2026 3CR INFO
The Santa Cruz Randonneurs are organizing their 2026 Central California Coast Randonnée 1000 km brevet (3CR), sanctioned by the Audax Club Parisien and Randonneurs USA. It is the fifth edition of the event. Riders can expect a challenging brevet that takes in some of California’s most scenic areas. Finishing the 3CR will count for pre-registration in the 2027 Paris-Brest-Paris randonnée, and put 3CR finishers in the group of entrants with first choice of a starting wave.
Start: 5 AM, Saturday, May 30, in Santa Cruz, California
Finish: 8 AM, Tuesday, June 2 in San Luis Obispo, California. 75-hours total time.
Entry cost: $50
Rider limit: 60 riders
Entries Due: No later than Wednesday, May 20 before 8 PM (Pacific)
Entry qualification: Entrants need to have successfully finished a 400 km or longer brevet or permanent in 2026. (If you cannot qualify before May 26th, we will refund your entry.)
Support: There is none, beyond a bag drop in King City (first night) and SLO (second and third nights). We can take one bag from each rider*. Be thinking “knapsack” since you’ll need to ride from the drop-off for baggage to the start of the ride. And, given the lack of parking at the start, you’ll likely be riding from your hotel or long-term parking early Saturday morning to the bag drop-off before the start. Do NOT bring luggage that you cannot ride your bike with. Also, if the bag drop hotels in King City and SLO fill up, you’ll find other lodgings in town but that will mean riding your bike with your bag. Again, be sure you can ride your bike while carrying your baggage. *Riders using a medical device at night can be carried separately if needed; let us know and we’ll find a way to help.
There is no transport of riders’ bike or wheel boxes, or other luggage with the drop bags.
What to Expect: During the brevet, all riders need to be self-sufficient and carry enough clothing layers to ride in cold morning temps, damp fog, rain, hot afternoons – in short, the weather could have just about anything except snow. Hopefully the usual winds will be more helpful than harmful. There are 24-hour mini-marts located along the route, but riders should carry extra food and water after 9 PM in case one of those stores is unexpectedly closed or there is some other delay for the rider. Riders must have good front and rear lights and RUSA’s required reflective gear when riding at night. Taillights should be set on “steady” and not be so bright as to annoy other riders.
2026 3CR Route: This is a difficult brevet and riders will need to bring their A-Game to finish inside the 75-hour time limit. The overall climbing is 31,209 feet, or a ratio of about 50’/mile. As it turns out, this is approximately the same as Paris-Brest-Paris, but the climbing is distributed differently at each ride. The 3CR has some longer, steeper hills than PBP, but also some flatter sections too.
Day 1: From the Santa Cruz start, riders will go north to Half Moon Bay, then return with a trip through the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains. From there, riders will pass through Santa Cruz again, around the Monterey Bay by Moss Landing, and then to Marina before turning south into the Salinas Valley and to the first overnight bag drop in King City, hopefully with a tailwind.
361.4 km/224.6 mi 10,894 feet of climbing, or 48.5’/mile
Day 2: Riders will want to get an early start, the second day is the most difficult of the 3CR. They will return north toward Marina, then ride through the hills around Carmel, before turning south to ride along the scenic Big Sur coastline for many miles. It will be quite hilly, but hopefully the usual northwest wind will provide a strong push for many hours. After sundown the route moderates onto rolling hills for the ride into Cambria, Morro Bay, and then San Luis Obispo for the second overnight.
331.5 km/206 mi 12,104 feet of climbing, or 58.8’/mile
Day 3: Riders will do a big figure-8 loop to the north, then to the south of SLO and back. Hopefully everyone will return inside the brevet’s time limit that runs out at 8 AM on Tuesday morning.
307.6 km/191.1 mi 8,804 feet of climbing, or 46’/mile
Bag Drop/Overnight Hotels/Food: Riders make their own reservations and can stay wherever they want. The bag drop hotels will also be brevet checkpoints and riders must stop and check in there at the end of the first day, the end of the second day, and when they finish the brevet (whether they used drop bags or not.) If you bring personal support, they can meet you only at the towns with brevet checkpoints; check the route for these locations.
King City: Motel 6, 3 Broadway Circle, King City, CA
Telephone: 831-385-5000
SLO: Vagabond Inn San Luis Obispo, 210 Madonna Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA
Telephone: 805-544-4710
For food, there are 24-hour mini-marts near each hotel. For hot meals, in King City there is a 24-hour Denny’s a short ride from the Motel 6 (about 1 km; probably best visited before arriving at the hotel, and/or the next morning shortly after departing.) For SLO, there is a 24-hour Denny’s very near the Vagabond Inn, and across the street there are many eating options in the shopping center.
Travel Logistics pre/post Ride: There are not great public transportation options to get to Santa Cruz. Probably best way is to have a friend drop you off or take Uber or similar from San Jose on Friday. If you want to leave a car in Santa Cruz, there is long-term parking at the city’s River/Front Street Garage at $16/day. It is at 24 River St., about a 2-mile ride to the start. (There is a Hwy 17 commuter bus with a bike rack that travels between San Jose and Santa Cruz several times per day but it can't take more than a couple of bikes at a time.)
After the ride, San Luis Obispo has rental cars, Amtrak train service, or airlines. (There may be some limits for bikes as baggage, however, so check in advance.) Or, of course you can ride home.
For either getting to the ride or going home, you might consider BikeFlights or a similar bike-shipping service. We have heard good reports from randonneurs using these services, but we cannot guarantee anything. In any case, traveling without your bike might open some transportation options. In Santa Cruz, consider shipping your bike to The Spokesman, but be sure to call them first to make your arrangements.
Event Cancellation & Refunds: At present the route is open and we do not anticipate any problems. However, this being coastal California, landslides or wildfires are always a possibility. If the route is not open on May 15, we will cancel and refund entries. This will also allow riders time to cancel lodgings and travel reservations. If something happens after May 15, we will do our best to refund entries, minus a small service charge.