Mostly SLO 600k Recap

[SLO RBA]

We had 8 intrepid riders including the RBA face the new 600k route that would cover a great deal of SLO county and a wee bit south of it.

The ride start was quite pleasant as the sun was up and almost 50F as we began the climb up Cuesta Grade to the north part of SLO county.  I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the quiet country roads in the areas around Creston and Shandon. The weather remained cool, normally it can hit 80-90F in this area so a 60F day was a nice surprise and made it much easier to cruise through the wine country west of Paso Robles.  

Pictures from the first part of day 1

Next we did climbed over the "pass" on Hwy 46 to get to the coast. As usual by this point the wind had come up and made progress north on highway 1 slower than most would have liked but there is always plenty of sights to keep you occupied including the elephant seals and various other wildlife.  The riders headed back down the coast to SLO and then a loop out in the country through the 5 cities before heading back to SLO.  Unfortunately the weather that had been overcast became a marine layer which then turned into rain overnight but all riders finished day 1 successfully.

Pictures from the coastal part of day 1

The weather for day 2 was much better with some early sun but still quite cool for this time of the year.  All riders headed out to the super scenic (but hilly) Montana de Oro state park before heading back through SLO on our way south to Guadalupe.  Three of the riders DNF'd during this portion of the brevet.

Pics from Montana de Oro

The trip out to the Guadalupe Sand Dunes was also very scenic and after making our way through Santa Maria we got to enjoyed the quiet roads out to the old Huasna town site.  From there it was a nice ride back through the canyons to SLO and the finish.  The remaining 5 riders were all in before dark.  

Pics from Guadalupe and Huasna 

So that's it for the planned brevets for this year, I may put in a RUSA populaire later in the year but probably not until after Sept.  Maybe I will see some of you on the Colorado High Country 1200k in July.  

Let me know what you would like to see for brevets next year.  I'm planning on at least a full series but may run more options on each of the days.

Thanks to everyone for coming out to ride and helping me run my first full series as an RBA.

Grant McAlister, RBA

San Luis Obispo Randonneurs