Mountain roads and dirt of California — Central Coast Love
Road Cycling Collection by Alison Tetrick
10
Tours
69:38 h
867 mi
70,525 ft
I am a California girl. I was born on the Central Coast of California on a cattle ranch in Los Alamos and yes, I rode a horse long before I rode a bike. I have been spending a fair bit of time back at my roots lately, and I would love to show you the routes (see what I did there)?! It feels good to be home.
Most of these rides are around San Luis Obispo and along the Central Coast of California. The Tours are all suitable for road bikes, besides the two routes specified as gravel rides from Pozo.
What makes the Central Coast so special? First of all, it is so beautiful. You can wind along the Pacific Ocean and head up into the forested redwoods of Big Sur. You can navigate through rolling ranch lands and crest onto desert passes. This is some amazing country that I love exploring by bike. It helps that this area is known for great wine and food too! The weather is very moderate there so you luckily don't get many extremes.
Follow along and make sure to stop and take in the view!
On The Map
Tours & Highlights
- 07:2384.9 mi11.5 mph4,450 ft4,425 ft
This was an incredible tour of San Luis Obispo. We started up for a local TT up and back from San Bernardo. This is a great dead end road with a nice rolling terrain.
We meandered up through Morro Bay and headed up Santa Rita Road. Santa Rita is a gravel climb and very quiet, and can be ridden on a road…
- 04:2560.5 mi13.7 mph5,450 ft5,375 ft
This was all road bikes, despite the iconic gravel climb of Cypress Mountain that has a stunning view and descent back into Santa Rosa Road.
We started and finished in Paso Robles at the square, where there are plenty of restaurant options and shops. Parking is widely available as well. Paso Robles has…
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- 06:0177.9 mi12.9 mph5,500 ft5,500 ft
Wow, this was a brutal climb! San Simeon Creek is a dead end road that finishes the last few miles with gravel. It is super super steep at the top.
I "might" have had to walked up a little bit of it, no shame there... but could do this on my road bike. We descended back into Cambria and stopped at Linn…
- 05:3082.6 mi15.0 mph5,550 ft5,600 ft
I did this Tour as part of Nova L'Eroica California. It was an incredible event with wine stops and all!
You can definitely ride your road bike on this but really explore some great back country roads with some light gravel sections. I highly recommend this course and event!
- 12:19146 mi11.8 mph10,200 ft10,150 ft
Amazing day in the saddle here! This was a long ride (146 miles or 235 km) but so worth it.
I rode this with my crew from Lezyne and it took all day but was everything I wanted and more. Definitely enjoyed the stop at Linn's near the end!
- Expert gravel ride. Very good fitness required. Some portions of the Tour may require you to push your bike.Difficult08:1551.6 mi6.3 mph5,625 ft5,625 ft
This gravel Tour has quite a bit of single track, and all of the adventure! A gravel bike is required for this one, and you will absolutely love it.
The distance doesn't look long, but it will take awhile to finish with all that dirt and climbing. Enjoy the Pozo Saloon for a frosty beverage after!
- 06:53103 mi14.9 mph16,000 ft16,050 ft
This ride was from CTS's Fig Fondo. It is an amazing ride where you climb up Figueroa Mountain: a long climb, but one of the most beautiful in the country.
This is all a road bike ride. There is a small gravel section on Fig, but super easy on a road bike. The descent is highly technical so watch your…
- 07:51123 mi15.7 mph7,475 ft7,350 ft
This was stage 2 of our Coast Ride, but I put it in this Collection because it does showcase more of the amazing Central Coast.
I rode this with two former teammates of mine and Blaize. We ate fish and chips at Ragged Point and finished very bonked in Morro Bay! But... that Big Sur coastline!!!!
- 05:3061.1 mi11.1 mph4,100 ft4,100 ft
I admit I did a few hill repeats up Perfumo Canyon on this tour, but this is one of the most beautiful climbs; it's all paved and pretty steep. At the top you can see views of the entire Morro Bay.
We then went down through Los Osos and explored Montana Del Oro. It will blow your mind how pretty it is…
- 05:3277.8 mi14.1 mph6,200 ft6,175 ft
You definitely need a gravel bike for this Tour! This is an amazing gravel route (with a really hard pavement climb on an out-and-back section up Black Mountain). It is rugged and gorgeous out there.
You can start and stop your ride from the famous Pozo Saloon, a great Wild West bar. Make sure you bring…
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Collection Stats
- Tours10
- Distance867 mi
- Duration69:38 h
- Elevation70,525 ft
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