Founder Ride Series

Larry Souza founded the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club in 1971 and was its president for several year. He enjoyed leading rides and starting new century events.

In 2000, he agreed to lead a series of rides on some of his favorite routes -- some on his road bike and others on his mountain bike.

Road Series

Here is what he likes about these rides. Few trees! Nothing to block the fine panoramas. Few cars! The roads,with rare exceptions, are quiet roads. Few signs of habitation! Structures are few. Big sky! Nothing to block it from sight. Wide valleys! Far blue mountains ala Louis Lamour. Rolling hills! Steep ascents! Wonderful descents! All these features combine to form a landscape described as delitescent ( del-uh-tes-unt). A place of solitude. An attractive place to hermits and recluses.

Some of the terms used by Mr. Souza are subjective. During your ride, you may not agree with his use of terms such as, easy, hard, steep, rolling, and especially, flat. There is a saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is another one, "Adjectives used to describe the bicyclist's terrain come from the legs of The Founder." Also, each listed ride is shown in a profile with elevation gain which can help you to decide to ride, or not.

Use the first four rides to train for the last ride. It is the' Original Wildflower Century. Descriptions are provided for each of the rides. Dust off your maps. Take a look at the routes. Don't do them if you are looking for auto traffic.

RouteLength
Pozo 41 miles
Parkfield (Direct) 48 miles
Bitterwater 76 miles
Parkfield via Cholame 71 miles
Original Wildflower 107 miles

Mountain Series

These rides are all for mountain bicyclists. All four rides will have pavement and dirt on each excursion. The roads will be quiet. The roads will have hardly any traffic. The roads are roads. There will be no singletrack. So the riders should not fall over. The slow cyclist will be welcome. The rides will be fun.

Some of the terms used by Mr. Souza are subjective. During your ride, you may not agree with his use of terms such as, easy, hard, steep, rolling, and especially, flat. There is a saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is another one, "Adjectives used to describe the bicyclist's terrain come from the legs of The Founder." Also, each listed ride is shown in a profile with elevation gain which can help you to decide to ride, or not.

RouteLengthOff-Road
Soda Lake 23 18
Pozo / Navajo Canyon 25 12
Santa Rita Canyon 30 16
Shandon Butterfly Route 44 11