Tuesday Ride Options
MAIN ROUTE: “Cambria and the Santa Rosa Creek Climb, Now AKA the Proposal Ride” via Vineyard (66.5 miles, 6954 vertical ft) Tuesday, Main Ride
MAIN ROUTE, A BIT LONGER: “Cambria and the Santa Rosa Creek Climb, Now AKA the Proposal Ride” via Willow Creek (69.4 miles, 6786 vertical ft) Tuesday, Longer Ride
SHORT ROUTE OPTIONS:
- Turn around at the first SAG stop at the top of HWY 46 and follow the course back along HWY 46, making it approximately a 40 mile route.
- Turn around at Vineyard and HWY 46 and follow the course back along HWY 46, making it approximately a 33 mile route.
(Download RideWithGPS route from link above)
We tried to do this ride again in 2023, but it was rained out. So we haven’t been able to do this ride for several years now, and we are once again bringing it back for Paso Gran Fundo!
Roll out at 8:30AM from the Adelaide Inn for the Queen Stage of the Paso Gran Fundo.
Today we will undertake some of the most challenging miles and climbs of the week while enjoying some of the area’s most thrilling terrain. There will be spectacular vistas of the coastline, a descent to the coast of the Pacific Ocean, a coffee stop in Cambria (The cinnamon rolls at Linn’s are to die for and will give a good sugar boost for what is to come!), and a climb up “The Wall” on Santa Rosa Creek Road.
There will be two SAG stops on today’s ride, in addition to a coffee and pastry stop at Linn’s in Cambria. The first will be on HWY 46 at Mile 24.6 near the summit, and the second will be at the top of the “Wall” on Santa Rosa Creek Road at Mile 50. Be sure to top off the bottles at the second stop for the ride back to the Adelaide. It is sometimes quite warm from the top of the Wall back home. (If you are turning around early to shorten the ride, you will only have at most one SAG stop at the top of HWY 46)
We haven’t done this ride for several years now, opting instead for the ride on HWY 1 South to Cayucus and up the beautiful dirt Santa Rita Rd. This year, because of your surveys asking to bring it back, as well as the uncertainty of the dirt road conditions on Santa Rita after another heavy winter in California, we have decided to bring back “The Wall”!
For most of us, this has become one of the quintessentially epic rides of Paso Gran FUNdo. What makes it so memorable are the considerable amounts of climbing, spectacular vistas heading to the coast, a coffee stop in Cambria, a beautiful country road next to a creek coming back east, and the climb up the “Wall”. And now, of course, it is also known as “The Proposal Ride,” recalling Bob Temmerman’s proposal to Laura Hill at the top of the Wall in 2015. Wow, did that work out well!
The route heads out of Paso Robles on beautiful Peachy Canyon Road before making its way over to Highway 46 (on either Vineyard Rd–Main Route or Willow Creek Rd–Longer Route) for the trip out to the Pacific Coast and the town of Cambria. If it is a clear day, the summit on Highway 46 offers spectacular views south along the coast for at least 30 miles, including the Morro Bay Rock. From the summit, we’ll enjoy a 9-mile descent to Highway 1 and then turn north into the town of Cambria, where we will stop for coffee and pastry at Linn’s on the corner of Wall Street and Main Street (on your right heading into town).
From there comes the truly fun part—the climb up Santa Rosa Creek Road. It is mostly a gentle climb along the creek, except for the last 2-3 miles, where you will need the lowest gears on your bike. In one short stretch of switchbacks, some of our bike computers have registered as high as 23%! But don’t worry; if you don’t want to ride this short stretch, it can be walked.
At the top of the Wall, we will meet up with the SAG wagon. From there we will stay on Santa Rosa Creek Road back to Highway 46, turn left there and head straight back to Paso.
This is a long, hard day of riding, but it is also one of the most satisfying and memorable.
