Cycle Tour: Santa Maria to Refugio, Southern California Wine Country?

I awoke to the luxury of a hotel room on Friday, day 7 of my 9-day tour. I was enjoying camping every other night, but the hotel was a nice change of pace. My room had clean clothes hanging over every available spot, and leftovers from the restaurant meal the night before sat in the tiny refrigerator. As much as I was enjoying the hotel, the ride ahead was beckoning, and I was too excited to have a lazy morning. I had ridden the Pacific Coast Route before, but this time I was taking a new route through the wine country in this area.

Leaving the comfort of the hotel wasn’t easy, but I was excited about the day’s route.

Central Coast Outdoors (CCO), the company that shuttled me around the Highway 1 closure, recommended riding through wine country. My reaction was – “Wine country? That is farther north, right?” Well, of course, Napa Valley and the surrounding areas in northern California are famous for their many vineyards. But there is a huge wine country south of the central coastal region, and it is growing fast. And it is beautiful country to ride through.

My route that day was the longest riding day of my tour. I planned to do 60+ miles of riding and 3000+ feet of elevation gain. Fortunately, I was “riding myself into shape,” as fellow tourers call it, and I felt ready for it. I had also changed my destination at Mandy’s recommendation from CCO. There were 3 campgrounds to choose from on my way into Santa Barbara: Gaviota, Refugio, and El Capitan. I was originally going to stay at Gaviota, but based on Mandy’s advice, I changed my destination to Refugio State Beach for that day, adding some miles to my ride.

I got an early start as usual. The weather was sunny and cool all day, perfect for riding. Santa Maria is a small town, and the hotel was on its outskirts, so I quickly got into a rural setting. The early route centered around Foxen Canyon Road. The roads I took most of the day didn’t have a bike lane, but traffic was almost nonexistent. The few cars that passed me were happy to give me a lot of room.

This was the welcome sign for wine country as it turned out.
Big ranches and bigger skies were the order of the day.
The terrain was perfect. Rolling hills afforded great views; there was no sustained climbing. Not until later, anyway.
The geography became apparent after a while. The road followed a valley and a riverbed, around which all of the vineyards were clustered.
I loved the contrast between the perfect right angles of the hay bales and the endless, curving, rolling valley.

In the middle of rugged backcountry with no gas stations, traffic lights, or even intersections, I encountered a wine-tasting location. It was basically a nice shed set up in the front of a home. Then another. Then a huge fancy one.

After a morning with nothing but a few farmhouses, the “Wine Tasting Ahead” in the middle of nowhere was pretty out of place. But interesting.
Many ranches have added a wine tasting room to an otherwise fully operating ranch/vineyard.
I had to stop and have a look.
The wine tasting rooms had various styles. This one had an antique / country theme.
The coin-operated horse ride and vintage clothes set the mood.
Zaca Mesa Winery was a large, fancy place. I had to make one more vineyard visit.
The full wine bar was nice. I bummed some water and ice from them.
My imagination wanders on tours. I pictured myself riding across the Serengeti when the scenery looked like this. But this was much more comfortable and safe.

The never-ending row of vineyards ended as I rode into Los Olivos. It was one of many towns I rode through that I had never heard of before, but it was a pleasant surprise. Not knowing if there would be another good stop, I got some important supplies for the day while I was there.

I try to avoid using the word “cute” to describe every small town I rode through, but I couldn’t avoid it with Los Olivos. It was a darling little village.
I wasn’t sure there would be another chance for some good, affordable wine.

Somewhere in town, the route turned into an actual, official, named bike lane, which was a pleasant change. It wound its way along more charming back roads on its way to the mother lode of all tourism in the area: the city of Solvang. It is known for its Danish-themed architecture and loads of great options for eating, drinking, and sightseeing. And, for us cyclists, the annual Solvang Century ride.

Classic Solvang, featuring its landmark windmill.

I left Solvang by taking Alisal Road. It is a gorgeous narrow road out of town, and it cuts off much of the riding on US-101, which is basically a freeway open to bikes. It is not shown as a through road on all maps, but Alisal does connect as a bike route to Old Coast Highway and US-101 as I write this, even if your map shows the road closed to cars. I made the big left turn to get on US-101, and I was rewarded with a long steady descent to the coast. If you look at that stretch and notice a tunnel, be aware that the tunnel is only on one side of the freeway, the northbound side, and it is an uphill grade. There was no tunnel on the southbound side where I was. I pushed past Gaviota and on to Refugio. There is a very short bridge on that section with no shoulder for bikes, so you have to get out in the lane. It had loads of “Share The Road” warning signs with big pictures of bicycles on them, but I got honked at anyway, which actually amused me more than anything.

The route returned to the Pacific coast. This is a pic looking back at Gaviota, where I opted not to stay. If only there were this many campground options on the whole route!
The train along here runs right on the ocean.
I could see Refugio State Beach, my destination, farther down the coast.
I arrived at Refugio with plenty of daylight left, which surprised me, given the long route that day.
The Hike or Bike sites at Refugio are right on the beach, behind the No Parking sign and parked camper(!).
The view from the campsite was wonderful.
I walked up and down Refugio Beach, letting the sand massage my tired feet. 
There was a small surf break that attracted a handful of surfers.
A small creek ran into the ocean through the campground, but at this time of year it was not running enough to cross the beach.

The conditions in Refugio were windy, but I found out that was pretty normal. The campground had a small store with very limited hours, i.e., it was not open at all while I was there. The shower facilities were very nice and right next to the Hike or Bike campsite. The campground was full with family reunions and large groups camping together. I scored some ice and got a few family history lessons about camping in Refugio.

After settling in, Nick joined me at the Hike or Bike area. He was a local who camped there often. We exchanged notes about camping equipment, and I told him I thought it would be great to live close to all the coastal campgrounds in the area. It was good to know it didn’t go unnoticed by Nick, who clearly enjoyed it.

Nick was a local doing an overnighter to this lovely campsite.

As usual, I was ready to go to sleep as soon as the sunset permitted it. I definitely did not wear out any of the batteries in my headlamp. Falling asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the beach after a long day of riding and great experiences seemed to be a formula for a good night’s sleep, indeed.

Distance
67.48 mi
Elevation gain
+3,234 ft
Elevation loss
−3,419 ft
Max elevation
1,614 ft
Waypoints
0
Elevation profile

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