Mark's Cycling & Hiking Blog
  • Home
  • Mark's Cycling Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Boulder Canyon Posts
  • Cycling Event Meet-Ups
  • Home
  • Mark's Cycling Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Boulder Canyon Posts
  • Cycling Event Meet-Ups

Gibraltar Road Climb, Santa Barbara, CA

4/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I drove over the mountain pass, via #154, hung a left on Foothills Road, found the Botanical Gardens parking lot, jumped on the bike and within 3 miles, arrived at Mountain Street. In California, streets that are named "Mountain" are the real deal.  This signals the start of what many refer to as, "The Classic American Climb" and I can't disagree.  Sure, there are longer climbs, there are steeper climbs but there is no climb that has the package of length, elevation and freakin incredible views.  Dozens of switchbacks provide views up and down the coast except, that weather system that moved in yesterday lingered and rather than brilliant sunshine, the skies were partly cloudy to start.
Picture
Climbing up Mountain, in a few minutes there is a fork in the road and if you take the middle fork, that is Gibraltar. First I scouted to this point because last year, upon arriving at the fork, I took the left turn and made a needless detour.  This created some confusion with timing the climb, which I treat as a very slow personal time trial.  Last year, I rationalized the detour and upon arriving at the top. calculated I had done the climb in 59:99.  I was determined to make a legit sub one hour climb. Sitting at this point were two cyclists who were waiting on a 3rd.  They invited me to join in but I needed to climb at my pace, not concerned about staying ahead of someone or catching someone.  I coasted back down to the Mountain Street sign, adjusted the clothing, hit the start button and began the grind up. 
Picture
As I climbed, more clouds rolled in and became thicker and thicker.  I began overtaking the 3 cyclists but they stopped where the road dips into a small community about 3/4 of the way up.  So far, the climb had been a mix of modest rises with a few steeper slopes mixed in but after the brief dip, the road never drops below 9-10%.  Eventually, the road leaves the coast, cutting back into the mountain and one is greeted with a turn followed by a straightish stretch, followed by a turn and on and on and on.  At each turn, I would think that would be the last and I would reach the top but no, more evil 10-15% ramps and glancing frequently at the Garmin,I despaired I would break the hour mark.  Then, rounding a corner, my legs screaming, I saw the summit, marked by an intersection leading elsewhere, crossed the intersection, hit the Garmin and HOW ABOUT THAT!  59:52 and later discovered my previous times had started at the Gibraltar Road sign rather than the Mountain Street sign, so I had actually started further down the mountain and still broken the one hour time.  I was a happy camper but gosh, it had gotten very dark.
Picture
I began coasting back down and stopped at this point where I found this old, burned plant to be an interesting color companion to the surrounding greyness. It began to rain lightly or maybe that is just moisture that is carried aloft by the clouds.
Picture
Lower still, the sun began to break, barely, through the clouds but still, I was robbed of the usual fantastic views.
Picture
This is how it usually appears, switchback after switchback and quite a nice distraction from the pain of climbing.  Oh well.
Picture
The skies never did clear and the mountains were shrouded by heavy clouds.  I had intended to climb Old San Marcos Road, cross the 154 and then hit the wickedly steep Painted Cave climb up to Camino Cielo Road but the thought of riding back into those clouds swiped the motivation and I returned to the Botanical Gardens parking lot, packed up and headed back to Santa Ynez Valley.  The Gibraltar climb from Mountain Street was 6.77 miles and 2761' of climbing.  The total for the day was 18 measly miles and 3500' of climbing. On to Arizona for hiking, the Shootout ride and probably an assualt on Mount Lemmon.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mark is a long-time cyclist, hiker, golfer and plays some table tennis...ok, it's ping pong.

    Categories

    All
    April
    California Riding
    Grand Canyon Backpacking
    March
    The Characters

    Archives

    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.