It was a pretty easy ride, about 15mi all told, but very enjoyable. The weather
was exceedingly cooperative, around 70F with a nice breeze. Starting from the
Oxford Suites along US101, the route roughly followed Noyes Rd inland to
SR227 where I paused to climb Peak 780ft (440ft of prominence), then along
the state highway to Price Canyon Rd which I took back to Pismo Beach with a
second stop to tag Camp Hill. The summit of Peak 780ft is crowned by a
private residence on one side. The route I had scoped out for this minor summit
would
approach from the south up a dirt road on an undeveloped piece of property with
a For Sale sign out front. When I got to the saddle where SR227 goes within a
quarter mile of the summit, I spied an unfenced, unsigned 
route
directly from
the roadway and decided it would be a faster way to reach it. The route goes
right by several homes on either side, but no dogs or people came out to chase
me off. Near the summit I went under two closely-spaced barbed-wire fences to
avoid getting too close to the summit home and approach from the south for the
last 30ft or so. Still, the highpoint is where three property boundaries come
together and I was standing within three feet of the summit home's patio deck.
A bit creepy of me, I readily admit. Luckily no one was home or at least no
one noticed me and I spent only a few seconds taking pictures before heading
back down. Sadly, the GPSr I was using as a camera had some difficulties and
the summit photos turned out to be pictures of the sky and ground instead of
the views overlooking the Five Cities areas.
I had originally planned just the one summit, expecting the inland weather to be
much warmer and less-inviting. Because it was so nice, I headed northwest
on SR227,
a very nice rural ride through 
ranch, 
farm and
vineyard areas, before
turning left on Price Canyon Rd and taking that back towards the coast.
Camp Hill is home to a Pismo hilltop 
reservoir adjacent to
the local high school. Nothing inside the fence looks to
be higher than the surrounding, accessible areas. Some technicians were working
at the periphery of the fence where some cell towers are installed. After my
short visit, I went through the 
St. Jude tunnel under US101, through
downtown Pismo Beach
and then back to our hotel a mile inland. Time for a shower and
stage 11 of the Tour de France...