The most outstanding feature of this ride is the challenging climb up Old Creek -- especially the second climb after reaching a summit above Whale Rock Resevoir. But there is more to this ride. The scenery along the route is beautiful and changing. The view of Whale Rock Resevoir can be breathtaking. As you climb, the flora goes through many transitions -- green fields transition into dense oak forest, and then farmlands when you reach the top. The traffic along Old Creek is usually light.
Highway 46 is quite different. There is high speed traffic here, but the shoulders are sufficiently wide that this is not a problem. After a climb to the final summit of the day, there is a descent of about nine miles to Highway 1 -- the first five miles is a high-speed race down a fairly steep hill with no sharp curves.
The first part of the route back to Cayucos on Highway 1 is away from the ocean as you climb past Harmony before descending to the coast. The last few miles feature ocean view -- with Morro Rock in the distance.