patmolt

Hey everyone, im new to the forum and new to the bike world.
I have about 20 days to bike from LA to San Francisco, ive heard that I should do it the other way around, but it is not possible for me, so I have a few questions to ask since I couldnt find a lot of information in this direction.
1: How is the difficulty of the route? Im not familiar with the route itself, I would be following google maps instructions, and wanted to know if it is recommended for a begginer.
2: Since I lack of a tent, I need to stay in hotels/motel/B&B along the way, does anyone know if they can be found along the way.
3: Recommendations and tips for this or any route I should keep in mind
4: The time would be at the end of august, so basically I am asking, should I do it? or just skip this oportunity and wait for another time with a different scenario.

Thanks everyone for reading and responding! Literally ANY information is helpfull and highly appreciated!
Best Regards!!
(Sorry for any english mistakes, im actually a tourist!)

prathmann

You're in luck that Hwy 1 just reopened yesterday after a long closure due to a major landslide between Ragged Point and Gorda. There are quite a few places to stay along the way, but I'd suggest laying out a schedule and making reservations since some of them have a limited number of rooms and can quickly fill if there's any local event. Being able to camp would be a plus since many of the parks have 'Hike&Bike' areas that don't require reservations and are quite reasonable (~$5/person-night) - so you could quickly recoup the price of an inexpensive tent & sleeping bag. The recommendation for the other direction is well-founded. In addition to the prevailing wind direction you get considerably better views in some of the most scenic stretches by being able to look down the cliff onto the jagged shoreline instead of just seeing the distant ocean horizon. Even if you have to start in LA and end in SF it might be worthwhile to take a train up to SF at the start and again at the end so the bike ride in between could be N-S. I've only done this ride either before Memorial Day or after Labor Day when vacation traffic volume is lower so I'm not familiar with typical late August conditions.

spinnaker

Why is it not possible to do it the other way around?

You need to come back to LA don't you? Take the train to San Francisco first. The ride back to LA.

And no I would not recommend this tour for a beginner. There is little to no shoulder going north. You will be up against the hillside much of the way. Not to mention the wind. Unless you have ridden into it all day long, you simply have no idea how difficult of a ride it is going to be.

spinnaker

Much of the coast lack in hotels. What is there can be very expensive. There are hostels in Montara, Pigeon Point, Monterrey, Santa Barbara and a coupe of other places. I would not recommend the hostel Santa Barbara. It is a non HI hostel. Not well run IMHO.
.

patmolt

Im backpacking and my finish line is San Francisco, where I finish my trip and head back to Europe (where I live), I wanted to end the trip with the beautiful pacific coast trip and cannot do it by car since its expensive for me, and I thought the bicycle would be a good idea, but so appears its not.

Im not a beginner in a way of that I dont know how to ride, but in a way that I dont know about the roads and to be honest im a bit scared of what you say about the shoulder of the road, specially since I will be doing it alone. Maybe I will have to leave it for another time, however I still have to go to San Francisco and I would like to enjoy all the cities in between, any recommendations?

spinnaker

Take the train. Lookup Coast Starlight on youtube. You might want to go all the way to Eugene so you get a chance to see the Cascades too, You can then return back to San Fransisco on the train.

Unfortunately the Starlight goes inland just where it starts to get good. But the trip through the Cascades makes up for that.

Stop in Klamath Falls to see Crater Lake. There is a bus service from the train station up to the lake that is operated by Amtrak.

A stop in Sacramento might be worth it too if you like trains. There is an excellent train museum right near the train station. The Vagabond hotel is right across the street from the train station. Nice clean hotel at decent prices.

spinnaker

Don't leave San Francisco without going to the Arguello Market for a turkey sandwich.

The hostel at Fisherman's Wharf is very good. They have private rooms available. But is you like a big breakfast forget it. You get one small waffle. Don't try to take another! Don't ask me how I know this.

spinnaker

If you are traveling in the US, where were you planning on getting a bike for this adventure? You could rent one but that would be very expensive. You would need to pay for rental, a bike shop to pack it up in San Francisco, shipping and then pay the shop where you picked it up to unpack and build.

You could buy a used bike but it would take time finding a proper one and one that you know is mechanically sound. You would then need to outfit it with a rack,

Rent or buy, you would still have a problem of transporting your gear. You certainly don't want to ride all of that way with a backpack. You will need panniers.

Highway 1 is NOT flat. Far from it. It is very hilly. I would not want to try and ride up that hill north of Santa Barbara. It was scary coming down. It was be a heart attack waiting to happen going up.

Of course you can train and bike I guess. San Luis Opisbo would be your decision point. That is where the train turns more inland but Hwy 1 goes toward the coast.

Another option would be to take the train to SLO and then hitchhike your way up the coast. Local people are pretty friendly.

