Monday, October 27, 2014

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Day 3: We’re going coastal! Today’s route goes along Green Valley Rd/CA-46 W to Cambria and back. The smooth wide shoulder, rolling climbs and ascent to the summit at 1762′ cuts across the Santa Lucia Range and drops down into Green Valley onto CA-1 N. Head north into Cambria for lunch and reverse route back up CA-46/Green Valley to Paso Robles. 

We exit the RV Park onto Airport Rd and head west on CA-46 to 24th St.

Riverside Ave runs south along the RR tracks to the turn onto 13th St and Vine.

Vine St leads us out of town and becomes a frontage road along US-101 with a colored designated bike lane; the road ends at the junction to CA-46.

CA-46 W from Paso Robles to Green Valley at CA-1 is 21.8 rolling miles. It goes up and over the Santa Lucia Range with phenomenal views of the surrounding mountains and its dense green forests. The gradient range for all the climbs along CA-46 is 5-7% with a max pitch of 8%.

The first 4.5 gentle miles takes us towards Vineyard Dr along Paso Robles scenic wineries and vineyards on the 46 West Wine Map.

The road continues with rolling climbs pass Jack Creek Ranch to the lower summit at York Mountain.

The road descends and kicks back up for a series of short ups and downs towards Santa Rosa Creek Rd.

CA-46 W comes to a steady climb up to the summit of Black Mountain at 1762′ elevation.

CA-46 W descends from Black Mountain with sweeping turns and awesome views-keep your eyes on the road!

The road levels out as you head down towards the barns and ranches near the Green Valley Creek crossing into Green Valley.

CA-46 W continues along the flat valley floor and pitches up slightly to CA-1.

We head north on CA-1 for 2.2 miles towards Cambria.

Main St leads us through the backside of east Cambria to the Historic downtown area.

We stop for lunch at the French Corner Bakery on Main St & Burton Dr. They serve fresh made to order sandwiches and an assortment of pastries.

We reverse our way out of town back onto CA-1 S.

CA-46 E climbs gently from the valley to the creek crossing and dips down and pitches up again for a scenic ascent on Black Mountain.

As you continue up CA-46 E, stop at one of vista points; the views are spectacular! On this clear day, we can see Morro Rock at Morro Bay and the three towers at the energy plant-WOW! The mountains, canyons and valleys in the Santa Lucia Range are absolutely magnificent!

From the summit, the road descends down to Santa Rosa Creek and York Mountain.

The rolling climbs takes us back along the wineries, vineyards and ranches towards the US-101 interchange.

We return to the RV Park on S Vine to 24th St and CA-46 E.

Michael and I thoroughly enjoyed this ride! The winds worked to our favor today; east winds from Paso pushed us over the mountain and strong west wind from the coast helped us on the return leg back-fabulous!

This out & back ride to Cambria is now one of my favorite Central Coast routes! The traffic is not bad on CA-46; the road pavement is very smooth with a wide 8′ shoulder to ride on-that’s excellent! The rolling climbs has a max grade of 8% and the sweeping descents are excitingly fun! I would recommend doing this coastal route at least once-the stop in Cambria is very worthwhile. Thumbs up all the way!

Garmin Stats:
65.79 Miles with 4695′ of elevation gain
Max elevation: 1762′
Max grade: 8%
Terrain: Hilly 

Weather: Sunny and warm with clear blue skies. Temps ranged from the mid 40’s to the low 80’s. NE > NW Winds with 66% humidity

Click here to view the interactive route map & elevation profile

Follow this route for today’s ride: