Biking Big Sur -

The first time I saw Big Sur was in 1970, just after Michigan lost to USC in the Rose Bowl, and Big Sur was totally fogged in.  I drove it a few more times during the early 70's in my hippie van, and several more times since, but have always driven through and not stopped overnight.

That changed in mid May when I biked from Carmel-by-the-Sea to Morro Bay with 5 other riders from my bike club.  Our adventure started in on a cool Monday morning in Oakland  at a local church parking lot where we met Trevor and Marie our guides from Black Sheep Adventures.  We loaded bikes, luggage and riders into the vehicles and headed to Carmel where we suited up and began our journey under grey skies.

We did a short ride around part of 17 mile drive then had lunch at Le Bicyclette restaurant in Carmel By The Sea, http://www.labicycletterestaurant.com/.  The food was excellent, and the décor was appropriate, helping us understand our steeds.

Sally and Fred chose chairs on the floor, rather than those with wall mounts.

As we were leaving we were approached by a woman who was quite interested in our trip and insisted on taking our photo.

Turns out, she was Sheila Sheppard, owner of the restaurant.  Moreover, she verified part of Fred’s story about the restaurant ownership. Fred was telling us about how the owners also owned another restaurant down the street.  She said that no longer the case, as the other place was sold and now they only own Le Bicyclette.  This helped keep Fred in check and bolster Fred’s credibility both at once!

We also took a few minutes to try and find the house where one of our riders (the other Steve) met his wife.  We made several trips up, down, back and forth on San Antonio Rd, near 7^th St.  Eventually, Steve realized that the house was either hidden or had been demolished and replaced – just to show that you can never go home! However, we did find a couple of houses with unique roofs.

From there we cycled along the scenic coast, to Big Sur Lodge, passing the iconic Bixby Bridge.

Forty miles from our starting location we rolled into Big Sur Lodge, got our rooms and relaxed with a few libations.

Dinner that night was at Nepenthe, a restaurant with a spectacular view!

The food was good as well, and I really need to mention the BANANA CREAM PIE that we had for dessert. The waitress recommended it, as the long-time baker only made it now and then.  It did not disappoint, excellent crumb crust, rich banana custard, whipped cream topping.  The pieces were large and almost 2 inches thick. We ordered 4 pieces for the 8 of us at the table and despite our best efforts, there was some left on the plates.

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Tuesday 's ride called for 50 miles with 5000 ft of climbing.  That doesn’t sound too bad, except when you learn that the ascent all happens in three climbs, one at the start, and two near the end of the ride.  Here is the itinerary for the day, compliments of our guide, Marie.

 The initial climb was intimidating, but half-way up we fortunately encountered the the Big Sur Bakery, https://www.bigsurbakery.com/.  Of course I had to stop. I mean, this is a bakery blog after all.  I sampled both the chocolate and almond croissants, and found that they met the mark for excellence, with crispy crust-not too thick, lots of buttery layers, and tasty filling, not too sweet.

They also have an espresso machine enabling Fred to get a breve latte in his ever present travel mug to accompany his pastry.

The day was sunny and the scenery was spectacular and we stopped frequently to take it all in. At one of the stops we encountered Kim, a fellow cyclist from Portland, who was riding this section of coast solo. His plan was to cycle the entire coast in sections that could be done in a week or so, and do one section a year. We offered up our snacks, and he heartily accepted.

This stretch of road also featured two large slides where the road is being rebuilt.  In both zones the traffic was under one way control. Fortunately, we were headed in the downhill direction for both zones and after letting the cars go ahead, we could freewheel on through, definitely an exhilarating experience. Moreover, as they were holding traffic, we had miles of road to ourselves. You can see from Sally’s face that it was a bit of fun on a bike.

Marie’s itinerary for the day showed the lunch stop at Mill Creek, mile 29.  I was riding with Sally, enjoying the scenery and conversation, and for some reason the sign for Mill Creek (big as it was) just didn’t register.  We were looking for mile 29, and Mill Creek campground was at mile 28.  Actually, I had lost track of the mileage due to operator error on my new Garmin device, and Sally was thinking mile 29.  So, we merrily cruised, and even stopped to admire the flowers at mile 31.

At mile 32 it became obvious that we missed the lunch stop, and we decided to look at the route sheet 😊.  Then I recalled seeing the Mill Creek sign a few miles back.  We turned around and were about half-way back when Trevor intercepted us with the van. We hopped in, Trevor loaded the bikes and we SAGGED back to the lunch spot.  I definitely ate crow for lunch along with a sandwich and a fun dessert (thanks Trevor).

After lunch came the 2 big climbs (ugh), then a short cruise into the deluxe Ragged Point Inn. We were all glad to get off the bikes, relax and wander the grounds for a bit before a great dinner at the restaurant.

 
 

We spent a couple minutes before dinner contemplating our accomplishments of the day.

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Wednesday started off sunny, but a bit cool and with threat of rain. That allowed a few minutes for Herb to model his new zebra kit, and the rest of us to check on our devices

The weather cleared and we were on our way. We had gone about 10 miles along Hwy 1 when the rain caught up to us.  One of the great things about a supported trip is that when it rains, the guides load up the bikes and we get in the van! Most of the storm went north of us, and after a few miles we were back on the bikes, but not before a natural break.

 

We took a short detour through the Hearst Ranch where I spotted yet another old tractor. So, I stopped and paid homage to my roots in rural Michigan (looks like an of Farmall).

Then it was on to Morro Bay for lunch and to watch the finish of Stage 4 of the Tour of California bike race.  We had a seafood lunch on the water at Dockside Two, and Randy found bliss watching a fisherman unloading his daily catch.

We wandered up to Main Street to watch the race festivities.

Marie took Fred and I to her favorite coffee shop,Top Dog (https://topdogcoffeebar.com/) which roasts their own coffee and supports dog rescue efforts.  It was a cool day and my mocha was chocolaty and hot. Fred had his usual breve latte.

The TOC stage ended in an exciting sprint, it was amazing how fast they were going on an uphill slope after riding over 100 miles. Peter Sagan is on the far left.  He took 3^rd on that day. Note, it took us 3 days to ride the same route that they covered in 4.5 hours!  

We all got blue TOC sourvenier hats!

Sea otters were happy as well.  

Dinner on Wednesday was at Robin’s in Cambria, and this restaurant also gets high marks http://www.robinsrestaurant.com/.

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Thursday we headed inland making the long (seemingly endless) climb over the coastal hills on Hwy 46, and descending into the wine country around Paso Robles. 

Once in the valley we took a left turn onto Vineyard Rd and toiled over it’s rollercoaster hills for about 10 miles to Tablas Creek Vineyard and Winery (https://tablascreek.com/).  They make Rhone style wines, using dry farming techniques, and have introduced many varieties of grapes from Beaucastel in the Rhone region of France.

Marie prepared a nice picnic lunch.

After that feast, we did at bit of soul searching.  The temperature was bit cool and our legs were beat, and we decided that a genteel wine tasting would be an appropriate way to end the trip. We changed out of our biking clothes, headed into the winery and bantered with the tasting crew until it was time to get in the van and head to Oakland.

Our last stop was in Paso Robles at Spearhead coffee (http://www.spearheadcoffee.com), for a latte, pastry and slide show recounting the trip.  Definitely the best coffee shop in Paso Robles.
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Note:  Thanks to Sally for spearheading the organization of this trip, and to Randy, and our guides  Trevor and Marie for many of the photos. Black Sheep Adventures provided fabulous organization and support.