Santa Barbara sits on California's Pacific Coast before a backdrop of the golden coloured ridge of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
The ridge rises to nearly 4,000' barely a few miles from downtown Santa Barbara.
A dramatic road runs along the crest of the ridge ... fittingly called Camino Cielo ... the Road to the Sky.
From Santa Barbara Highway 154 crosses the Santa Ynez Range via the San Marcos pass.
Highway 154 is one of California's main north-south routes and for much of the ten kilometre climb from Santa Barbara to the 2,126' Pass it lacks shoulders.
Rather than risk life & limb ... and use a not insignificant number of calories ... I decided to seek the assistance of S. B. Checker Cabs to take me up to the Pass.
I was dropped off at the San Marcos Fire Station which is adjacent to the Cielo Store.
I don't seem to have much luck in the States with stores in out-of-the-way places ... so naturally it was shut.
Camino Cielo climbs gently away from the Pass carving its way along the chaparral lined slopes.
Gradually the trees become less dense and views open up to the San Rafael Range to the north.
The highest peak in the range is the 6,828' Big Pine Mountain.
The road begins to twist and turn as it follows the line of the ridge ... and after two kilometres the turn-off to Painted Cave Road is reached.
Just down this road are caves containing paintings made by the native Chumash indians ... they are thought to be about one thousand years old.
Several other caves containing Chumash paintings have been discovered but their locations have been kept secret to avoid damage from vandals ... the Painted Cave is protected with an iron grill.
After the turn-off the road enters an amazing series of turns ... which are thoroughly confusing.
Fortunately after taking the final turn you can look back and work out where you have been.
The road continues to climb and after a further kilometre reaches the turn-off for Knapp's Castle.
George Knapp was an industrialist who built a house on a spur overlooking the Santa Ynez Valley.
Unfortunately his dream house was burnt down in the 1940s and the ruins are now a popular destination for hikers and mountain bikers.
The road continues to climb ... swapping from one side of the ridge to the other.
To the south you look out over Santa Barbara ... with the airport, the harbour and the Channel Islands beyond clearly visible through the haze.
On the other side of the ridge to the north lies the Santa Ynez River ... which is dammed further east to form Gibraltar Reservoir.
Camino Cielo then drops to a saddle where Arroyo Burro Road turns off leftward and descends to the Santa Ynez River and the Reservoir.
Unfortunately the area around the saddle seems to have become a dumping ground and a race track for off-road bikes.
From the saddle at around 3,000' the road continues to climb.
It passes a series of concrete water tanks which seem to be placed to help fight fires.
The scenery becomes markedly more rocky with large honey-coloured boulders of Matilija Sandstone littering the hill-sides.
The climbing continues until finally the top of La Cumbre Peak is reached.
The Peak is 3,995' above the Pacific below and supports a number of radio and communications masts and aerials.
From this point ... after a suitable rest ... you have almost 4,000' of descent to look forward to.
Camino Cielo first descends some 500' to the Angostura Pass.
After the Pass there is a modest sting-in-the-tail as the route climbs slightly along the southern slopes of the ridge.
After regaining the ridge you arrive at the junction with Gibraltar Road.
Camino Cielo continues eastward ... but I turned right to enjoy the descent back into Santa Barbara.
Gibraltar Road descends at an average slope of seven percent for some twelve kilometres.
The first part of the descent follows Rattlesnake Canyon before escaping to follow a less steep path.
It twists and turns in every direction ... each curve opening up new views over Santa Barbara.
I took my time descending ... it seemed a waste of hard won ... and not so hard won ... altitude to rush down ... taking 40 minutes to descend some 3,000'.
All that was left to do was to navigate Santa Barbara's grid of streets to find a café ... and then to find my way back to the Visitor's Centre on the sea front.
I locked my bike, took off my gloves, helmet, neckerchief, sunglasses, picked up my wallet, removed my bike computer, and then visited the public toilet. Coming out I reversed the process.
Whilst I was doing this a cool Santa Barbara cyclist scooted straight into the large disabled toilet and completed the same process in less than a minute.
Oh well ... maybe he hadn't just ridden along Il Camino Cielo.
Kirby James
