Tracie and I headed up to Cambria on Thursday for some biking and touristing. We arrived around 5PM on Thursday and after checking in at the Cambria Pines Lodge, we took a ride through town and out Santa Rosa Creek Road. It was a 20 mile out and back with a wee bit more climbing for Tracie than I had advertised (1900ft
), but she did great. The road follows the creek for the most part and the route is heavily treed and beautiful. While we did an out and back, the road continues to climb into the hills and eventually meets up with Hwy 46. A loop ride with Hwy 46 and Hwy 1 thrown in would probably be glorious but will have to wait for another trip.
The next morning we set off on Hw1 for Ragged Point, which is about 24 miles North of Cambria.
We stopped at the Elephant Seal lookout area North of San Simeon. While I suppose the seals must work hard while we aren't looking, I can really relate to their lifestyle on the beach.
The ride to Ragged Point is mostly gentle rollers, there is a steep climb up to the Point itself and the Ragged Point Resort. There is nothing else for miles, so no climb, no lunch.
The restaurant and surrounding grounds were a perfect stopping point. We had a nice lunch and relaxed in some relatively rare sunshine. Funny, now that I see the pictures it looks sunnier than it seemed at the time, probably because it was fairly cool during most of the day.
On the way back we stopped at the mostly defunct town of San Simeon. A few houses, an historically designated mini-mart and nice fishing pier and beach are about it.
This morning it was a fair bit colder but we wanted to get a short ride in before heading back. A friendly cycling couple I met at breakfast suggested San Simeon Creek Rd. as an out and back ride that was not too steep. It's the friendly ones you have to watch out for. It turns out that the road climbs 3000ft in 9 miles with some short sections where it pitches up to over 15%. Needless to say we didn't get to the top, but Tracie was a good sport until her legs said "enough!".
Overall this was a great trip. It's the first time we've done a cycling vacation, but it will not be the last.