Riding in Santa Barbara

[justinrchan]

Heading to Santa Barbara in July for a long weekend. Thinking of bringing the bike with me (via something like BikeFlights). Anyone comment about riding in Santa Barbara?

[eddief]

around Los Olivos, Solvang. Go climb the famous Fig. Foxen Canyon in the same hood is a great spot too.

http://www.toughascent.com/blog/2009/06/09/figueroa-mountain-loop-east-side-ascent/

http://sbc-rides.goption.com/StreetRides/hwy154/foxen/hyw154_foxen.html

From the Los Olivos direction to the top is a glorious and challenging climb. Going down the other side is on the brakes a lot, crappy road, fording streams, and some dirt. All in a day's fun.

[MattTuck]

Heading to Santa Barbara in July for a long weekend. Thinking of bringing the bike with me (via something like BikeFlights). Anyone comment about riding in Santa Barbara?

Will you have a car?

When I visited Santa Barbara and went wine tasting in Santa Ynez, I vowed to go back one day to ride. I personally would go over the mountains and ride around Santa Ynez/Solvang rather than Santa Barbara, but that is just because I had limited time in the area and the riding I saw inland seemed better than what I saw around the city.

Check out Figueroa and Refugio climbs. Send us a report after, so I can plan my trip!

[dolface]

This is one of the classic SB rides: http://www.strava.com/activities/2695815

It can be ridden in either direction but but for sheer glorious suffering Old San Marcos wins. North of 154 is where the fun really starts and the views cannot be beat. Don't skimp on water; it gets hot up on the ridge and there's no chance to refill.

If you do it the other direction (up Gibralter) and you get a sustained climb to the high point, then it's all downhill.

If you like to go fast I recommend hanging a left on to 154; pavement is awesome and the curves are perfectly shaped. (I hit 57mph and would probably have gotten to 60 if I hadn't looked at my comp and freaked).

Have fun!

[kestrel58]

Definitely a "must do" ride. You can refill water @ the top of Painted Cave just at the main entrance to the small community. There is a well placed water fountain next to the huge boulder on the west side of road. This is why I ride the loop clockwise: get the main brunt of the climb out of the way, refill bottles & tackle the ridge portion. Riding counterclockwise, you will run out of water way before getting to Painted Cave. . .

[Hermes_Alex]

When I lived there, going up Gibraltar and down Painted Cave Rd. was one of my absolute favorites - it's a must ride. If you're heading into the Santa Ynez Valley, Mt. Figueroa is a great day's work. Lucky you!

[slidey]

As someone already mentioned - up Gibraltar/La Cumbre Peak, and down Painted Cabes is a big day of climbing.

Want to putter around, with good views and a few small climbs - Hot Springs Rd/Mountain Drive/Mission St

A good, but not a killer climb - Old San Marcos Pass Rd.
If you feel up for doing it one more time, go across the 154, and continue go on up to Painted Caves instead.
If instead you don't fancy as much climbing and are looking for some rolling terrain, proceed left (when you're facing Painted Caves) on the 154 for another 2~3 miles until you see Kinevan Rd on the left. You can go up Kinevan Rd (stay right) all the way to Cold Spring Tavern, and have some of their appalling (to me) Tri-tip. At least the view from the tavern is beautiful.

There are many, many more rides in/around SB. You'll, in most likelihood, love it there - have fun.

[alioup]

The solvang loop is great: http://www.strava.com/segments/solvang-loop-osm-to-hollister-844126

My favorite roads in SB are mountain drive and padaro lane. As mentioned above the ridge ride (up Gibraltar and down painted cave) is also a great ride. You can also ride down from Santa barbara to the end of carpenteria along the Sunday "worlds" route and you'll hit maybe 2 stop signs along the 40 mile ride. PM me if you want any more details as I live in SB

[rgr111]

The Paso Robles area has some good stuff too. Peachy Canyon Road is one that I know of, but these guys have a ton more ideas:

http://www.slobc.org/index.html

Lots of nice, quiet winery roads without the (let's fact it, often a little bit tipsy) traffic that you'll find in Napa and other areas further north.