California's best kept SECRET bicycle tour: The Santa Lucia 

What a time that must have been! There's a lot to be explored through this area. I've often wondered where Jobst was riding. Listening to Tom Ritchey recounting his explorations in various interviews, it always sounded like very remote and very challenging places. The Northern California coastal ranges are just that, very challenging! On 28mm tires you all were setting the bar for under-biking. Thanks for a sharing a little insight!

Thank you!

Incredible intel on the road out of King City. I saw it on the map but wasn’t sure if it was passable. That could be a nice connection from HWY 25 for a really nice route from the Bay Area. Thanks again!

Yes I remember when riding through there that the Highway 25 gravel connector would truly make for a savage A to B (Airline Highway to SLO Coast - phew...only ultra endurance junkies on Ms Cools' levels need apply! ). Lia (wifey) even mentioned your original Arroyo Seco adventure vid from that year, (when Therese intro'd you to that epic gravel route in the shadow of Pinnacles Monument). That ranks as our alltime fave moment from entirety of your amazing series (the two of you sitting in wonder atop the gravel before descending into the Salinas valley = EPIC 👌)

@@BoogieBrew The Gloria road moment! We made it just in time for the sunset. Great memory.

Glorious Gloria...please keep manufacturing memories together. Utter inspiration for us mortals who love watching your moments on wheels....the 2 of u are so very guilty of living (stay accused of such crimes👌).

The Pine Canyon route sounds really fun. I may have to go try that soon. Thank you!

Ms. Cools is leaner and faster so she wasn't ever concerned. I was the one who was worried!

The weather this time of year is nearly ideal (between rain storms of course). We each brought two full bottles from Carmel Valley Village and that made us almost all the way. We stopped and filtered one full bottle on Indians road to share. It's still very wet up there with lots of springs flowing. In normal times there is a campground and day use area at the start of Indians Rd at Arroyo Seco, but it's closed due to land slides. The spigots are probably still on though. We didn't stop to check.

We brought two bottles each and a water filter. We filtered one full bottle and that was enough to get us all the way. The weather wasn't too hot this time. There is a campground at Arroyo Seco with water (it's currently closed due to slides leading into the day use area - but the spigots are probably still on).

We had a similar experience this time too. We had to stop several times to pick ticks off. It must be that time of year.

I do worry about Mountain Lions and pay attention to my surroundings. It's not an irrational fear, but the risk of an attack is so low it's better to pay attention to everything. I need to pay attention to the rocks that might send me over the bars. I do look for prints and scat while I'm moving through the wilderness. I always find that interesting. There is so much wildlife using the trails it seems. I know of only three attacks on humans riding bicycles. I try and remind myself to relax as much as I can so I can enjoy the outdoors. Fear is our survival mechanism, but if we think about it, we're dealing with creatures that have spent millions of years adapting to the environment avoiding humans. That is amazing. I've never gone outside without encountering another human and when I do I always get yelled at for doing something wrong.

Humans, the most dangerous animal of all!

A bicycle chain can double a saw if you know how to file it correctly. 😁

@@Henrywildeberry In this case the time for bell-bottoms is definitely over.

Mt. Hamilton down in San Jose and Mt. Diablo over in the East Bay can sometimes see a little snow.

Even with a strong current she was able to pull it off.

Actually we call it toastbrot!

No, we didn’t see anyone else out there. There was one set of fresh MTB tracks, but that’s all.

I can't imagine how scary it must have been driving on that road. I could hardly look over the edge without getting vertigo. It's a great road to ride. Winter is a bit rough because there are some pretty severe washouts and with trees going down it could be hard to get through. We also discovered a bunch of ticks all over us in late spring with the grasses on the road not managed. Brushing through the weeds was a bummer. Summer would be great, but the heat could be a real factor to consider. There's a river down below, but it's nearly impossible to access. Bring a lot of water! There are campgrounds at both ends. The South end is a primitive spot, but there is a creek nearby. The North end is pretty civilized with water and bathrooms.

@@Henrywildeberry It was scary because cars went both ways and there were very few pull-outs. Most of it gravel of course. I'd be sitting in the back seat looking through the little vw window and felt like the tire had nothing under it. Fall is the time! Best weather to avoid most ticks. Spring/winter for ticks is the worst. Right now is the tick window in Monterey county. It's tick season all year but few around the end of summer if you stay out of damp areas and before the wet weather hatches their eggs. I hate ticks. And yes, never allow the bushes to ever brush your arms, legs or shoes. I had one a couple weeks ago find it's way into my shoe, past my socks while in fort ord mountain biking and latch on to my toe. This time it hurt really-really bad for a week due to immune response - like a bee sting. Tick spray on your pants and not touching anything is about all you can do. The river below has a main trail back at the arroyo seco end, (if it hasn't washed out too),. The hike down is closer to the bottom and there are giant swimming holes in the rocks. It's very beautiful. Cheers! 👍

It's ENDLESS. You could spend a lifetime just in the Mendo Natl Forest alone, (let alone Six Rivers / Klamath, etc), and never discover every possibility. You're an adventure STUD to even go out there and discover what you've ridden to begin with....

There are several gates along this route. Many have the standard pedestrian walk around, but still a tight squeeze. The dirt section of road has several large rock slides and creek crossings that you would also have to scale over. Not having ridden a trike myself I can't say for sure how easy this would be. It could be a good adventure to give it a try with a fall back plan if you can't get through. Good luck!

@@Henrywildeberry Thanks! Details like that definitely help.