Central Coast Century - Sandy's Deli and Bakery in Cambria

This really didn’t start out to be a Bakery Ride.   I headed down to San Luis Obispo about 11 am on Friday for the Central Coast Century.  Steve G. was driving and had made the hotel arrangements.  I was along to help balance the male/female ratio, and to see the countryside.   We stopped once for coffee and snack at a Starbucks, memorable only because of the girl with the Orange hair.

After stopping at the motel in SLO and rendezvousing with some others, Steve, Miss Linda, Pam and I headed to Avila Beach to meet up with Robin.  It was a beautiful afternoon, and lots going on at Avila, including food booths, music and more girls with orange hair.  We had wine and a few snacks, met up with some others then about 7pm headed back to SLO.

 We found a nice restaurant (Gennaro's Grill & Garden is located in a delightful Old Victorian) and loaded up on pasta for the long ride on Saturday. 

Saturday morning the ride started a 7am in Avila Beach. 11 of us rolled out at 7:10.   The first 3 miles of the ride are on a bike trail winding along San Luis Obispo creek, a great way to start the ride. 

The ride then headed up Los Osos Valley Rd towards Morro Bay, and takes a nice detour on Turri Rd. 

The route also took us over Park View Drive in Morro Bay State Park, along a scenic golf course to our first rest-stop.  It was manned by a nice couple with their big pick-up truck and camping trailer.  There we had the first of many peanut butter cookies and some bananas.

The route continued through Morro Bay and up to the south end of Cayucos, where it makes a right turn onto Old Creek Rd.  This is the beginning of a long climb up to Rte 46.  

The ride organizers had a rest-stop a bit past the top of the hill at the intersection of Old Creek Rd and Rte 46.  There we encountered the cookies and bananas for the second time.  Don’t get me wrong, they were very good cookies, and I am a cookie guy,

We headed west on Rte 46 and after a gradual climb of a couple miles, had a long, fast and fabulous 6 mile descent to Rte 1. Two strong ladies lead the way (I sure couldn’t catch them).

Once back down to Rte 1 we turned right and rode up to Cambria, for the 3^rd rest-stop, around mile 50+. And there we encountered more cookies (ugh).  I know many strong, fast riders can go all day on cookies and powerbars, but I didn't have my Frosted Mini-Wheats with banana for breakfast, and wanted some real food. Three of us opted to find a sandwich shop, as the sanctioned lunch wasn’t until mile 70, and even little rollers coming into Cambria seemed like major climbs to me.

Without much trouble the 3 food seekers found Sandy’s Deli and Bakery www.sandysdelicambria.com 

and I can highly recommend the sandwiches and the BEAR CLAWS!  I had a BLT on Sourdough that was excellent, Robin had the Vegetarian sandwich, while Denise went for the Turkey.  All were great, and the coffee wasn’t bad either.  There was a constant influx of people including several cyclists, so much so that I didn’t get an espresso because waiting in line would have put us too far behind the other riders.

After our sandwiches and pastry we headed south and met up with the group in Cayucos, enjoying some fabulous views of the ocean along the way.

As we returned along Osos Valley Rd the wind was at our back and despite the slight incline (1-2%) we were able to cruise at 20+mph easily.

We ended the day with at fabulous dinner at Novo in San Luis Obispo.

 All in all a great day!
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Ride Summary

Distance:	102.23 mi
Time:	7:40:39
Avg Speed:	13.3 mph
Elevation Gain:	4,885 ft

Route:     

Bakery: Sandy’s Deli and Bakery

Pastries: 

Map:

Epilogue: While this was envisioned as a ladies weekend away, a few lucky guys were allowed to come to chaperone. I am honored to be in that group.