Gibraltar in Santa Barbara

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by prototoast

Told you so!

I know. I stole your quote

[notsew]

I just did this loop a few weeks ago. Its amazing.

Painted caves is steep, but really, really not that bad. I am not a fan of road descents, I just took it easy and it's no biggie at all on rim brakes. Unless she is a really twitchy descender, she's gonna be just fine. Just go slow. Brakes will be fine.

Getting over the highway is no big deal.

I'd definitely do the loop so you can really enjoy the full view at the top.

[blacklegor]

I'd descend Gib. Its nice to see the climb you just did on the way down, its safer and not too tricky, and I'm not sure when graduation is at UCSB or Cal Poly SLO this year, but there could be people looking for shortcuts in early June so be careful.

[Steve in SLO]

One last consideration: If you decide to do the full loop and park near the base of Gib, there will be about eight-ish miles of rollers on Highway 192 (Cathedral Oaks) you have to cover before you return to your car. I like to park at the base of old San Marcos and ride those rollers on the way to Gibraltar to warm up. Riding those rollers after you descend OSM is kind of an anti-climactic event, IMHO, and at that point you want to just be DONE.
YMMV, of course.

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by Steve in SLO

One last consideration: If you decide to do the full loop and park near the base of Gib, there will be about eight-ish miles of rollers on Highway 192 (Cathedral Oaks) you have to cover before you return to your car. I like to park at the base of old San Marcos and ride those rollers on the way to Gibraltar to warm up. Riding those rollers after you descend OSM is kind of an anti-climactic event, IMHO, and at that point you want to just be DONE.
YMMV, of course.

Agree and, now repeating myself, doing it this way means you can finish, load up the car, and drive a few blocks to get your double-double.

[chismog]

Originally Posted by cgolvin

Agree and, now repeating myself, doing it this way means you can finish, load up the car, and drive a few blocks to get your double-double.

Quite frankly, if you're staying downtown there isn't a reason to drive to the loop. It's just a few easy miles to get to the start of Gib from anywhere downtown, and a nice warmup ride at that. There's also a few nice routes to get back downtown from OSM without doing any more climbing or getting on 192.

Also- In N Out is good, but Hamburger Habit is pure SB.