Perfumo Canyon

Today's ride up Perfumo Canyon Road (shown above), though relatively short, provided the most spectacular views I have had the fortune to encounter thus far. The following pictures will not do the scenery justice but hopefully provide a glimpse of what the ride was like.

Sometimes photos make it difficult to tell if the road is going up or down but in this case (photo above) it was a downhill.

In many cases though the photos depict a combination of both uphill and downhill sections.

Somewhere up there (photo above) is where the road leads to.

It's difficult to tell from the above photo just how steep the drop off is on the road side but I can assure you that it was not only steep but a drop of 50 or more feet.

Much of the road wound around as seen in the above photo.

More winding road and mountain cows on the hill above.

Wishing I had my DSLR with the wide angle lens for many of these shots.

This one is a bit fuzzy. The pocket camera I carry on bike rides has taken a beating in the couple of years I've had it so that it doesn't focus too well when I try to use the zoom.

Remember the cows from a few photos ago? Now I'm above them.

Still a ways to go (above) but getting there.

Caught a glimpse of a cyclist coming downhill from the right and pulled over to get a photo of her as she approached.

The above and below photos were taken fairly near the top. The above shot looks out toward Morro Bay. The below shot pans just a bit to the right to catch a bit more of the mountain range that goes up to San Luis Obispo.

The above photo (taken on the descent) is of the kind of cattle gate I've seen in other parts of California. The cows will not cross it.

Just beyond the cattle gate shown in the last photo the road turned into a dirt road for about a mile and a half. I was able to carefully ride some of it but did have to get off and walk a bit too. Eventually Perfumo Canyon Road turned into See Canyon Road and back to roads that would return me to San Luis Obispo. Because of the strength of the sun at this latitude it is best to get rides in as early in the day as possible. Thankfully, humidity isn't a problem here.