Old Coast Road
A brief scenic tour of Highway 1 before heading inland.
The Santa Lucia range has every reason to be mountain biking perfection.
Steep hillsides abound with
epic climbs, and the grassy ridges allow amazing views of the Big Sur coast along this uniquely scenic
section of Highway 1 ranging from San Simeon to Carmel.
Although it is slightly drier than the Santa Cruz mountains, healthy coastal redwood groves crowd
the fertile valleys, and the Pacific breeze kept the ride cool even at midday in early summer.
The sparse development and diverse range of ecosystems are a natural history lovers dream,
and the geography has all the potential for legendary downhill singletrack.
So close to paradise, yet so far away. Private ownership, federal regulation, and wilderness designations
have severely and unfairly restricted access to mountain bikes. Literally, the only roads where bikes are allowed
are those that cars can drive on. Still, although a bit of a drive, the beautiful coastline and natural
diversity drew us south of Carmel to check out one of the better known rides of the area.
Photos
Click to expand
Bixby Bridge is where we started the ride about ten miles north of Big Sur.
The end of Old Coast Road was across the highway to the left (not shown), but we crossed the bridge and
headed down Highway 1 to the south entrance.
It turned out to be a nice little warmup riding to Hurricane Point, high in the right side of those hillsides overlooking
the coast.
Here we're pausing for a moment at the top of Hurricane Point, gazing back along the coastline with Bixby
Bridge and Bixby Landing in the distance.
It's pretty rare for us to make it out as early in the day as this, so
I'm not used to taking pictures in light this harsh. Still, it illuminated the sapphire waters well,
and the coastal fog had just burned off.
Oh, why not, how often do we find ourselves riding along this section of Highway 1? May as well do a photo shoot.
I need to start remembering to keep shadows off the face.
From this point, it's mostly fast downhill southward to Andrew Molera State Park, just beyond Point Sur, which is
that large rock jutting out to the right in the background.
Believe it or not, it was actually cool enough to justify a windbreaker.
At the entrance on Andrew Molera, the Old Coast Road branches inland and immediately
starts to climb. We took a brief detour through Andrew Molera State park, which had a number of trails
that bikes could ride. They are basically flat, and a nice, quick diversion before the meat of the ride begins.
This is it. Here we go climbing the first ridge that Old Coast Road will cross.
As usual, in real life it's steeper than it looks in the picture.
I think this is partially to due to pointing the camera upward to compose the shot,
and losing the balance information coming in from the inner ear.
On the climb we passed through forested
groves around hillside streams that offer fleeting remnants of shade.
Having crossed over the ridge we quickly descended down grassy hillsides,
past an old homestead and cattle ranch, then down through ever dense
coastal redwoods into the quiet and secluded Little Sur valley.
By the time I got here, to where this shot was taken, we had essentially lost all the altitude we had gained
on the ridge.
This is at the base of the Little Sur Valley, a shady respite at the halfway point.
A bridge crosses high above the remarkably clear creek, but we couldn't
leave the road to feel or taste the water, since it was all fenced off as private property.
Here the Old Coast Road starts to show a mean streak!
This is starting the climb up the second ridge, called the Sierra Grade.
The most striking local feature is Pico Blanco in the background of the second shot,
whose peak is made of marble and once carried special significance to local tribes.
Condor country! They have released California Condors
in this area of the Los Padres National Forest,
but they must have all been hiding today. : )
Not long ago that little hill down there was towering above us, and near the ridgeline
it will become just a foothill far below.
Through the steep ravines we get a glimpse of Highway 1 in the background.
Deja Vu. On the other side of the Sierra Grade is a gradual descent through cool shady redwoods.
At this point I'm feeling pretty tired,
so hopefully once we get out of the woods there will be a short and gradual descent right back to the car.
Oh for crying out loud... not another climb!
Okay, alright, back into the granny for another few minutes of aerobic pain.
It climbs sharply from the Bixbie River valley to that pass along the ridge.
At the top, the road finally pointed downward in a gentle descent back to the Bridge.
Wow... it was still bright and sunny by the time we finished the ride.
We were even going fairly slow, stopping for the nice scenery along the way.
But not even a faint hint of twilight this time-- this must be a first for us!
We hardly knew what to do with ourselves, so we headed up to Point Lobos and rode around there for a bit.
Since the park closes at 7:00 pm, and they insisted we have to be gone by then,
when we were done there it was still sunny out! So now what are we gonna do!?
Kenny heard of some fireroads around 17-Mile Drive,
but we decided to call it a day and went for all-you-can-eat Chinese food in downtown Monterey.
Even though riding dirt roads was kind of bland except for steep climbs, it was still a satisfying biking day.
(b. June 22, 2003)
Back to Santa Cruz.
Back to Gatetrails.com.
Here we're pausing for a moment at the top of Hurricane Point, gazing back along the coastline with Bixby
Bridge and Bixby Landing in the distance.
It's pretty rare for us to make it out as early in the day as this, so
I'm not used to taking pictures in light this harsh. Still, it illuminated the sapphire waters well,
and the coastal fog had just burned off.
Oh, why not, how often do we find ourselves riding along this section of Highway 1? May as well do a photo shoot.
I need to start remembering to keep shadows off the face.
From this point, it's mostly fast downhill southward to Andrew Molera State Park, just beyond Point Sur, which is
that large rock jutting out to the right in the background.
Believe it or not, it was actually cool enough to justify a windbreaker.
This is it. Here we go climbing the first ridge that Old Coast Road will cross.
As usual, in real life it's steeper than it looks in the picture.
I think this is partially to due to pointing the camera upward to compose the shot,
and losing the balance information coming in from the inner ear.
On the climb we passed through forested
groves around hillside streams that offer fleeting remnants of shade.
Having crossed over the ridge we quickly descended down grassy hillsides,
past an old homestead and cattle ranch, then down through ever dense
coastal redwoods into the quiet and secluded Little Sur valley.
By the time I got here, to where this shot was taken, we had essentially lost all the altitude we had gained
on the ridge.
This is at the base of the Little Sur Valley, a shady respite at the halfway point.
A bridge crosses high above the remarkably clear creek, but we couldn't
leave the road to feel or taste the water, since it was all fenced off as private property.
Here the Old Coast Road starts to show a mean streak!
This is starting the climb up the second ridge, called the Sierra Grade.
The most striking local feature is Pico Blanco in the background of the second shot,
whose peak is made of marble and once carried special significance to local tribes.
Condor country! They have released California Condors
in this area of the Los Padres National Forest,
but they must have all been hiding today. : )
Not long ago that little hill down there was towering above us, and near the ridgeline
it will become just a foothill far below.
Through the steep ravines we get a glimpse of Highway 1 in the background.
Deja Vu. On the other side of the Sierra Grade is a gradual descent through cool shady redwoods.
At this point I'm feeling pretty tired,
so hopefully once we get out of the woods there will be a short and gradual descent right back to the car.
Oh for crying out loud... not another climb!
Okay, alright, back into the granny for another few minutes of aerobic pain.
It climbs sharply from the Bixbie River valley to that pass along the ridge.
At the top, the road finally pointed downward in a gentle descent back to the Bridge.