Cachagua

Some years back, I had planned to ride this loop (in the counter-clockwise direction). Not knowing what to expect, I drove it first. (Yikes! Steep!) There's a reason our club tackles this in the opposite direction.

Mother Nature had a different plan for that day: a wet one. Ride scuttled.

I was excited when my friends suggested this route for day two of our little getaway, and cast my vote for riding it clockwise. I also expected the wind to pick up later in the day and didn't look forward to battling headwind for miles and miles on our return.

I was somewhat apprehensive about biking on Carmel Valley Road, but there was very little traffic. It was a long, gradual climb ... until it kicked up a notch before our turn onto Tassajara, and then Cachagua.

Unfamiliar territory is both fun and a bit daunting, not knowing what's ahead. The more the road descended, the more I wondered how much we'd climb on our way out. (Altogether, we covered 27 miles, with 2,220 feet of climbing.)

We'd played leapfrog with the local UPS delivery van—the speed-racer of a driver was obviously intimately familiar with the road and beating his truck mercilessly. Ahead of my friends, I slowed when I saw the roadway covered with sand, near a bridge over a creek. Thinking there was a reasonable path through, I didn't stop. [Well, until I fell over.] On the plus side, deep sand cushioned my fall (somewhat) and I was able to wave down my friends to stop (in case their judgment was no better than mine).

I had forgotten that last year's fires tore through this canyon. What remains is strangely beautiful, but I regret not enjoying it before it burned.

Back in Pacific Grove, I had ample time for a coastal stroll after getting cleaned up. The deer are much too tame (and the bane of residential gardeners, I'm sure).

I managed two strolls, in fact: before and after dinner.

I have a hunch that I would never tire of these views.