Santa Cruz to Monterey by Bicycle
Franz| April 3, 2010 12:35 pmThe weather has been a bit cool for this time of the year in California, but we really wanted to do the club ride that starts in Santa Cruz and goes over to Monterey, then return. We got up early since it would take an hour to drive to the ride start, which was at 8 am. As we went over Hecker Pass, the temperatures were dropping down to 36, but by the time we reached Santa Cruz it was up to 40 degrees. Since there was no wind, it didn’t seem too cold to ride, especially since we had brought plenty of warm clothes.
For a total of 108 miles, it would be the longest ride this year for Anne so we decided to take the tandem. Several others were taking their tandems also and there ended up with 6 tandems on the ride.


The route started on the north end of Santa Cruz and headed south, along the ocean side of the town, Then through the Elkhorn Slough to Castroville. From there to Monterey, much of the route was on bike paths.

You would think that it would be all flat, but there was considerable up and down climbing along the route so we ended up with 4800 feet of climbing by the end of the ride. We were lucky to have sunshine in the morning so the temperatures warmed up rather rapidly. The last part of the ride went around Monterey Bay.

It was pleasant enough by the time we arrive in Monterey for a stop at Fisherman’s Wharf and a bowl of clam chowder in a bread bowl.



Then it was 54 miles back, retracing most of the path we had taken. As we neared the end, we were biking along Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz, with a spectacular view of the ocean. The waves were very large so after finishing the ride we drove back to take a few pictures.


It was a fun day but a long ride. We were so hungry at the finish, that we decided to drive home via San Jose so we could stop and eat dinner at the Olive Garden.
Categories: Cycling
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