Old San Marcos and Painted Cave Road
06-30-20, 11:26 PM
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Old San Marcos and Painted Cave Road
Anyone ride this recently? Is it relatively car free? Given that the painted cave is closed, it seems like a much better alternative than San Marcos Road but very very steep.
07-01-20, 02:37 AM
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haven't ridden it recently but if you haven't ridden intersecting and neighboring east camino cielo, that would be one of my highest recommendations in all of socal.
i know you've done gmr/grr but tell me/us what you think of east camino cielo. painted cave/osm is a classic but i like east camino cielo from either the
hwy 154/san marcos pass intersection or the continuation after the gibraltar climb. personally think it's a little better from the gibraltar side heading nw towards
the 154 but both sides rock. road quality in the area wasn't the best last time i was up there but it's been three years since my last visit.
a guy can be a new pavement optimist, can't he?
you could do the 154, have ridden up it both sides and descended it both sides. my thoughts:
always better to descend...heading towards the ocean, it's relatively easy to control the lane
with the amount of curves. not so heading inland. it's mostly straightaways, whether you incorporate stagecoach rd.
into the descending proceedings or not. ascending the 154 from santa ynez is less than desirable and unfun but it's worse
heading from the oceanside into the hills. regardless of direction, the 154 carries a lot of fast, unashamed ford f150 traffic.
i'll take the dominatrix demands of gibraltar, osm or painted cave (or semi-nearby refugio) any day vs the interminable 154.
and yes, painted cave climb (and osm) are steep but not harder than the mt. baldy ski lifts (and no altitude issues). if you're geared
to knock out a baldy or gibraltar, you'll be just fine with a painted cave ascent. as always, there will be significant suffering/questioning of life choices involved.
i know you've done gmr/grr but tell me/us what you think of east camino cielo. painted cave/osm is a classic but i like east camino cielo from either the
hwy 154/san marcos pass intersection or the continuation after the gibraltar climb. personally think it's a little better from the gibraltar side heading nw towards
the 154 but both sides rock. road quality in the area wasn't the best last time i was up there but it's been three years since my last visit.
a guy can be a new pavement optimist, can't he?
you could do the 154, have ridden up it both sides and descended it both sides. my thoughts:
always better to descend...heading towards the ocean, it's relatively easy to control the lane
with the amount of curves. not so heading inland. it's mostly straightaways, whether you incorporate stagecoach rd.
into the descending proceedings or not. ascending the 154 from santa ynez is less than desirable and unfun but it's worse
heading from the oceanside into the hills. regardless of direction, the 154 carries a lot of fast, unashamed ford f150 traffic.
i'll take the dominatrix demands of gibraltar, osm or painted cave (or semi-nearby refugio) any day vs the interminable 154.
and yes, painted cave climb (and osm) are steep but not harder than the mt. baldy ski lifts (and no altitude issues). if you're geared
to knock out a baldy or gibraltar, you'll be just fine with a painted cave ascent. as always, there will be significant suffering/questioning of life choices involved.
Last edited by diphthong; 07-01-20 at 02:47 AM.
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07-01-20, 10:24 AM
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haven't ridden it recently but if you haven't ridden intersecting and neighboring east camino cielo, that would be one of my highest recommendations in all of socal.
i know you've done gmr/grr but tell me/us what you think of east camino cielo. painted cave/osm is a classic but i like east camino cielo from either the
hwy 154/san marcos pass intersection or the continuation after the gibraltar climb. personally think it's a little better from the gibraltar side heading nw towards
the 154 but both sides rock. road quality in the area wasn't the best last time i was up there but it's been three years since my last visit.
a guy can be a new pavement optimist, can't he?
you could do the 154, have ridden up it both sides and descended it both sides. my thoughts:
always better to descend...heading towards the ocean, it's relatively easy to control the lane
with the amount of curves. not so heading inland. it's mostly straightaways, whether you incorporate stagecoach rd.
into the descending proceedings or not. ascending the 154 from santa ynez is less than desirable and unfun but it's worse
heading from the oceanside into the hills. regardless of direction, the 154 carries a lot of fast, unashamed ford f150 traffic.
i'll take the dominatrix demands of gibraltar, osm or painted cave (or semi-nearby refugio) any day vs the interminable 154.
and yes, painted cave climb (and osm) are steep but not harder than the mt. baldy ski lifts (and no altitude issues). if you're geared
to knock out a baldy or gibraltar, you'll be just fine with a painted cave ascent. as always, there will be significant suffering/questioning of life choices involved.
i know you've done gmr/grr but tell me/us what you think of east camino cielo. painted cave/osm is a classic but i like east camino cielo from either the
hwy 154/san marcos pass intersection or the continuation after the gibraltar climb. personally think it's a little better from the gibraltar side heading nw towards
the 154 but both sides rock. road quality in the area wasn't the best last time i was up there but it's been three years since my last visit.
a guy can be a new pavement optimist, can't he?
you could do the 154, have ridden up it both sides and descended it both sides. my thoughts:
always better to descend...heading towards the ocean, it's relatively easy to control the lane
with the amount of curves. not so heading inland. it's mostly straightaways, whether you incorporate stagecoach rd.
into the descending proceedings or not. ascending the 154 from santa ynez is less than desirable and unfun but it's worse
heading from the oceanside into the hills. regardless of direction, the 154 carries a lot of fast, unashamed ford f150 traffic.
i'll take the dominatrix demands of gibraltar, osm or painted cave (or semi-nearby refugio) any day vs the interminable 154.
and yes, painted cave climb (and osm) are steep but not harder than the mt. baldy ski lifts (and no altitude issues). if you're geared
to knock out a baldy or gibraltar, you'll be just fine with a painted cave ascent. as always, there will be significant suffering/questioning of life choices involved.
