Nice Drive

[slomove]

Last Weekend I did a mini-tour with my wife up to Pismo Beach and back the following day, trying out some new roads and doing the entire 520 mile trip with only 50 mile freeway.

Sometimes I find it unbelievable what beautiful roads and remote areas we have here in SoCal.

The following 3 roads I found especially spectacular:

- Mil Potrero / Cerro Noroestre Road going north from Frazier Park to Hwy166: Beautiful road for the Seven in good condition with almost no traffic. First through the high coastal range and later undulating across the grassy hills. If anyone ever gets there, highly recommended.

- Figueroa Mountain Road/Happy Canyon Road from Los Olivos to Santa Ynez: Even more beautiful with incredible sights (a very shaky hand taken video here.
HOWEVER, at times we had our doubts if we would make it through (the video shows the good piece). Deep potholes, rocks, hardly wider than the car and an unpaved mile recommend this rather for a Land Rover than a Se7en. Anyway, the sump guard did its job and we had fun.

- Painted Cave Road/Camino Cielo high on the ridge above Santa Barbara: Similar situation but not just as bad. Great views down on Santa Barbara and the Islands on one side and the coastal mountains on the other side. Bone-shaking road conditions as a drawback but I became the pothole slalom champion.

Anyway, if somebody wants to blat up there sometimes, I am in!!

Gert

[JohnCh]

When I lived in SB, I loved to clear my head with a quick blast down East/West Camino Cielo. Mountain Drive was also a lot of fun when a brief blat was required.

Great Gert, now you've made me homesick :wink:

-John

[slomove]

Sorry about that John,

were these roads always in such a delapidated shape? No big problem with a 4x4 and lots of ground clearance but in a Se7en it is borderline reasonable. Is Caltrans doing this intentionally to avoid overcrowding of the most beautiful roads?

Gert

[JohnCh]

No worries Gert, you just owe me a beer when we meet on PNW 2007 ;)

I've heard from a friend that E/W Camino Cielo has deteriorated a lot over the last 10-12 years. There were a few rough patches, when I lived there, but nothing that prevented me from driving hard in a very low car.

-John

[slomove]

Here is another video snippet of Cerro Noroestre . Really fabulous, good road condition, no traffic, no cops.

Gert

[Jim F.]

Reflecting on Gert's roundtrip to Pismo there are some other really great 7 roads in/around/near Santa Barbara that might be of interest, also: Foothill Rd. in Carpinteria/Summerland to Toro Canyon Rd. to E. Valley Rd. in Montecito to Sycamore Canyon Rd. (or APS to Mountain Dr.) to Foothill Rd. (again) to Cathedral Oaks in Goleta, back on 101 South towards Santa Barbara to North on the San Marcos Pass (hwy. 154) over the hill into the Santa Ynez Valley. Basically, 192 from Ojai to the North end of Goleta. If you're interested in a weekend stay in Santa Barbara, grab a map and I guarantee you'll find plenty of really cool nicely paved, well-maintained County and State roads seemingly made for 7's. Like John and Venom, I also lived in S.B. (44 years) and coincidentally lived up on W. Camino Cielo for 2 years in '89 & '90. At that time the road was apparently quite a bit better than today, as I used to drive my '79 Caterham most days during the summer to my workplace in Goleta near the airport. Sorry for the wordiness, but brought back some really great memories!

[Jim F.]

One other fond memory: flat-ass flying east on E. Valley Rd. towards Toro Canyon there's a little rise over a culvert? storm drain? creek? where I would get airborne and try to land a little bit further than my last time w/o bottoming out or doing any damage. Never got stopped or a ticket. Way cool at the time!

[venom7]

As some of you probably already know I was thrown in SB county jail for the night a few years back; not for speeding but for dangerous driving. Seems the kind CHP sergeant couldn't believe that I could take the corners on the 154 and 192 at the posted speeds( in fact I wasn't even doing the limits just out for a drive with my girlfriend at the time, chatting away in the car). Seems he was having a hell of a time muscling his Crown Vic threw them. Very long story short; searched for drugs, did the breathalyzer, couldn't find anything to charge me on so after a couple of more CHP showed up and started teasing him, he got fed up and hauled me off to county jail. Wasn't until we arrived and he spoke to some other officers that he could figure out a charge for me.
I do love those SB roads though.;)

[Roll a 7]

Great story!!