20 Miles Up, 20 Miles Down - Santa Barbara's Best Backcountry Gravel Ride.

Long ride out in the Santa Barbara backcountry. This ride starts in the Santa Ynez Valley, to be precise. 46 miles 6600 feet of climbing Paradise Road to Bluff Camp and back. Along the Camuesa Connector and Buckhorn Road, this ride is steady climbing for around 20 miles, all on dirt. At the time of this ride, a bunch of bushes were growing on the road, and they all had these gnarly thorns poking us continuously. Watch out. While we started early and enjoyed some fresh air with a hovering marine layer, that soon enough burned off, and it got warm. Bluff camp had a faucet with drinkable water, and even if that is not running, there is a creek there. Bring a filter. Then there is a 20-mile descent on ever-changing dirt surfaces. Some fast, some technical, some loose, some rough. Check the ride on Strava:   / strava