There are several ways to get to Nipomo, but I like biking. While our gasoline-empowered friends are cooling their heels on Highway 101 admiring the tailpipes of drivers stopping and starting in front of them, we cyclists enjoy the cool sea breeze on our faces and the quiet power of our awesome quads as we whiz southward on frontage roads.

If you want to make a full day of it (from San Luis Obispo):

Head north on Highway 1 toward Morro Bay: 15 miles of wide shoulder and a generally downward trend. Get off the freeway at South Bay and head toward Los Osos. Turn left on Turri Road and feel as if you are out in the country all by yourself, because you are.
Turn left at the intersection with Los Osos Valley Road and head back into the urbanized environment of San Luis Obispo. Cross over 101 and turn right on Higuera. Head south on the Pacific Coast Bike Route. Turn right onto Ontario Road after crossing underneath Highway 101.
The good: Class 2 bike lanes on LOVR and on South Higuera.
The good: Thick motor vehicle traffic from Laguna Lake to Higuera. City biking requires a lot of attention. A bicyclist among automobiles is like a rabbit in a field of lions. You need to flow with traffic. Be predictable. Obey the law. Stop at stop signs. Signal your turns. Watch the cars ahead, cars coming in from the side, cars parked at the edge of the road.

Shell Beach to Halcyon: 9 miles of generally flat riding through beach communities.
The good: Class 2 bikeway; coastline views. Marie Callender has monthly pie specials. Monarch butterflies hibernate in the eucalyptus grove at the south end of Pismo Beach. Hayashi’s Fruit Stand sits at the intersection with Halcyon Road. This is the source of world-famous strawberries served at San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club’s Wildflower Classic. Stop here for refreshments.
The bad: Some visiting drivers pay more attention to wondering where they are going than to watching out for law-abiding bicyclists.

Halcyon to the Santa Maria valley: 11 miles of rolling hills. Climb up onto the Nipomo Mesa. Ride through eucalyptus groves and past oil refineries. Descend into the Santa Maria River flood plain. Admire endlessly flat fields of vegetables. Guess which ones are emitting the delightful odor of Brussels sprouts.
The good: Class 2 bikeway across the mesa. Width varies depending upon how recently highway sections have been resurfaced.
The bad: Climbing onto the mesa. Two routes diverge at Halcyon. They rejoin after two miles. Neither has a shoulder. One is steep; the other is steeper. Crossing the plain south of the mesa is made interesting by scattered clumps of dried mud on the roadway.

Division Street to Arroyo Grande: 15 miles that start flat and boring and become hilly and interesting. South of Oso Flaco, turn left on Division and follow it into Nipomo. Take Orchard to Tefft and turn right to Thompson Road. Left across Highway 101 where it becomes Los Berros and descends smartly into the Five Cities area.
The good: Refreshments in Nipomo, ranging from Carl’s Jr to Jocko’s.
The bad: Climbing up onto that pesky mesa again. Narrow to non-existent shoulders on Los Berros.

Arroyo Grande to San Luis Obispo: 20 miles of rural roads heading home. At the end of Los Berros, turn right on Valley Road. Right on Fair Oaks, right on Traffic Way, left on Cherry, right on Branch Mill. Whew! You made it out of town. Follow Branch Mill to Cecchetti, turn left to Lopez Lake Road, right to Orcutt and take Orcutt back to town.

The good: Branch Mill Road is quiet and peaceful and out in the country. You get to see what San Luis Obispo county used to look like before we all moved here.
The bad: Not much shoulder room for cyclists on any of these roads. Keep watch for fast-moving cars coming up from behind.

Our county is what southern California was thirty years ago. Beach towns, strawberry fields, people who are not in a hurry to get to somewhere else. It’s a treasure that we can still enjoy.