Pacific Coast Highway

[Steve]

I am considering doing a ride down the US Pacific Coast highway from San Fransisco to San Diego. Does anyone have any experience of this route - road condition, availability of hotels/motels etc. ?

Also, I am looking at buying route maps from the Adventure Cycling Association (www.adventurecycling.org). Again, anyone have any experience of them?

[Pilotlight]

No but I know of a Dane who has done it.

http://www.lonebiker.dk/

this Guy is quite amazing. it maybe helpful

[Steve]

Where HASN'T he been? Unfortunately he has done the Northern bit ending in San Francisco while I plan to do the shorter/easier southern leg from SF down to San Diego. Thanks for tip though, it is an interesting site!

[Pilotlight]

you probably know this site as well, but here it is

www.biketrip.org.

I'll keep an eye out for anything useful on the net and put it up on this thread.

When are you planning to go??

[Steve]

Thanks again. The trip is still 11 months away; I have only recently got back from doing LEJOG but am inspired to do another distance trip onlywith better weather.

I have ordered the relevant maps from Adventure Cycling anyway as they are only about £15 and I found another site that seemed to speak favorably of them.

I have previously done a tiny bit of the route in a weekend layover in Los Angeles so I have some idea what to expect but was interested to hear from anyone who has done biggger chunks.

If you find anything else please let me know.

Thanks again

[Jeremy Parker]

I've ridden my bike between LA and Santa Barbara a fair amount, and driven LA-SF. Din't expect the route all to be as civilized as the LA end. The eighty miles of Monterey County, south of Carmel - Big Sur etc., are very remote. Think as remote, or more so, than Britain's Western Highlands, although the road is smoother, and a little bit wider. The road is just as twisty and full of hill though, although the Highlands can probably produce slightly steeper gradients. However the mountains are much more spectacular than the Highlands, and anything could be lurking in the woods, if it could climb those slopes, and make its way through that undergrowth. The maps don't show the Ventana Wilderness as coming right to the road, but that's only because in the US an area can only officially be a wilderness if it's more than five miles from a road. In reality the wilderness starts right at the road's shoulder - if there is a shoulder.

Kendal and Spring "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" might be worth getting. Adventure Cycling probably carry it. it shows places where you can get water, food, etc., information well worth knowing in advance.

I don't know if the route is doable without camping. It might not be.

Jeremy Parker

[Jerry W Fitzsimmons]

Use Kendal and Spring "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" and Adventure Cycling Maps. Camp in the state park "Hike&Bike" sections, very inexpensive, no reservation needed. I rode this route several years ago, it is a great ride, camped except in Long Beach.

[Steve]

Jeremy & Jerry

Thanks for the book recommendation - I've found it on Amazon and will certainly get a copy.

I prefer not to camp (I don't have the gear and don't really want to have to carry it) and was planning on using cheap hotels/motels. I had already noted that there were some pretty sparse sections but I am hoping to make 100+ miles per day so hopefully I can get to civilisation each night if I plan the route carefully.

Thanks again

[Megan]

I hope to use Adventure Cycling maps to do a transamerica ride. The last time I was on a bike was 20 years ago. So I need all the help I can get!! I would love to hear your views on Adventure cycling maps, direction etc also do you intend to ship your bike out? If you have any info on that I would be grateful. In fact any info you have at all would be good. At the moment I am trying to decide on a bike and trailer, any ideas?

[Steve]

Megan, I got the maps a few days ago and they seem pretty good. They break the route into 30-40 mile sections with written directions for travel in either direction. Tricky or built up areas are covered by extra 'zoom in' sections. The notes on amentities are pretty minimal but focused on camping/hostels so probably enough if this is how where you plan to stay. The real test will be trying to use them on the road but I have read elsewhere that they are pretty foolproof. YES, I plan to ship my bike with me. Packing a bike for flying is covered extensively elsewhere in this site; I have done it before using bubblewrap and a clear polythene bag and the bike survived.

I can't help much with the choice of bike/trailer. All I can say is that personally I would travel as light as possible and make do panniers. Apart from anything else I'm not sure what the airlines will say about shipping a trailer (don't forget they count the bikeas part of the baggage allowance).

I would love to do the Transamerica but it will have to wait until I can afford to retire.

[Megan]

Steve. Thanks for getting back to me. I intend to start my trip in April 2006 and take about 6 months travelling east to west and the time I have left over to travel the west coast. So I would be grateful for any do's and don't you have to offer after your trip.
I was going to send my bike out separate, to a friendly bike shop. I want to travel bike free for a few weeks and then start my trip. Also I wasn't sure if you could ride your bike from an airport. I was worried about been trapped by motorways.
Anyway good luck with your trip. If you find out anything interesting please post up..

[gar]

A bloke came past my house the other day with a pocket computer map which he said cost him 400.
He knew exactly where he was down to the last metre on the map with a small pen mouse. He had the whole of the UK on it and by his own admission was just "wandering" round the UK om the back roads. I wonder whether you could get the same for USA. A Google interactive map
but on cdrom for a small handle bar computer.
If you do a Google search for the google map and find the USA on it you will be surprrised at the detail; it's got my bro's street in Ky!
UK/USA seem to be the best so far. I've tried Spain and it is not so good.