by Ron Hayashi

The October Zodiac Tour, led by Club President Glenn Moore and Mary McPoil, began with a journey to the central coast town of Paso Robles. Located 30 miles northeast of San Luis Obispo, this thriving little community resides in the heart of yet another California wine growing region.

Not knowing what to expect on this tour, Cindy and I left home Thursday morning with enough gear to sink the Queen Mary. While rolling down I-5 at warp speed, I began to wonder why we had left the beautiful fall foliage of Northern California. The seemingly endless brown grasslands of the Central Valley anesthetized the senses. I began to wonder how life would appear to a catatonic schizophrenic. What in the world possessed me to buy a wimpy little 235hp V-6?

As we blew past Santa Nella and the last stop for pea soup, the terrain assumed the slow undulations typical of a road skirting the toes of our coastal foothills. Turning west at Highway 41, we began to approach our destination… almost. Some recreational areas tend to slowly insinuate themselves on one's consciousness. Paso Robles, on the other hand, clobbers you over the head with intensely green vineyards and hillsides. Perhaps our eyes had become accustomed to the previous 250 miles of monochromatic monotony. Regardless, the dramatic change in scenery was a most welcome sight. The Adelaide Inn was very easy to find and turned out to be quite comfortable. We quickly stowed our gear and drove to Morro Bay for some sightseeing and dinner on the waterfront.

The next morning most of our group walked over to Margie's Restaurant for a great home-style breakfast. Our official preride gathering took place at 9am in the Adelaide Inn parking lot. There was a very good showing of 20 Sacramento Wheelmen and 3 visitors including a respectable attendance from the Stockton Bicycle Club.

The first day's route headed over Highway 46 to Cambria and the coast for lunch. Highway 46 has a huge "shoulder/bike lane" that is clean and newly paved. This provided a comfortable and safe crossing over the coast range to the sea. Somewhere along the way, Larry Merlo and Jenny Brown's tandem developed shifting problems that required extensive repair. Luckily a good shop was available to do the work. Cambria Bicycle Outfitters (CBO) happened to be right around the corner. The repair would take at least an hour but they wisely decided to wait and do it right. This delay allowed us to take a leisurely lunch at Linns (an excellent bakery and restaurant) and an equally relaxed visit to Cambria Bicycle Outfitters.

The "A" group took the less traveled, Santa Rosa Creek Road for the return trip. That route was described by the locals as a rough surfaced, narrow road with 20%+ pitches to challenge the lungs and legs. Later that evening, the intrepid "A" riders said that it wasn't all that bad… but you have to consider the sources.

In any event, the much more rational "B" group headed south along Highway 1 to the little commune of Harmony. This little artist's colony consists of a few art galleries and a winery. We stopped there for photos and admired some very unique pottery. By this time, the morning's fog and overcast had broken and a clear blue sky with still airs and temperatures in the high 60's encouraged us to spin on down the road.

The next town was the coastal village of Cayucos where we briefly stopped to correct a stiff link in Stan Leff's chain and to pet the local alley cat. A left turn up Old Creek Road began our first real climb of the day. It all began innocently enough with a very gentle gradient on a wide shoulder with expansive views of the surrounding hills. The rolling terrain gradually narrowed and steepened as we neared the crest. Though not long in length, some of the pitches exceeded 14%... but that's not the bad news. The bad news is that 200 children in the 6th through 9th grade were cheerfully pedaling their 30 pound mountain bikes up and over these same slopes. I suddenly felt the weight of my accumulated years bogging down my rapidly aging quads.

The Santa Barbara Middle School was on one of their three annual tours with the entire staff and student body. This is a private school that promotes cycling, kayaking, hiking and generally good outdoor stuff along with their standard curriculum. They consider themselves to be the "bikingest" school in the country. While regrouping alongside the road, we spoke briefly with John Seigel-Boettner. He is the 6th grade dean, social studies teacher, bicycle maintenance instructor and tour director among other things. John told us that the bicycle tours are a mandatory part of the yearly schedule and that some of the children have already done trans-continental crossings. John is the author of the book, "Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across America?" What a pleasant surprise to see so many respectful and dedicated youths cranking their hearts out.

