I cycled into San Juan Bautista from Prunedale, the town just north of Salinas. The San Juan Grade road was wonderful for a prologue to the main climb. With few cars I was able to mentally relax and a moderate gradient provided a good warmup for Fremont itself. On the western, coastal side of the foothills, fog cloaked the landscape and it was eerie looking through the mist to cows grazing on golden hillsides.

Immediately after crossing the divide into San Benito County, skies cleared, the road quality decreased, and I descended rapidly (if jerkily) into San Juan Bautista. That's where the long, secluded climb of Fremont Peak began. The first section was relatively mellow--though the sun was shining, the shaded road kept me cool as I made my way up the moderate gradient in the first few miles, past small farms, barking dogs, and the occasional car.

After several miles of a comfortably hard effort, the road titled upwards towards Fremont Peak State Park, with sections reaching 12% and the road opening up to sweeping views of the central valley and the warm sun. The effort was no longer comfortable and simply hard. The narrow, twisting road does not relent, and without the ability to the peak above, the course tested my nerves. But I persisted through a short downhill and up the final pitch to a State Park parking lot looking back over Salinas towards the Monterey Bay, which I knew was in the distance but could not see.

I ditched my cycling shoes, stashed my bike next to a bush, and hiked 15 minutes around the north side of the summit, up a flight of stairs, over many burrs in my wool socks, to finally stand atop Fremont Peak, all alone and looking down at fog covering the Salinas Valley. Only a couple of deer and many lizards were my company on the trail. The summit itself is rocky but pleasant, affording a 360 degree view and an appropriately mountaintop feel.

I returned the way I came, thought my bike had been stolen only to realize that I had confused where I "stashed" it, and remounted the saddle for an exhilarating and fast ride back into San Juan Bautista. The twists, turns, and overall exposure of the top section--as well as some unsettling gravel in the road--kept me alert and conservative for the first few miles. But then open road lead to some 30+MPH miles as the same dogs and horses that saw me suffering an hour earlier, saw me focused but happy to let gravity become my ally.