Huasna Road

November 29, 2020

It’s Sunday, at the end of a holiday weekend. it doesn’t seem like the best time to bike up the coast highway, so we opt for a ride into the interior - somewhere quiet that won’t be plagued by weekenders returning home. A ride up Huasna Road looks just right. It’s too far to start from here though, so as long as the bikes are in the car anyway we drive 20 miles down the coast to Pebble Beach and start from there.

The first seven or eight miles are along the coast, but it’s easy and safe riding - this is part of the pacific coast bike route, and there are decent bike lanes the whole way. At Arroyo Grande we finally turn inland and soon leave the traffic and city life behind.

Free at last! Outside of Arroyo Grande we leave the traffic behind and Rachael leaves me behind too for the next hour.

Looking across the narrow cultivated basin along Arroyo Grande Creek. We’re biking here on Huasna Road, but on the return we’ll bike the opposite side of this basin down a quiet lane hiding behind the trees.

Along Huasna Road. This is a lovely cycling route once you leave the outskirts of town, the road burrowing its way up into the foothills.

Huasna Road, angling along the base of the hills to the right. Looking ahead, the road often looks like it’s going to push you up the ridge, but it never does. Very well behaved.

After a few open miles, the road merges with the course of Tar Spring Creek. The rest of the way is like this, biking in the shade of a live oak woods.

This funny looking bird again. We’ll be seeing it everywhere now, I suppose. These two turned away and fanned their tails at me. A threatening or defensive maneuver? A come-on?

They left behind a possible souvenir, but I declined the offer. Where would I put it?

Looking up from the feather, this ground squirrel stood patiently beside his hole not 20 feet from me, waiting for his portrait. Who am I to deny him?

After meeting up at the summit, Rachael I snack on a pull off on the shoulder of the road, and then head back. The six mile downhill coast is surprisingly chilly.

Still the same road, unsurprisingly. We’re backtracking.

Video sound track: No Matter, by Richard Thompson

We arrive back at the car at 3:30, hurriedly change our clothes and then head over to nearby Ventana Grill, a restaurant with an appealing menu and outside seating that opens at 4. There’s a waiting list already when we arrive, so we walk along the bluffs for the next 20 minutes until our TM arrives. We’re happy for the delay, because the views along the coast are breathtaking; and best of all there are pelicans about, gliding in for a landing on the cliffs just below us.

Dinner is fantastic. We’re seated on a corner table overlooking the sea, at the top of a sheer 80’ bluff. We’re careful not to drop anything from the table because we’d never be able to retrieve it. It feels perfectly COVID-safe, with the wind blowing at us from the ocean - no upwind sources this side of Japan.

There could hardly be a more romantic spot for our meal, watching the gulls and pelicans swirling about as the sun goes down. The meal itself is terrific, but once the sun goes behind the clouds the temperature drops quickly. We’ve both got three layers on but it’s barely enough by the time we ask for the bill.

The view north. That’s our restaurant on the right. Our table is at the leftmost corner of the upper tier.

Everyone’s favorite American bird, I imagine. Mine, anyway.

Just toss the sardines in here, S'il vous plaît.

I love seeing what birds will do with their feet.

Best meal of the tour to date: Coconut halibut; Al Pastor pork chop; Tempranillo; jaw dropping view.

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Ride stats today: 40 miles, 2,200’; for the tour: 321 miles, 7,300’

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 363 miles (584 km)

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