
View from La Cumbre peak:


Awesome photos, Danno!

Yup. The route starts at the bottom of Gibraltar road, then goes across the top on East Camino Cielo, then down Painted Cave, crosses hwy-154, and continues down Old San Marcos to the bottom.

It crosses HWY 154, but the actual pass is farther up the road. I wouldn't say you climbed San Marcos Pass unless you take the 154 to the top, around where Kinevan/Stagecoach and Camino Cielo join it. Note that if you take Gibraltar to La Cumbre Peak and Camino Cielo to 154 you have gone much higher than San Marcos Pass anyway...

It crosses HWY 154, but the actual pass is farther up the road. I wouldn't say you climbed San Marcos Pass unless you take the 154 to the top, around where Kinevan/Stagecoach and Camino Cielo join it. Note that if you take Gibraltar to La Cumbre Peak and Camino Cielo to 154 you have gone much higher than San Marcos Pass anyway...

That is how I go. However, the last time I did it, the road, especially Camino Cielo, was horrible, has there been any maintenance there at all?

That is how I go. However, the last time I did it, the road, especially Camino Cielo, was horrible, has there been any maintenance there at all?

They have done some pothole filling west of La Cumbre Peak, but the road is in still terrible shape.

They have done some pothole filling west of La Cumbre Peak, but the road is in still terrible shape.

I guess since there isn't much car traffic it isn't likely to be at the top of their priority list.

That is how I go. However, the last time I did it, the road, especially Camino Cielo, was horrible, has there been any maintenance there at all?The road was actually much better now than it was a month ago. I had taken my GF for a sunset drive on the same route and the potholes in the road made for a VERY bumpy ride. This last weekend, I noticed that all of the potholes had been filled. Problem was they didn't use the steamroller over them, so the potholes are now mini speed-bumps. Still makes for an obstacle-course of a ride, but at least if you hit one of the filled-in holes, you don't have to worry about pinched-flats.

The road was actually much better now than it was a month ago. I had taken my GF for a sunset drive on the same route and the potholes in the road made for a VERY bumpy ride. This last weekend, I noticed that all of the potholes had been filled. Problem was they didn't use the steamroller over them, so the potholes are now mini speed-bumps. Still makes for an obstacle-course of a ride, but at least if you hit one of the filled-in holes, you don't have to worry about pinched-flats.

That is an improvement!!

The road was actually much better now than it was a month ago. I had taken my GF for a sunset drive on the same route and the potholes in the road made for a VERY bumpy ride. This last weekend, I noticed that all of the potholes had been filled. Problem was they didn't use the steamroller over them, so the potholes are now mini speed-bumps. Still makes for an obstacle-course of a ride, but at least if you hit one of the filled-in holes, you don't have to worry about pinched-flats.

They did the patches back in December, and haven't done any work on it since, and certainly not in the last month. They patches have settled in a bit and are no longer as raised as they were.

Has it really been that long? Over six months now... hmmm, time for a new GF...

Here's a picture Nachoman took on the actual day we did this ride:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/SantaBarbara/Nachoman-IMG_0957-2.jpg

We had just gotten to the top of Gibraltar and about level with the top of the clouds. There's actually a couple hundred feet more of climbing as we go across the top until we reach La Cumbre Peak where we're actually looking down at the clouds. I'll see if he'll post those photos.