Arroyo Grande lies in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County just off Highway 101, some 5 km from the Pacific and about 100 km north west of Santa Barbara.
Arroyo Grande literally means big ditch ... it sounds rather better in Spanish.
The ride appears in Sharon Lewis Dickinson's Bicycling San Luis Obispo County, Joanne Rife's Bicycling Country Roads and is one the 'Great Rides' of the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club.
The land immediately around Arroyo Grande is flat and mostly given over to intensive agriculture.
The route first follows Cherry Avenue and Branch Mill Road along the western edge of Arroyo Grande Valley. The steep valley sides are covered with dense chaparral.
After about 5 km you turn right to follow Huasna Road up along Tar Springs Creek.
The creek-side road climbs steadily up away from the Arroyo Grande Valley.
As this road leads to a dead-end the traffic steadily decreases the nearer you get to the trail-head.
The road follows Tar Spring itself past a number of farmsteads. These include Tar Springs Ranch which was named after the beds of asphalt which are found nearby.
Slowly the valley narrows and the chaparral covered sides come closer together.
I was rather alarmed to find a group of birds of pray circling above - were they expecting me to run over a rabbit - or did they have larger prey in mind?
The final section of the road through Tar Springs Creek climbs for about 3 km - the final section rising more steeply to reach an altitude of 1,000'.
Near the top oak and sycamore trees crowd round the road providing welcome shade.
Most of the farmsteads in this part of California patriotically fly the American flag.
I also spotted a group of horse riders ... who seem rather less common than cyclists.
From the summit the road sweeps down through wide bends into the flat Huasna Valley where the fields were full of cattle and horses grazing.
It was then just a short distance to the turn-off for Huasna township.
The guide books say that the village sign indicates a population of 171 ... but I missed it so I can't report whether the town is booming or declining.
Huasna houses a delightful red school house.
The school has just a single room and was constructed in around 1907.
The school is no longer in use but has been carefully preserved as a legacy from bygone times.
The road continues beyond the township to meet the turn-off for Huasna River and the ... I was soon to realizes ... appropriately named Cat Canyon.
Near the trail head there were a line of mail boxes for farms and houses hidden in the trees.
Beyond the turn-off the road descends into a shaded glade and at the bottom turns to cross the a creek.
I was looking forward to stopping for a snack ...
... however on turning the corner I was surprised to see a large cat in the centre of the track.
We looked at each other briefly and the cat either decided that I didn't look too tasty or was alarmed by my fluorescent clothing and turned tail and started to disappear.
I managed to take a few photos as the cat ran away off the bridge.
.
It turned out that the animal was a bobcat. I later spoke to a ranch hand who said that they are much more afraid of humans than we are of them.
Bobcats are classified as small cats ... as opposed to lions and tigers which are big cats. Apparently one difference is that small cats can purr when breathing in and out ... but big cats can only purr when breathing out. Useful to know when you are about to be eaten.
From the trail-head the return route was mostly back along the same roads. It is surprising how different the scenery seems when travelling back in the opposite direction. I saw dozens of windmills which I hadn't noticed on the way out.
Dropping back into the Arroyo Grande Valley the brightly coloured flower beds contrasted with the shades of green for the Huasna Valley.
Multi-coloured flower beds looked like giant floor mats laid on the valley bottom.
In 2007 and 2008 the Huasana Valley was threatened with development as an oil field.
Local people joined together to campaign to ensure that, if the development does go ahead, it meets the environmental standards expected by the community. More information can be found at www.huasnavalley.org.
Kirby James