Later that evening, during the post-ride "tailgate" party, the "A" group members said they saw the same kids climbing up over Santa Rosa Creek Road!! I suspect that this observation may have contributed to the somewhat increased consumption of medicinal beverages by our group. Anyway, back to the ride. We regrouped at the top of the climb and continued on to Highway 46 for a very pleasant downhill glide back to Paso Robles. About halfway down the descent I spotted a familiar figure rapidly approaching in my rear view mirror. It was Larry and Jenny on their newly repaired tandem! They passed us like we were standing still, but then again, so did the cars. The total mileage for this loop was just a little over 70 miles.

The next day dawned foggy and wet but the pavement dried out by the time we started riding. The pace on this relatively flat route gradually increased to a brisk spin. By the time we arrived at our first rest stop in Creston the sky had completely cleared up. Again we were blessed with perfect cycling weather and minimal traffic. After a very casual regroup and coffee break we continued on toward the lunch stop. We saw some deer, a coyote but very few cars or other cyclists along the way to Santa Margarita.

Highway 229 had recently been paved and was totally free of debris. A slight climb led us through some manzanita, oak and pine hillsides that were reminiscent of Irish Hill Road. Suddenly we reached the crest and swooped down the most perfect 4/4 time, waltz step, downhill flyer that you can imagine. The sequence of turns, banking, road width, surface condition and angle of descent was what a road cyclist dreams about. I only wish that it could have continued on for a little longer. But then again, it did…

After another slight rise, the road once again swooped through a beautiful flush of curves down to the flat lands of Santa Margarita. We rolled into town and pulled up to the local country café. The entire group had assembled at one huge table. The waitress informed us that brown gravy, white gravy, biscuits and gravy, soup and mashed potatoes were already gone. At this announcement, Tom Sampson inquired if there was any Spam left. Much to her credit, the waitress didn't kick us out. The most popular item on the menu seemed to be the ½ pound double burger with fries so that's what many of us consumed. "Low-cal" or "Light" simply isn't in their culinary lexicon.

Our return to Paso Robles was equally pleasant and uneventful if not somewhat subdued. The total mileage for the day was about 53 miles.

We all got back in time for a great post-ride party by the pool. Meanwhile, Glenn and Mary made reservations for us at Alloro's. It turned out to be an excellent Italian Restaurant with an extensive menu and wine list. Good rides, good company, good dining and good wine… what's not to like?

The last day of riding was abbreviated to provide enough time for a shower before checking out. We rolled over a primarily flat 30 mile course through beautiful vineyards to the little town of San Miguel. While approaching the town bridge, I managed to hit a pothole so perfectly that it blew out both tires. We rolled well out onto the bridge before coming to a stop. There was plenty of room to change my flats so I decided to do the repair right there. Luckily there was plenty of help for this project. Glenn Moore and Scott Barrette changed out my rear tire while Pete Petroski and I changed out the front tire. Meanwhile Dwight Oda held my frame in the air to keep everything clean and Dennis King rolled and stowed the punctured tubes back into my seat pack. It looked like the Wood Brothers in action at a Nascar event. This was the first time that I'd ever seen 6 people working on one bike without throwing a single punch!

The next order of the day was to find coffee. Leave it to Java Geno to sniff out the faintest hint of caffeine. We squeezed into a dingy little bar/pool hall/café that had the only coffee in town. Waitress Pat had actually lived in Stockton and Sacramento where she previously worked at the local institutions of higher incarceration. A lively gal in her golden years, she would have fit right in with the Wheelmen in her youth. A local customer at the next table asked her if she could pour coffee as fast as she told jokes. Pat told the impatient customer that, "all service problems were handled by Helen Waite" and that if you have any complaints you can go to Helen Waite. Then again, she didn't exactly indicate on which side of the law enforcement fence that she resided.

From there we rolled a couple blocks to the San Miguel Mission that was built in 1792. The remainder of our ride was a peaceful glide back to Paso Robles.

It was a most enjoyable 3 days of cycling with a great group of people. Memorable moments included Jack Hartman's hilarious description of how he triggered his subcutaneous defibrillator during a spin class, Glenn Moore fighting leg cramps while in the back seat of my Explorer with three Wheelwomen and the 5 mile high-speed descent to Cambria. All in all, it was a kick in the pants. I can't believe all the fun I've been missing!