This year our winter cycling trip to California took us to the rural community of Santa Ynez, about 30 minutes north of Santa Barbara. Santa Ynez is home to vineyards, horse farms, cattle, and sunshine. The movie
Sideways was filmed nearby. The Hitching Post restaurant, where Miles meets waitress Maya, is set in the nearby town of Buellton. Solvang, a horrible Danish theme town a few miles up the road, was also featured in the movie. I wouldn't recommend Solvang to anyone unless you are a hopeless
Sideways fan and can't get enough of those fake windmills.
As with any Vacation-Rental-By-Owner (VRBO) one never really knows what one has gotten oneself into until one crosses the threshold. We've had some very good rentals, but also a few bad ones. A particularly awful rental in Sonoma a few years ago comes to mind. This time we knew we were on to something good when we turned onto the private road leading to our temporary home.
 |
Road to cottage. Nice!
|
 |
there she is
|
 |
| Cycling Headquarters December 2015 |
A few miles from the cottage there is a property with two miniature ponies and a donkey. We first met these guys last year when we drove down for a day trip from Paso Robles. It was good to see them again. They have a real fondness for apples and bananas.
 |
| soft wet muzzle |
 |
| not just another pretty face |
The donkey and ponies live where we park the car to begin our ride around Figueroa Mountain, one of the premier rides in the area. Off we go.
 |
| valley floor heading towards Figueroa Mountain |
 |
| climbing Figueroa |
 |
| after ascending Figueroa, the descent awaits |
 |
| rest break |
A few days later Chris rode over the mountains from Santa Ynez to the coast with friend Todd who was passing through town. I took the easy way and drove to the coast, visiting Refugio State Park and El Capitan beach.
 |
| to the coast, via Refugio Road |
 |
| Refugio State Park |
 |
| El Capitan |
Also this week, a ride along Foxen Canyon Road. This is one of the premier roads through vineyard country. Very pretty, but midway along we turned off Foxen to make our way to Tepusquet Road, which turned out to be one of the climbing highlights of the vacation.
 |
| Tepusquet Road |
Another rest day for me while Chris rides the hills above Santa Barbara. Later, we both enjoyed some of the best tacos ever, at a cash-only spot a few blocks off the main tourist drag in town.
 |
| tacos ! |
One morning, after a ride through Box Canyon, we came across this little guy. I couldn't convince him to come all the way to the fence.
 |
| no trust |
Heading north on our return to Portland we stayed in the coastal town of Cambria so that Chris could ride one of his favorite routes, Santa Rosa Road. I hung around town resting my legs for the final ride of the trip.
 |
| Cambria, CA |
Final day, a ride up Nacimiento-Fergusson Road out of Big Sur. I skipped this ride last year because it is steep! But this year I had some new friends, by which I mean, two additional gears that Chris added to my bike before we left Portland. With my new gears I can pretty much crawl up anything. 2,871 feet of climbing in just 7.5 miles. Ouch!
 |
| starting up the climb |
 |
| making progress |
 |
| Big Sur below |
 |
| great scenery |
After the ride at Big Sur we started the drive back to Portland in earnest. During the drive Chris realized that he was 265 feet short of a record-setting 700,000 feet of climbing for the year. It was December 30th, and the last day of the year we'd be back in rainy Portland, where he would be faced with getting on his wet weather gear just to get those last few hundred feet. Dry and cold is always better than wet and cold, so we did the only reasonable thing, which was, after driving over the pass between California and Oregon we stopped in Ashland, Oregon, where Chris put on his bike shoes to do a few 'hill repeats' in order to earn his 265 feet. It was a frigid 35 degrees with enough wind to put a real bite into it. But, mission accomplished.
 |
| Sorry, babe, you're on your own with this one |
 |
| chilly hilly repeats |
The stats:
Chris 2014: 700,049 feet of climbing
Ellen 2014: 263,370 feet of climbing
