Name: Mostly SLO 600k (ACP Brevet / Route #2722 )
Ride Start:Saturday, May 11 at 0600
Ride End: Sunday, May 12 at 2200
Time Limit: 40 hours
Cost: $30.00
Registration: closes Thurs at midnight before ride
Start Location: Calle Joaquin Park & Ride Lot between Taco Temple and Hampton Inn
Description: The Mostly SLO 600K begins and ends in San Luis Obispo. The name references the fact that although the 600k stays “mostly” in San Luis Obispo (i.e. SLO) county it does venture down into Santa Barbara county on Day2. The route includes a wonderful visit to Montana de Oro state park which is closed from 10PM to 6AM so this will not be a ride that is conducive as a straight through 600k.
On the first day the 600k route crosses town and climbs over Cuesta Grade on the Hwy 101 shoulder, climbing 1200 feet in about 3 miles. Exit on the other side for a pleasant ride up through Santa Margarita and then we pass through Creston and Shandon on the way to the first control in San Miguel, a good place for early lunch. Then, head over to Paso Robles west side, the location of many wineries up in the hill country. Beautiful, rolling hills for about 25 miles finally lead out to Hwy 46, where you climb over the coast range to Cambria. Then a quick but windy trip up to visit the Elephant Seals north of San Simeon and then straight back to San Luis Obispo via Hwy 1. From there it’s a small loop down to Grover Beach, Pismo Beach and Avila Beach before heading back to SLO and overnight near the start location at mile 238. Due to the pandemic there will be no designated hotel but there are a number within 1/4 mile of the start location.
The second day starts with a visit to Montana de Oro (i.e. MDO) which opens at 6:00AM so there is no need to leave the overnight before 5AM as the first timed control at mile 283 is open until 12:20 on Sunday. So it’s off to MDO for some fabulous ocean views, then back through SLO and south down through Pismo Beach and out to Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve. From there we head east to Santa Maria and the up to Arroyo Grande where we continue east up a quiet country road to the Huasna townsite, returning back the way we came and then up through the countryside to San Luis Obispo and the finish.
Reservations are recommended in this tourist town, you can usually cancel. It’s a beautiful ride, with about 18,000 vertical feet, about half in the first 130 miles. Garmin files can be downloaded from the map link.
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please use Google Group SLORando for general questions or email SLO RBA