Santa Barbara gives you the whole gradient in one ride. The coast road runs flat along the Pacific; a few kilometres inland the Santa Ynez Mountains stand straight up, and Gibraltar Road climbs that wall from town to ridge in a long, exposed series of switchbacks that the Tour of California used as a summit finish. Old San Marcos and Painted Cave are the other ways up.
Handlebar Coffee Roasters is where the rides leave town from: pro-owned, and the obvious place to meet before you climb.