# Riding in Santa Barbara



## CXe (Sep 23, 2005)

Hi,

I am heading out to Santa Barbara on Friday (7/14) for a week on the beach and for some long days in the saddle. Is there anyone out there that can steer me in the right direction for good roads to ride on and maybe some clubs/teams to hook up with while I am there? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Ryan 
cyclocrossELEMENTS.com
"More Cowbell, More 'Cross"


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## PullThrough (Jun 12, 2006)

Contact FastTrak cycles. It's a shop in S.B. and they sponsor Team Echelon. They have some weekend group rides that ride on some of the popular backroads. The group is a pretty good size with riders of all levels.

There's also a group that starts about 25 minutes south in Ventura. They leave the "Shoreline" bike shop downtown @ 7:30-7:45ish on Saturdays and Sundays. The faster paced ride leaves @ 7:00 and is a smaller group of about 10-15 cat2-3 guys.


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## ispoke (Feb 28, 2005)

*report?*

CXe,

Did you find some good riding in SB? We're gonna be there over the weekend and we're looking for some good climbs. A friend suggested Gibraltar, and I'm looking for ways to make a good loop with this climb. Any suggestions?

Since we're driving from LA on Saturday morning, doing the group rides mentioned above is not possible...


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Best way to do Gibraltar is to go up Gibraltar, and when you get towards the top, don't worry about what the roads are called--always bear left whenever you have an option. This will take you across the ridge line, and eventually down to a road called Painted Cave (easy to miss). Go left, of course, to descend Painted Cave until it ends at Hwy 154. You can take 154 back into town (like they did in stage 5 of the Tour of California), but a better option is to cross over they highway and descend San Marcos Road instead. Either way, you'll get to Cathedral Oaks (which changes name to Foothill at 154), where you can turn left, ride back to the base of Gibraltar and close your loop.


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## PullThrough (Jun 12, 2006)

Mohair hit the nail on the head. You'll love this loop.


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