Santa Barbara's West Fork Trail
You Gotta Climb to Go Down
If you’re going to mountain bike what Santa Barbara offers, put on your climbing legs. If you’ve never been there, picture this: you’re standing by the ocean looking inland and right in front of you are mountains that go straight up, reaching upwards of 4000 feet into the sky in a few miles as the bird flies.
I had a couple of hours in the afternoon to squeeze in a ride. At Cal Coast Adventures, I met up with Sergio and off we went. I knew on the drive to where he would have us park that I was in for a challenge. Serg kept talking about climbing, I mean, like non-stop and on-and-on about how he rides every day, big rides, long climbs, all in a wonderfully friendly and warm excited manner. A few years older than me, he was all sinew.
From the parking area off the side of the ride, we clipped in and up we went. The views looking back with the big beautiful blue ocean were spectacular. Knobbies on the road may not have been too conducive to moving forward, but who cares, I thought.
At the top for the afternoon, we turned on to West Fork. If you like downhill, you will love West Fork. It’s fast, it’s tight, and one of the best things is … there are rock gardens that you have to navigate, or plow through, along the way, down closer to the bottom.
Sergio goofed a section of tech gnar. He went back to session it, cleaning it and feeling better about things. Why do we do that? Because.
Along the way, the oak groves put a soothing calm in my being. If you’ve never ridden in California, understand that you seldom hear about the oak groves. When you come here and ride, and if you experience an oak grove, it’ll plant deep in your memory and being. They are magical.
There’s a lot more that Santa Barbara has to offer. I don’t mind climbing, even without motorized assistance (!), and so I plan to get back for a long weekend. When I do, I’ll connect with Serg. That dude is a mountain biker!
Plus, there’s great post-ride indie beer in town. That’s coming up next.
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