pic courtesy of mgopack42, slightly edited for BF's family friendly rules
Nearly 6 months ago I sent out an email to the usual suspects to see if there was any interest in doing a self-supported, Eroica type event in early April, starting from Paso Robles like Eroica California used to be (now it's September and is based out of Cambria). Not only that, but to reprise a tour from the Bay Area that has been done a few times. I usually yield about 50% takers from the askees, so several people that I've toured with in the past were on distribution. To my surprise, I now have
a dozen takers, plus a few to harbor pilots to send us off on Day 1. One of those earlier tours down the coast was documented
here.
Starting in the Bay Area, the plan was to cross over the coastal range to Highway 1, then keep the Pacific Ocean to our right as the only necessary directions until we got to Cambria. For those keeping weather score this winter and spring, Northern and Central California have been getting slammed with rain for the past few months, and much of Hwy 1 south of Big Sur is either covered with landslides or has fallen into the Pacific, making one think of the old song about buying land inland to tie up the boat in Idaho.
Acting as Capo, I have some wonderful consiglieri to help me plan a more inland route past Monterey. Finding interesting roads that aren't flooded or torn up has been a challenge, and a few local Bay Area peeps have taken time from their weekend to scout out alternate routes (thanks @
bikingshearer and @
cinelliguy!) Today and tomorrow it appears the last of the "atmospheric river" events is passing through, so assuming the creek really don't rise too much...here's the route (subject to tweaks):
5 days, about 300 miles total. Most everyone will be on a vintage bike. We'll have beds and roofs over our heads every night, and a Grand Palazzo in Atascadero as our destination for the weekend for what we're calling
Fauxroica
Epic sh**?
You bet.