I hope to attend the "real" Velo Bella training camp in February this year. There is one potential glitch. I am volunteering with a group called "Technovation" - mentoring high school girls in creating an Android app for 12 weeks. Our mentoring day may end up being Saturday, which would muck up the opportunity to go to camp. So, we ended up getting in a mini camp over Thanksgiving in the Paso Robles area. We had only done one ride in the area prior, so it was a chance to do some exploring of the north part of San Luis Obispo County.
We spent Thanksgiving day and night with my parents in Grover Beach. Then, we headed north to burn the turkey. We made our late morning stop in Santa Margarita - just a mile off of 101. We left our car in the town park and headed out for the Pozo loop. We'd tried to reach Pozo from Hi Mountain Road in Arroyo Grande in the past, only to be hampered by too much mud for our road bikes to handle on the steep dirt terrain. This was our chance to see the "town". The loop is about 43 miles with only moderate climbing - nothing too steep - just lots of rollers. The roads are very quiet, and generally in OK condition. There is one section of about 7 miles of rough road and one significant climb - the second significant climb is less noticeable, as it is more stair-steppy. Rick got a flat tire on the descent from the climb into Pozo, but other than that, the ride was delightful!
We took a quick late-afternoon refueling in Santa Margarita before driving the last 15 miles to our stay for the night. We spent the remainder of the weekend at the Chanticleer Bed & Breakfast just off the 101 and 46 junction in Paso Robles. It was a really nice and quiet spot.
Saturday, we headed out after breakfast to replace tire supplies at The Bike Zone - a Velo Bella sponsor. The owner came out and greeted me, as she saw my VB jersey. It was really nice to meet her. Then, we left our car in downtown for a loop of Peachy Canyon. We were having a hard time picking a route, so we ended up combining two routes. We headed up Peachy Canyon, but instead of heading immediately back on Adelaida, we turned down the Vineyard and Willow Creek loop before turning back to our route. The climb on Peachy was long and steady and exposed. I would not want it on a hot day! We saw a tarantella on the road. Ick! The Willow Creek section was super-nice, though the road surface could be better. The descent of Adelaida was completely epic - gentle, swooping, great surface and only one car the whole time. No brakes. Weeeeeeee!
In the afternoon, we did some wine tasting. The outstanding stop was Ecluse - a winery recommended by our hosts, which was doing barrel tastings and had some really nice varietals.
Sunday, we did some morning wine tasting and then headed home. The outstanding stop was Oso Libre, where we joined the wine club. It was also recommended by our hosts. We did the requisite stop at Turley as well, but found the 2010 vintage a bit lackluster.
All in all, it was a great way to kick off the fitness building of Winter and enjoy a special weekend with my sweetie!
