Spent the weekend in San Luis Obispo helping my Cal Poly student daughter set up a new apartment. While wife & daughter were busy shopping for all the basics (and then some), on Saturday I snuck away for a great ride on seriously mixed surfaces. From Monterey and 101, I took 101 north (yes, it's legal at that point) to Stagecoach Rd, easily found by the green bike route sign directing you to a tunnel under the freeway. Stageocoach is aptly named, following the old route up Cuesta Grade on the opposite side of the canyon from 101. Beautiful climb thru oak trees. Several parked cars at the bottom but only saw one cyclist (coming down) on the climb. At the top of Cuesta Grade, the route is paved but it's falling apart and so discourages motor vehicles. It continues to climb to a ridgeline, then rolls out west. 3 miles from Cuesta is the TV tower facility and it's got every type of antenna there is. The several maps I consulted did not agree what happened at the other end of the ridgeline but some hikers said they'd heard it was possible to get to Hwy 41 (connects Atascadero and Morro Bay). Since it was still early and I had plenty of food and water, it only seemed sensible to keep heading west. After that, a pickup truck with 3 MTBs in back passed me (what's wrong with that picture?) but I didn't see anyone else for a long while. The road is paved but not maintained, and follows the natural terrain so lots of short, steep climbs & descents keep the speed down. After a couple of hours I came to a second set of antennas and the pavement definitely ended as the road narrowed. It was mostly descending so it seemed to be heading the right way. Coming around one corner I came upon a huge rock slide blocking the road. Boulders the size of big chairs dictated careful portage over about 100'. Shortly after that I came to a trail branching off to the right (north) that was marked by the Forest Service. Just then a mountain biker appeared and asked how the heck I got there ON THAT (referring to my Atlantis!). Silly question, same way he got there, turning the pedals. When I told him my route and where I was going, he changed his tune and was amazed at the notion of riding your bike to & from the trailhead. Some people are easily impressed. Anyway, he was helpful in giving me directions off the mountain (several options at this point) and down to Alto Cerro campground. At that point, I was on Hwy 41 and had covered 18 miles from start. 41 west to Morro Bay, then 1 south back to SLO gave a total for the day of 42 miles in about 6 hours. Altogther a fun ride and much better than shopping for shelf paper.
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