You never know what you’ll find in the middle nowhere.

Take last Saturday, for example. I was cycling with a group of riders from the Santa Cruz area.

I wondered why everyone was making a sudden pit stop at the small red and white building known as the Bike Hut. After all, we had just cooled down several miles back, replenishing – in cycling terms, that usually means a sandwich, energy bar or goo, and water or Gatorade – at San Gregorio General Store on the corner of Stage Road and Highway 84.

No surprise that there were more cyclists on road than cars at this time of morning at the rural community Pescadero just off Highway 1 or the Cabrillo Highway between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz.

As a guest of the Santa Cruz County Cycling Club, I was thrilled about taking my first-ever coastal ride. The weather here is typically shrouded by marine layer come this time of year, thus, making it much cooler than the sweltering Central Valley.

I was familiar with the landscape since this part of the Santa Cruz Mountains was not too far from the San Joaquin County Office of Education’s outdoor program better known as science camp. I went there as a youngster many moons ago and on a work assignment some six years earlier.

However, I wasn’t familiar with the route that included eight big climbs, with two that snaked upward close to 800 feet, leaving cyclists to barrel downhill through hairpin turns not to mention blind curves.

Nor was I familiar with this sudden stop at the Bike Hut, a converted one-car garage structure on Tunitas Creek Road. This stretch of rural road is often used by cycling enthusiasts.

But professional riders from the 2009 AMGEN Tour of California also traveled along this route.

The Bike Hut is located on Potrero Nuevo Farm, and has become something of an oasis for cyclists. It’s a quick stop for fresh water, organic teas, coffee, snacks – I picked up a bag of chocolate-covered dried banana chips – or, if needed, bike tools, and is open 24/7.

The Bike Hut serves as rest / picnic area for those traveling along this route. There’s also a small couch inside for those looking to kick off their bike shoes and relax.

One rider, John Cook, came across this place after a 58-mile ride from Mountain View to Pescadero. He was especially grateful.

“I needed (the Bike Hut) to refill my water bottles prior to the climb up Tunitas Creek Road,” Cook said.

No money? No problem. Believe it or not, payment is entirely based on the honor system.

Just remember to pay the next time.