Santa Cruz Zodiac: Monday, March 30 - Thursday, April 2.
~160 miles with climbing from 9,500 ft to 13,500 ft depending on which route you do Tuesday.
Ride Leader: Steve Wetzel. Livinglarge2day@yahoo.com
You must be a member of the Sacramento Wheelmen cycling club to participate on this Zodiac. If you are not then please join prior to signing up for the zodiac or making a room reservation.
Please use the registration link (off to the left) to register so I can track attendance.
2026 Ride Itinerary: Please note there is not a sag vehicle or a sweep on these rides. You should be prepared to be self sufficient with nutritional needs and changing flat tires. Ideally everyone can ride in small groups of riders traveling at similar speeds. We have done these rides in previous years so before each ride we will call out good spots to stop for bathrooms and water/food.
Also, be aware most of these routes are on rural roads without bike lanes and do have potholes so caution is advised on these rural roads.
*** Routes posted Feb 25th. They may get minor changes to the RWGPS turns to clean up any issues so wait to load these routes until I remove this comment and I'll email the group of registered riders to let you know they are final. ***
Monday, March 30: After you arrive in Santa Cruz, this short ride (23 to 32 miles) heads east from the Fairfield Hotel to Capitola riding along the scenic coast and loops back through town. (You can make the route shorter by skipping one or both of the out and back segments)
Start time: 1:15pm from the hotel parking lot
GPS route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54069695
Tuesday, March 31: The Fairfield hotel to Gizdich Pie Shop in Watsonville. This moderately challenging route heads south along the coast through Capitola, Seacliff, Aptos, and moves inland through agricultural fields and returns through rolling foothills.
Distance/Climbing: 53 miles and 2,603 feet of climbing
Start time: 9 am.
GPS route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54052770
Tuesday alternate climbing routes:
Pescadero-Tunitas Creek. Two routes to choose from: 55 miles and 6,147 feet of climbing or 45 miles and 4,347 feet of climbing. Pescadero is a 33 mile drive from Santa Cruz. Park along the south side of the road at the intersection of Stage Rd & Pescadero Creek Rd. The short ride stops for lunch at Alice’s Restaurant (mile 25). You can get anything you want, so long as it’s on the menu. Those on the long route have several refuel options to choose from in Woodside (mile 29). The two routes are the same for the first 12 miles then divert but come back together to climb up to Skyline where they split. The long route goes down to Woodside while the short route stays on Skyline Blvd. They come back together for the last 18 miles on Highway 84 and the return back to the start. Ideally we can ride in smaller groups that stick together.
Start time from Pescadero: 9:20am
GPS routes: Long: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49757597
Shorter: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49757588
Wednesday, April 1: No jokes today because we ride to the Summit Store for lunch. We start out from the Fairfield hotel and head east to Capitola and Corralitos before turning north and climbing to the Summit Store (mile 36.8) for lunch by going up Eureka Canyon Road and then Highland Way. After lunch, the screaming downhill goes through Soquel and into Capitola where the route takes you to Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria (mile 49.0). If you don’t want to stop at Gayle’s then cut out the diversion and head south on Capitola Avenue (right) from Bay Avenue and avoid Gayle’s little loop through the parking lot. We then head back west towards Santa Cruz and the Fairfield hotel.
Distance/Climbing: 57 miles and 3,834 feet of climbing
Start time: 9 am.
GPS route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54051863
Thursday, April 2: After you check out, please join us for a very scenic and challenging ride that passes through Bonny Doon. As the route leaves the Fairfield hotel we cruise along the coast one last time before heading north west on Bay Street and climbing Empire Grade up to 2100 feet elevation. We then come back on Bonny Doon descending 8 miles to the coast, turning south on Highway 1 to get back to the hotel. Hotel check out is listed as Noon so depending on what you want to do you could leave earlier to get back and check out after the ride. We can talk about this Wednesday afternoon but the initial plan is to check out first and then ride at 9:30am.
Distance/Climbing: 32 miles and 2,944 feet of climbing
Start time: 9:30 am.
GPS route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54052600
Social Hours: Afternoons. Time TBD. Held in the hotel breakfast area and a small overflow outdoor area off the breakfast area. We can not reserve the space so we will need to be flexible and use the space available. Food: If anyone wants to help out in this area let me know but drinks will be BYO (bring your own).
Dinners: this hotel is not in the same Boardwalk area as the hotel in prior years. You will need to drive to restaurants for dinner. (There is not a group dinner at Dave's house this year)
Hotel: Marriott, Fairfield Inn & Suites. 2956 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (Located 2.9 miles from the Boardwalk).
This hotel is located a mile drive from Natural Bridges State Park or 3/4 mile walk to the Monarch Grove inside the park.
Rooms: a block of 1 Queen and 2 Queen rooms have been set aside until Feb 28th. Cost $149/night and total cost is about $522 with taxes. Parking free, Breakfast buffet free! Share a room with a friend and cut the cost in half!
Once the block of rooms are gone they will give us more rooms at this rate only if rooms are available. Starting March 1 the rate goes up to "current rates" but you could always try and book using this link after Feb 28 to see if you can get the $149 a night. Use this link to book your room: https://app.marriott.com/reslink?id=1770405274870&key=GRP&app=resvlink The cancellation policy is 2 days so cancel by Saturday, March 28 at noon or prior.
Sharing rooms:
* If you have someone you know and are comfortable sharing a room then please do because we don't have as many rooms as we have had people attending in prior years. If not, no worries then book a single room.