These are Daddy Stronglegs' favorite road rides. You may will ask,"Who is he? What qualifies him as a rater of rides in SLO County?" He is a.k.a. Larry Souza and The Founder. He founded the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club in 1971. In that same year, he instituted the Wildflower Century and the Lighthouse Century. He served as president of the SLOBC for the first three years. 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." The SLOBC has a rating guide which will be helpful. 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 Daddy Stronglegs' 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.