Cayucos & Wine
Highlights & Remarkable Spots
Cayucous / ~ start of ride
Cayucos is a quaint beach town with a historic pier and beautiful beach. “Cayucos is named for the cayuco, a Spanish name for a small canoe. It was named after the canoes used by the Chumash people to fish in the bay, particularly in the rich kelp beds just north of the current Cayucos pier.” [Wikipedia]
Morro Rock / ~ mile 1
“Morro Rock was formed about 23 million years ago from the plugs of long-extinct volcanoes. Morro Rock was an important navigational aid for mariners for over 300 years because the rock is almost 600 feet tall.” [City of Morro Bay]
Cypress Mountain Road Climb / ~ mile 16
The first dirt section of the ride! The view is a real treat, you get a nearly unblemished panorama of the rolling grassy hills leading down to the coast.
Paso Robles Wine County / ~ mile 26
Strolling through all the wineries at bike speed is the perfect pace to take in this scenery and vineyards. “Paso Robles Wine Country is centrally located between San Francisco and Los Angeles along California’s Central Coast. As California’s fastest-growing wine region and largest geographic appellation, the territory encompasses more than 40,000 vineyard acres and more than 200 wineries. More than 60 wine grape varieties are grown in Paso Robles.” [Paso Robles Wine Country]
Templeton / ~ mile 39
Templeton is a pleasant 19th-century town with lots of local flair. “The town was briefly the end of the line for passengers traveling south via the Southern Pacific Railroad from northern California; passengers disembarked at Templeton and were then carried by stagecoach south to San Luis Obispo.”[Wikipedia]
Santa Rita Road / ~ mile 44
This is the second and last dirt section of the day! It’s a gradual climb up the shaded Santa Rita road along Santa Rita Creek. You get your fair share of a payoff at the top with another view out to the ocean. Then you have a fun two-mile descent you can easily rip that follows Old Creek.
Whale Rock Reservoir / ~ mile 56
The second time you pass by Whale Rock Reservoir on your way back to Cayucos gives you the best view of this scenic body of water. The earthen dam that creates this reservoir was constructed in 1961 and serves San Luis Obispo, the California Men’s Colony, Cal Poly, and Cayucos.
Credits & Acknowledgements
Ridden and Reviewed by …
Zack Rynew / Gravel Bike California
Zack is the founder of Gravel Bike California, a project to explore the history and adventures that the great state of California has to offer. A longtime cycling advocate, Zack is known for his advocacy and literary achievements through CiclaValley, work with non-profits, ghost bikes and winner of the 2016 Streetsie award for Journalism.
A graduate of the University of California, Zack went on to study and work at UCLA for seventeen years before focusing on mobility. Zack lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife, daughter and too many bikes.
When We Like to Ride This
The Dirty Freehub Team has not ridden this route but we think it would be enjoyable all year round. Sections (Vineyard Drive, in Cayucos, and in Templeton) can get busy on the weekends and holidays, thus we would try to avoid those times and tourist season.
Terrain & Riding
While this ride is pavement heavy, for the majority of the ride you will feel like you are on dirt roads. The ride goes through mostly agricultural areas on narrow shaded roads that climb up and down beautiful green rolling hills. The two dirt sections shine like gems and you are sure to see other riders out basking in the sun on these popular roads.
You start off riding through the paved streets of Cayucos and then cross over Highway 1 on a bike path. After some more city streets, turn onto Old Creek Road where the climbing and rollercoaster ride begins. You will climb 3 miles up, then shoot back down, then up again before crusing down to the relatively easy crossing of Highway 46.
After the Highway crossing, look out for the turn onto Cypress Mountain Road as it is easy to overshoot the dirt road. It’s just two kilometers to the top of the dirt road. Then comes the descent and the dirt road is in near perfect condition. Then you ride through wineries on pavement.
You can stop in Templeton, a wine country cow town with charm, to refuel and sightsee or skip the out and back and shorten the ride by 2 miles and 100 ft of gain. After leaving Templeton on pavement you will soon arrive at the dirt Santa Rita Road. The first seven miles up Santa Rita Road is on a slight incline but the last mile and a quarter is a little punchy in comparison with it’s 6% average grade. Then comes a “ripping” 2 mile descent down Santa Rita Road that soon turns to pavement. You turn back onto Old Creek Road and ride the roller coaster in reverse, quickly arriving back into Cayucos.
The Start
Street side parking on Ocean Avenue.
Food & Water
- ~ start of ride / Cayucos - Lots of restaurants and resupply options.
- ~ mile 39 / Templeton - A perfect halfway stop with lots of restaurants and resupply options.
Route Notes
Many roads are one lane and twisty with many blind corners. Please be aware of descending road users while climbing. When descending please be courteous to fellow road users, check your speed, and stay in your lane.
There is a good amount of high-speed traffic on the first 3 miles up Old Creek Road.
It can get busy in wine country on Vineyard Drive, in Cayucos, and in Templeton on the weekends and holidays, we would try to avoid those times and tourist season.
We recommend a red blinky light with rear looking radar detector (i.e. Garmin Varia)
Have you ridden this route? Got a question? Join the discussion!