July 19-27, 2025

Entry fee: $600

Registration opens Monday, February 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM

$50 deposit due at registration, payable by credit card

Balance of $550 due April 1, payable by check

Tour led by Bill Oetinger & Peter Verbiscar-Brown

Click for tour preview booklet

A tour exploring Monterey, San Benito, and San Luis Obispo Counties. Many roads used previously in the Central Coast Tours (1997, 2013), Mid-State Tour (2007), Santa Cruz Tour (2015), and Camino Real Tour (2018), but often arranged in new ways or ridden in the opposite direction. Plenty of new roads too. Very little on the coast this time, except for a few miles around Monterey and Carmel at the start. (No Big Sur.) It’s mostly inland in the classic Central California landscape of rolling hills and tranquil valleys. Meadows, woods of oak, bay and sycamore. Also farm fields—America’s salad bowl: the Salinas River Valley—vineyards, and sprawling western cattle ranches.

Two nights in motels in Paso Robles. Six nights of camping. All overnights have showers and some have swimming holes or pools.

There are long and short alternatives on all but the prologue and the final two stages. Excluding the 26-mile prologue, the short options average just under 60 miles and 3700’ a day. The longer routes average 69 miles and 4300’ a day. Both numbers are somewhat skewed by Stage 6: 85 miles. It is nowhere near the hardest tour the club has sponsored over the years but it is slightly above the average among recent tours for level of challenge. The long routes compare with the 2013 Central Coast Tour…not much of a surprise, seeing as how this tour uses many of the same roads as that tour…arranged in new ways but still the same landscape and terrain.

 

Friday: prep day at the club warehouse.

Saturday, July 19

Drive to Rancho San Juan High School, north of Salinas (3 hrs from SR, 4 hrs with lunch stop).

Prologue: High School to Veterans Memorial Park, Monterey

26 miles 1100’ up, 860’ down

Leave car pool fleet at school. Load all personal gear into the luggage truck. Ride 26 miles to Veterans Memorial Park in the highlands of the Del Monte Forest above Monterey. Stay in the group camp. Showers.


Sunday, July 20

Stage 1: Monterey to Arroyo Seco Campground

63 miles 5000’ up, 4500’ down

68 miles 5700’ up, 5200’ down

Begin with 17 miles along—what else?—the famous 17-mile drive around the Monterey Peninsula and down through too-cute Carmel. Then it’s a long journey out Carmel Valley Road, up to the high point of the tour: 2400’ Cahoon summit. Long route adds a hilly detour along Cachagua Road. (This stage has the most elevation gain of any stage on the tour.) A nice, wiggly descent off the far side and a long roll-out into the Arroyo Seco River valley bring us to an overnight at Arroyo Seco Campground. Showers and group site and good swimming hole.

Monday, July 21

Stage 2: Arroyo Seco to Mission San Antonio de Padua (in Fort Hunter Liggett)

56 miles 2300’ up, 2200’ down

71 miles 3300’ up, 3200’ down

Across the flat Salinas River valley, through the town of Greenfield, then south on rolling Metz Road along the river to King City. Further south, up and over a substantial ridge and down into the sprawling Fort Hunter Liggett army base. Overnight on the grounds of 1771 Mission San Antonio de Padua (within the army base). Long route takes a more roundabout path over the ridge. Showers in the mission.


Tuesday, July 22

Stage 3: Mission San Antonio to Paso Robles

51 miles 3300’ up, 3700’ down

62 miles 4300’ up, 4700’ down

69 miles 4900’ up, 5300’ down

South out of the army base and down the pretty Harris Valley on Interlake Road to a series of climbs up and over the ridges above Lake Naciemento. Then downhill toward Paso Robles…relatively easy for the shortest route. The two longer routes tackle challenging climbs (and fun descents) in the Santa Lucia Mountains (done this way on the Camino Real Tour). Finish at a motel in Paso Robles. Dinner on the town and full breakfast at the motel.


Wednesday, July 23

Stage 4: Paso Robles to Santa Margarita Lake

53 miles 4000’ up, 3300’ down

63 miles 5200’ up, 4500’ down

Through downtown Paso Robles and then the wonderful Peachy Canyon and Willow Creek Roads. We’ve done this on at least four prior tours but never before in this direction. Vineyard and El Pomar Roads around the outskirts of Templeton, then the flat valley near Creston and then the amazing Hwy 229, aka Webster Road, again for the first time in this direction. Long route adds the Parkhill-Las Pilitas loop (up and down). Overnight at Santa Margarita Lake. Showers.


Thursday, July 24

Stage 5: Santa Margarita Lake to Paso Robles

53 miles  3000’ up, 3650’ down

67 miles  3450’ up, 4100’ down

A relatively easy day, especially on the shorter route. Begins with the same delightful route we’ve used on previous tours, at least for the first 22 miles (Pozo and Parkhill Roads). Then we branch off into new territory…new roads, new landscapes. Returning to the same motel in Paso Robles for another night. Cost of motels and dinners on the town not included in entry fee.

Friday, July 25

Stage 6: Paso Robles to Pinnacles National Park

85 miles  4700’ up, 4400’ down

A longer day than we have normally tackled in recent years but still not all that hard. A few riders could hitch lifts in the sag and luggage truck out to the first rest stop and start riding from there, giving them a stage of under 60 miles. We’ll call that the short route today. Once clear of Paso Robles at mile 2, the route is the best sort of biking: River Road, Indian Valley Road, Peach Tree Road, and Hwy 25…all quality biking roads. Overnight in the east campground at Pinnacles National Park. Showers and swimming pool.

Saturday, July 26

Pinnacles National Park layover day

A day to relax in this spectacular rock-candy wonderland. Options include just that: relaxing…taking it easy around camp or at the nice swimming pool in camp. Our recommended option is doing a hike among the pinnacles and caves that make this park so special. It’s possible to hike right from camp but better yet is to ride bikes to the Bear Gulch trailhead and do a 6-mile hike in the high peaks, quite possibly visiting with the resident California condors. 7-mile round trip bike “commute” to the trailhead and the recommended 6-mile hike. For those who want it, a modest ride of 35 miles is also available.

Sunday, July 27

Stage 7: Pinnacles to Rancho San Juan High School

58 miles  2700’ up, 3550’ down

Closing the loop back to the school where we stashed our car pool fleet. Running north and west through the rolling hills of the Gabilan Range—more pretty, mostly quiet back roads. One section of about ten miles on straight, flat, not-so-great roads. Beyond San Juan Bautista we climb over San Juan Grade and descend to the farm fields north of Salinas and down to the high school. Then it’s just sorting out the luggage and the three-hour drive to Santa Rosa or wherever home is.

Monday, July 28

Clean-up day at the warehouse. (Note: helping out with clean-up after the tour or prep work before the tour is not required, but we can’t stage the tour without some people pitching in).