Monday, October 3, 2016 – Check-In
San Luis Obispo, CA
On this pre-ride day, we will rendezvous in San Luis Obispo. With official check-in later in the day, you can plan to arrive early and enjoy the charm that SLO-town is so well known for! Our first evening will be spent together at our Welcome Dinner in downtown SLO. You’ll have an opportunity to get acquainted with fellow Dream Riders, the tour staff, and also mingle with the wonderful folks from the San Luis Obispo bicycle coalition. Lodging will be on Monterey Street in downtown.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016 – Ride Day 1
San Luis Obispo to Lompoc - 64 miles - 2675 feet of climbing
After a hearty breakfast, we’ll head through town, with a stop at Mission San Luis Obispo, and then pedal towards Pismo Beach. We will ride past Dinosaur Caves Park, the Pismo Beach pier, down Highway 1 through the beach towns of Grover Beach, Oceano, Guadalupe, Casmalia and Vandenberg Air Force Base. We’ll ride past Mission La Purisima in Lompoc before rolling into our hotel. We'll enjoy an evening of wine-tasting from the Lompoc Wine Ghetto with our dinner.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016 – Ride Day 2
Lompoc to Santa Barbara - 59 miles - 2927 feet of climbing
Today’s route first takes our group through Downtown Lompoc where we will experience the city’s extensive collection of building-sized murals. From there, we will roll through the countryside to Gaviota State Beach and on to Santa Barbara via Highways 1 and 101. We'll eat lunch at one of the area’s beautiful state beaches overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We’ll continue on through the campus of UC Santa Barbara, utilizing their network of bike paths, and towards the beach and the beautiful Fess Parker hotel, our stop for the evening. This evening we will join the folks from the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition at their fabulous SB Bici bike center.
Thursday, October 6, 2016 – Ride Day 3
Santa Barbara to Santa Paula - 59 miles - 2581 feet of climbing
Today’s ride promises to be another great day of riding, loaded with beautiful scenery. After meandering through Montecito and Carpinteria, we’ll ride the new class 1 bike lane along 101. On arrival into Ventura, we’ll stop at the beautiful Mission San Buenaventura, then head towards Ojai along the Ventura River and Ojai bike trails. We’ll continue along Ojai Road, up Dennison Grade into Santa Paula (part of the Amgen Tour of California route), where we’ll overnight at the historic Glen Tavern Inn. Dinner will be a private affair at the Santa Paula airport, one of the last remaining non-towered facilities, and a location favored by many filmmakers in the area.
Friday, October 7, 2016 – Ride Day 4
Santa Paula to Woodland Hills - 53 miles - 3500 feet of climbing
After breakfast at the airport, we’ll ride through orange and lemon groves along South Mountain Road, another favorite route of the pros in the Amgen Tour of California. We’ll then pedal over Grimes Canyon Road towards Moorpark and Thousand Oaks. Our lunch stop at the beautiful Gardens of the World, a privately owned garden (open to the public) in downtown Thousand Oaks, will be one you won’t soon forget. After a relaxing lunch, we’ll continue along the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains on to Woodland Hills, our next overnight stop.
Saturday, October 8, 2016 – Ride Day 5
Woodland Hills to Los Angeles - 40 miles - 564 feet of climbing
Our final day is one for exploring Los Angeles’ growing network of bicycle infrastructure. We’ll begin with a 14-mile ride across the San Fernando Valley using the Orange Line Busway Bike Path to North Hollywood. We’ll continue east from there on the Chandler Bike Path to Burbank, then though Griffith Park—one of the nation’s largest urban parks (five times the size of New York City’s Central Park). At the south end of the park, we’ll join the Elysian Valley Bicycle & Pedestrian Path along the Los Angeles River. After rolling through L. A.’s Chinatown and Olvera Street, we’ll arrive in Downtown Los Angeles where we’ll check into our hotel for our final evening together. We’ll share a farewell dinner before saying our goodbyes.
Sunday, October 9, 2016 – Optional day in Los Angeles (not included in tour)
Downtown Los Angeles (CICLAVIA HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO 10/16/16)
On Sunday, Dream Riders have the option of taking part in CicLAvia, a well-known open streets event now in its seventh year. With approximately six miles of streets in Downtown Los Angeles closed to all motorized traffic, this is a grand opportunity to explore this rapidly reviving hip urban core by bicycle (along with about 100,000 other cyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders, etc…). The theme for this year's edition is to be Route 66. For more information, see www.ciclavia.org.
Check out Dave's personal day-by-day account of the 2014 ride.