07-02-20, 03:53 AM
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head south towards the top of the gibraltar climb and head back same way. remarkably different views. roughly 22 miles and 3,600 ft of el gain. you knocked out the verdugos, this has some ups and downs and
will give you a workout but won't tie you up for 5 hours. views, views, views and only a few other crazy riders enroute. roadie singletrack.
osm to the top of painted cave and straight back down or down the 154 is still awesome as well. win-win. have never come across many cars/motorcycles on east camino cielo, osm
or painted cave and i'm okay with that. the 154 gets 95+% of the traffic. the pic in on east camino cielo headed nw towards san marcos pass and the 154.
Last edited by diphthong; 07-02-20 at 04:08 AM.
07-02-20, 11:56 PM
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and?! just kidding. if you wake up and don't feel like being a world-beater but still want some sweet action, drive up the 154 from sb and park near the san marcos pass summit where it intersects east camino cielo.
head south towards the top of the gibraltar climb and head back same way. remarkably different views. roughly 22 miles and 3,600 ft of el gain. you knocked out the verdugos, this has some ups and downs and
will give you a workout but won't tie you up for 5 hours. views, views, views and only a few other crazy riders enroute. roadie singletrack.
osm to the top of painted cave and straight back down or down the 154 is still awesome as well. win-win. have never come across many cars/motorcycles on east camino cielo, osm
or painted cave and i'm okay with that. the 154 gets 95+% of the traffic. the pic in on east camino cielo headed nw towards san marcos pass and the 154.
head south towards the top of the gibraltar climb and head back same way. remarkably different views. roughly 22 miles and 3,600 ft of el gain. you knocked out the verdugos, this has some ups and downs and
will give you a workout but won't tie you up for 5 hours. views, views, views and only a few other crazy riders enroute. roadie singletrack.
osm to the top of painted cave and straight back down or down the 154 is still awesome as well. win-win. have never come across many cars/motorcycles on east camino cielo, osm
or painted cave and i'm okay with that. the 154 gets 95+% of the traffic. the pic in on east camino cielo headed nw towards san marcos pass and the 154.
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07-03-20, 01:21 AM
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just messin.' nice going. trying to make it back up there in august myself.
08-28-21, 05:06 AM
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did painted cave climb after parking near the top of san marcos pass and descending to the start of the painted cave ascent.
it was a heavy fog morning (which was a blessing in disguise) until i got to the top where the road started to flatten out and there were
more houses. stiff climb but a bit easier after the shaded switchback (pretty sweet/beautiful switchback). road quality lower down a 5.
once up to the shaded switchback, pavement a 7.5. do not recommend descending painted cave unless it's an emergency since
the pavement is not compliant. low traffic. encountered 4 cars in 3.5 miles once on painted cave. did a little east camino cielo
for dessert and what a dessert! both painted cave and east camino cielo (and southeasterly joining gibraltar rd) are must-do's for
socal cyclists at some point. not the easiest but definitely rewarding.
https://www.strava.com/activities/5819315250
old san marcos (osm) rd is a decent climb with several of those wtf central coast switchbacks and the views are pretty good but there's zero shade.
if you can't do the combined osm/painted cave climb from santa barbara/goleta, painted cave is the harder/better of the two. the star, tho, is really
east camino cielo. any time spent up there is better than time spent elsewhere nearby.
it was a heavy fog morning (which was a blessing in disguise) until i got to the top where the road started to flatten out and there were
more houses. stiff climb but a bit easier after the shaded switchback (pretty sweet/beautiful switchback). road quality lower down a 5.
once up to the shaded switchback, pavement a 7.5. do not recommend descending painted cave unless it's an emergency since
the pavement is not compliant. low traffic. encountered 4 cars in 3.5 miles once on painted cave. did a little east camino cielo
for dessert and what a dessert! both painted cave and east camino cielo (and southeasterly joining gibraltar rd) are must-do's for
socal cyclists at some point. not the easiest but definitely rewarding.
https://www.strava.com/activities/5819315250
old san marcos (osm) rd is a decent climb with several of those wtf central coast switchbacks and the views are pretty good but there's zero shade.
if you can't do the combined osm/painted cave climb from santa barbara/goleta, painted cave is the harder/better of the two. the star, tho, is really
east camino cielo. any time spent up there is better than time spent elsewhere nearby.
