California Weekend Bike Tour — Carmel Valley and Monterey Coast
Daily Itinerary
Day One: Friday
The official starting location of our tour is Carmel Valley, however our shuttle leaves at noon from San Jose to make the drive to Carmel Valley. You may choose to travel at your leisure to Carmel Valley or catch a ride in our shuttle. We all arrive at our leisure at the inn for the duration fo the tour: the Los Laureles Lodge in Carmel Valley on Friday afternoon and evening. For those who arrive by 3 P.M., there will be a short warm-up ride through the Carmel Valley [less than 20 miles]. You are on your own for dinner tonight. You may choose to dine in the restaurant or saloon at the Los Laureles Lodge, or you may wish to sample one of the restaurants in the nearby Carmel Valley Village (a 20-minute walk away).
Day Two: Saturday
We gather for a continental breakfast at the Lodge, where we go over the day’s cycling route. We head out from the lodge by bicycle, up the Laureles Grade to its 1200-ft. summit (SAG available), and down to the Laguna Seca Park. We then head through the car-free terrain of Fort Ord to the town of Marina, where we take the coastal bicycle path south through Seaside and to the Monterey waterfront. We make a stop at Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch and some sight seeing, then we continue along the coast through Pacific Grove and Asilomar Beach. It’s here we turn onto the grand 17-Mile Drive of Pebble Beach, with its dramatic coastlines and world-famous golf courses. 17-Mile Drive takes us to charming Carmel-by-the-Sea, stuffed with cozy seaside homes and tiny boutique shops. Our final leg of the trip brings us back into Carmel Valley to our finish at the Los Laureles Lodge. [52 miles, 2800']
We gather for continental breakfast at the Lodge, where our guide will explain today’s route. Today we head up into the more remote areas of upper Carmel Valley. As we head “up valley”, the shops and houses of Carmel Valley Village give way to wineries and cattle grazing land. In Spring, expect to see lupine and poppies growing wild in the grassy meadows. In Fall, the grasses are golden. On the return ride, we detour through the rural Cachagua village, where we can stop for a bite to eat in the welcoming café. After our stop in Cachagua, we climb a bit to cruise along a ridge that affords grand views of the Ventana Wilderness and mountains surrounding the valley. From there, it’s a downhill cruise back through the Carmel Valley Village to the Lodge in the afternoon, where we can shower and change, say our goodbyes, and head back to the Bay Area. [30-43 miles, 2400-3600']
We should be back to the Lodge by 2:30 PM, and our shuttle should be in San Jose by 5:30 PM.