There is a bus between Big Sur and Monterrey, Not sure about the rest of the coast. You might have to take a bus inland to get to Monterrey then take the bus to Big Sur to see the ocean. Well you can see it from Monterrey but it is not Big Sur. The aquarium at Monterrey is worth seeing.

prathmann

If you were planning on staying in hotels/motels I'd expect using a rental car would be cheaper than riding a bike since you could do the trip in fewer days. Just looked up rental prices and it's not much over $30/day plus gas (pick up at LAX, return at SFO) for a small car. That would give you more sight-seeing options than either bus or train.

patmolt

The truth is this bicycle idea came on to me the past days due to my love for bikes, I was just starting to look for bike rentals but I wanted to know the road first and see if it was actually possible, everything you say makes perfect sense, Guess Ill leave my bicycle crave for another time, maybe ill try rent a bike and move around the national parks which is a nice adventure too.

Thanks a lot for the info in the previous message about the train to San Francisco, seems like the most suitable option and the cascades sound pretty nice too, I will look more into it.
Hope California is as nice and beautiful as I imagine!

patmolt

I guess this is truth too, but since I had about three weeks to spend in California, I really felt like heading north with the bike was going to give a more pleasent time and a bigger connection with the land.
Thanks for the informationg though! If prices are that low ill definetly will be looking into cars

saddlesores

if riding to monterey, get off hwy 1 at carmel, ride along the coast thru pebble beach.

spinnaker

Pebble Beach is WAY over rated IMHO. Ok if you are doing it by bike because it is free. But I would be pissed if I paid for that ride like you need to do in a car.

fietsbob

an issue will be 1), prevailing NW summer headwinds , northbound,

and 2) you have to cross over oncoming traffic lane , to see the sea.

spinnaker

And no shoulder going north, as mentioned.

saddlesores

to be honest, i never rode my bike on that road. ran from monterey to carmel and back every sunday when i lived there. about 10 miles each way. there is a water fountain at the public restroom at the carmel end of the drive.

patmolt

Ok, so it seems ill have to handle the trip with either train or bus.. now, are there any national parks nearby either san francisco or LA worth biking?

spinnaker

I mentioned Crater lake. North of SFO but would be worth a visit. Bet you can rent a bike up there.

tyrion

I'd still take a slow trip up the coast if you can. You can get a cheap hotel at Morro Bay, then a cheap hotel in Monterey. Stop at Big Sur for the views - hotels are expensive but sight seeing is free. Read Steinbeck's Cannery Row before you go (easy read), just for the heck of it.

A basic ride across SF is fun and easy. From downtown, make your way to Alamo Park, take a picture of the Painted Ladies, then down to the Panhandle (now you're on bike paths), take that west to Golden Gate park, then take that to the ocean. Then back. Minimal time around cars.

Next day ride across Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito.

Also, hiking the Marin Headlands (north of SF) is spectacular.

spinnaker

Depending on time of day the bike ride is a walk more than a ride across the bridge.


Arguello Market is very close to the bridge. I just stumbled upon the place. Turns out they are rated as the best turkey sandwich in town.

axolotl

While car rentals can be relatively inexpensive in the USA, a European tourist would have to purchase insurance with the rental, which greatly increases the price. Also, if you're under 25 years old, you'd probably have to pay a "young driver" supplement per day. Anyway, it sounds like you've decided on the bus or train.

I wouldn't recommend any of the national parks in central or northern California for biking in your circumstances. Pinnacles NP (a little bit east of Big Sur) has limited roads and is very hot in the summer. Sequoia NP is extremely mountainous. Yosemite NP is extremely mountainous except for Yosemite Valley, which does have a short bike path loop. Otherwise, roads in Yosemite valley are way too crowded in the summer. Redwood NP is quite far to the north of San Francisco, and forget about Crater Lake NP, which is even farther away. It's in Oregon, and the 33 mile (~53 km) loop around the lake is gorgeous but quite hilly. I've biked it and I loved it, but it's not an easy ride. And no, I don't believe you can rent a bike inside the park. Anyway, none of these parks are particularly close to SF.

In SF, it's easy to rent a bike. Biking across the Golden Gate Bridge and in Golden Gate Park are especially popular for tourists. I believe you can take the ferry back to SF from Sausalito. The Saturday gourmet farmer's market in and behind the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero in SF is a great place to eat. There's lots of good food throughout SF, and most of it is more interesting than a turkey sandwich.

fietsbob

National monument (& Hostel) just north of SF https://www.nps.gov/goga/index.htm
like so many open spaces Was a Military Site ..Presidio a very old one..

now open thanks to .. https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/histo...lip-burton.htm

There will be flaggers controlling all the down to one lane of the road sections..

Current Conditions





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patmolt

This has to be the best comment ive had. Thanks!! Due to the fact that I found hard to rent a bike ill go upwards by bus (which I hate but I dont see any other way around it) but ill defiently follow the ride you mention in SF.
Ill just have to find a way to take the best of the Big Sur views since is what I like the most and hope it isnt a short sight on the bus.

Brian25

I used to live in the bay area, and am considering a return soon via bike. How did you find about the hwy 1 reopening? I tried to look it up on google and (I am lousy at searching for stuff like that) did not find anything posted. I would like to know how to look it up, and, do you know if this means that the whole coast highway is now open?

prathmann

There were several accounts of the reopening. Here's one:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/us/california-today-highway-1-reopens.html

A good place to check on any California highway conditions is at:

Division of Traffic Operations - Road Information - California Highway Information
just enter '1' for the Pacific Coast highway. There are currently some one-way sections with delays, but no closures.