Photos from your rides.

[erik$]

An oval weekend was spent exploring the northern foothills of the Appenines. Too much cycling and eating and not much time for photos. Here are a couple on the way back across the flatlands towards the north.

[BumbleBeeDave]

This past Saturday was a great gravel ride out of Howard Park in South Shaftsbury, VT, with the “Gravel Giant” himself, aka Chet L. who worked out a 27-mile route that was both scenic and challenging, including the initial climb over Holy Smoke Road, which I now think should be renamed “Holy CRAP!” road! At one point it was 14%! But one that was out of the way we were ready for the short stretch of Class 4 Vermont forest “road” that came later in the ride. After that it was blessedly a lot of downhill back to South Shaftsbury and a beeline for the Amish market just down the road for some post-ride sandwiches. Unfortunately, it WAS an Amish market, so no beer! Oh, well . . . A great day on Vermont gravel! (Photos with Panasonic Lumix ZS200D and iPhone 13 Pro.)

[onekgguy]

Originally Posted by cgolvin

Lovely shots, Kevin.

I'm always struck by how much variance there is in "gravel." I have only rarely encountered that kind of smoove surface here in CA, and especially in Southern CA.

Thanks so much.

We've got some super gravel roads near me in Minnesota. Springtime is when we'll see gravel-hauling trucks laying down stretches of new gravel to supplement the old gravel. That generally takes a few weeks of vehicles packing it down before it's decent for riding.

Where in CA are you?

Kevin g

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by zs3889

This particular photo was taken on West Cuesta Ridge in SLO. I started in town, rode through Poly Canyon, and up West Cuesta Ridge.

Really intrigued by that ride. Does this route look good for a gravel bike?

[mhespenheide]

^
I would not, personally, enjoy riding 1 on that loop. I think there are adjacent roads that parallel it that let you get off the main highway for most of the distance. Or head farther south to Los Osos and take Los Osos Valley road and Foothill Road.

The last times I rode TV Tower road, it was rough and sandy in places. Do-able, but perhaps not fun. I don't know its current condition.

The really tough part is Highway 101. I don't know of a way to avoid that last little segment of it. If I wanted to do that loop, I'd make sure to do it clockwise and so descend 101 into SLO rather than climb up out of SLO and have to cross 101 to get to Old Stage Coach Road. It's a real missed opportunity that there isn't a way not to take 101 there.

By the way, if you're looking at roads in the area, google maps shows a number of roads off 1 that are private. Notably Little Moro Creek road, unfortunately.

[572cv]

It was cool but beautiful yesterday on a ride around St-Émilion France with some old friends. There is a huge density of small roads around and through vineyards there, much better riding on low traffic roads than I ever would have thought, given the tourist density in the most popular areas.

[Waldo62]

Land Shark looking at its water-bound cousins.

[tv_vt]

Land Shark? Oh yeah, I think this one was a Great White...

[zs3889]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

Really intrigued by that ride. Does this route look good for a gravel bike?

I would change a few things on your route:

- From Cal Poly, take Poly Canyon Rd to Stage Coach Rd. This will take you up to TV Tower Rd/top of the ridge without riding on 101 (do not recommend)

- From Morro Bay, do not take Hwy 1 back to SLO. Instead, ride south through Morro Bay State Park and get on Turri Rd. It's a really scenic stretch of country backroad. And then take Los Osos Valley Rd back to SLO.

Edit: The last 2-3 miles of before getting back down to Cerro Alto campground are singletrack. If you are a mountain biker on a gravel bike, you should be able to ride it and may need to walk a few spots. If you are a roadie on a gravel bike, I do not recommend it.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by zs3889

I would change a few things on your route:

- From Cal Poly, take Poly Canyon Rd to Stage Coach Rd. This will take you up to TV Tower Rd/top of the ridge without riding on 101 (do not recommend)

- From Morro Bay, do not take Hwy 1 back to SLO. Instead, ride south through Morro Bay State Park and get on Turri Rd. It's a really scenic stretch of country backroad. And then take Los Osos Valley Rd back to SLO.

Edit: The last 2-3 miles of before getting back down to Cerro Alto campground are singletrack. If you are a mountain biker on a gravel bike, you should be able to ride it and may need to walk a few spots. If you are a roadie on a gravel bike, I do not recommend it.

If it were me, I also wouldn't want to ride on highway 41. To each his own, but I'd rather do an out and back than make a loop that involves extended highway riding.

[zs3889]

Originally Posted by prototoast

If it were me, I also wouldn't want to ride on highway 41. To each his own, but I'd rather do an out and back than make a loop that involves extended highway riding.

The both times I've ridden 41, it's been fine. The traffic is not heavy and cars are usually nice about giving cyclists some space. It's also a descent, so you can ride at a pretty decent speed. The headwind is usually pretty bad though.

But yeah, it's definitely not ideal riding.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by zs3889

I would change a few things on your route:

- From Cal Poly, take Poly Canyon Rd to Stage Coach Rd. This will take you up to TV Tower Rd/top of the ridge without riding on 101 (do not recommend)

- From Morro Bay, do not take Hwy 1 back to SLO. Instead, ride south through Morro Bay State Park and get on Turri Rd. It's a really scenic stretch of country backroad. And then take Los Osos Valley Rd back to SLO.

Edit: The last 2-3 miles of before getting back down to Cerro Alto campground are singletrack. If you are a mountain biker on a gravel bike, you should be able to ride it and may need to walk a few spots. If you are a roadie on a gravel bike, I do not recommend it.

Thanks for the feedback! (And to Mark) I did notice the steep drop off at the crest to the singletrack. I’m definitely in the “roadie” category so I’ll have to reconfigure things. Maybe an OAB on West Cuesta Ridge.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by zs3889

I would change a few things on your route:

- From Cal Poly, take Poly Canyon Rd to Stage Coach Rd. This will take you up to TV Tower Rd/top of the ridge without riding on 101 (do not recommend)

- From Morro Bay, do not take Hwy 1 back to SLO. Instead, ride south through Morro Bay State Park and get on Turri Rd. It's a really scenic stretch of country backroad. And then take Los Osos Valley Rd back to SLO.

Edit: The last 2-3 miles of before getting back down to Cerro Alto campground are singletrack. If you are a mountain biker on a gravel bike, you should be able to ride it and may need to walk a few spots. If you are a roadie on a gravel bike, I do not recommend it.

Edit: West Cuesta Ridge looks like an undertaking. 17.7 miles and 2,883 feet of elevation gain. As an out-and-back is this better on a MTB or gravel bike? Looks really beautiful though.

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by zs3889

The both times I've ridden 41, it's been fine. The traffic is not heavy and cars are usually nice about giving cyclists some space. It's also a descent, so you can ride at a pretty decent speed. The headwind is usually pretty bad though.

But yeah, it's definitely not ideal riding.

My experience as well. Would prefer to avoid it but it's got a generous shoulder and I found the drivers very considerate. But each time I've only done a couple of miles to connect between roads, never all the way down to 1.

P.S. If you're in the vicinity of Los Osos, you might as well add the Prefumo Canyon/See Canyon piece, it's fantastic (thanks @Steve_in_SLO).

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by onekgguy

Where in CA are you?

I'm in West Los Angeles. Since you are good about sharing videos of your rides, I thought I'd provide a video with a flavor of what CA gravel can be like. This was up in Marin but there's plenty of this down here too. Let me know if you're unable to access the clip.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16i5...ew?usp=sharing

(Edit: sorry, neglected to change the access permissions to 'anyone with the link' -- should be viewable now.)