zerocool5468

I'm planning to come out to the santa cruz area, capitola specifically, this winter to do some training and avoid the cold winter in my home state. i was hoping some local riders in the santa cruz area could tell me what the road scene is like and what kind of weather to expect from mid december- mid january. surely it will be warmer than the below freezing temps i'm accustomed to in the winter.

thanks in advance.

Lanceoldstrong

Great riding in that area. I have family down that way. Funny you should ask, the last 2 times I rode there was in December 2011 and January 2012. Both rides were in great sunny weather with temps in the 60's. We get some great weather when a high pressure sets up and sends the winter rain storms north for a few days or a week at a time.

Here is my almost 30 miler from December '11 ride: https://app.strava.com/activities/2821736

Here is my 50 miler from January '12 ride: https://app.strava.com/activities/3198888

I like to climb, so what a great area. Locals told me to save the longer route I did in January for after Christmas. There are a lot of Christmas tree farms on one part of that loop and that means a lot of cars, but only in December.

Be sure to visit The Spokesman on Talbot St. in Santa Cruz. That is the serious roadie shop in town. The owner Wade Hall is great.

Esteban58

Generally +1, but it can get cold... still, lots of great rides.

cpach

Really solid choice. Capitola in particular is a good start location being close to a lot of great rides around Corralitos. Weather is variable, but generally pretty good. Ranges from absolutely flawless cycling weather (sunny, pleasantly cool) to rainy and cool, to coldish (low 50s), etc. It probably bears no resemblance to your conception of winter, and you will probably laugh at some locals for being wimps about the weather; we're a little spoiled. Some very, very nice road riding to be had around. Also some local Cyclocross races, and some pretty good MTB trails if you're into that. https://www.santacruzcycling.org/ has some good route recommendations. There is a pretty sizable road scene here. The Spokesman is the highest profile high end road shop, and are great. I also like Sprockets and the Bicycle Trip, and the cooperative Bike Church downtown can be a good resource. Epicenter (which now has a location on Westside Santa Cruz in addition to Aptos) is a solid Trek dealer. A little closer to you is Family Cycling Center. Really lots of good shops around in general. And recovery burritos.

Solid choice all abouts, really.

zerocool5468

awesome thanks so much for the information guys. i can't wait to get out there. sounds like it will be truly lovely, both in weather and roads. maybe i'll catch you guys on some group rides!

ericm979

If you're lucky you get the warm dry period. We usually get one in january or early february. But we can also have a series of wet storms stacked up one after the other. Either way it'll be above freezing down in Capitola.