Santa Maria - Lompoc
19 Miles
A short ride today because I didn't think I could do the long haul all the way to Goleta/Santa Barbara all in one day, so I rode to Lompoc and spent the afternoon resting up.
The route from Orcutt (Santa Maria) to Lompoc was pretty straightforward. Very warm sun undercut by occasional cool breezes. Highway 135 is a new, modern, 4-lane highway with a 65 MPH speed limit and nice wide shoulders. Traffic was light and it was an easy ride to Harris Grade Road.
Harris Grade Road was fun, and it's here say this that I realize my definition of fun might be getting a little warped. Narrow, twisty, hot, dusty two-lane with fairly steep ascent up the mountains. Very narrow with moderate traffic of the sort you'd expect on this kind of road. I didn't measure it exactly but I'm estimating that it was about 2.5 miles to reach the summit. As soon as you come over the top there is a breathtaking view down into Lompoc and then a very steep, twisty descent for a mile or two, then it flattens out a bit, but still descending all the way into town. Seems like a nice, neat town with all the conveniences (Starbucks, fast food, Albertsons, several motels).
No comments:
Post a Comment