TooLegit

We have 5 days to do the route. Although it would be nice to take our time and go at a slower pace, we are under time restrictions that only allow us to get away for 5 days. The plan is to get dropped off in Eureka. Below is a tentative itinerary.

Day 1: 47 miles ride to Burlington Campground (camp).
Day 2: 71 mile ride to Westport (camp)
Day 3: 77 miles to Gualala (camp)
Day 4: 49 miles to Bodega Bay (rest, hotel)
Day 5: 70 miles to SF

My question to whoever has done this route, what changes would you make to this itinerary? I was looking at splitting the days by length and also by total elevation.

We are going mostly with a bikepacking setup and minimalist sleep systems. We will try to use the entire day for the ride starting early and pace ourselves to arrive before dark. Our goal is not to spend too much time at camp. We are considering this mostly as an adventure ride than a tour. I would love your thoughts and suggestions.

TIA

bark_eater 

What are you planning to do on day 6?

TooLegit

We live in the Bay Area. We’ll be home on day 5 and back to work on day 6.

Takara

I think it's a pretty reasonable itinerary if you can't add another day or two. You're definitely right to keep Day 4 shorter because of the hills. The Gualala Point Regional Park just south of Gualala has one of my favorite campgrounds in California. I've only car-camped there, but there are bike/hike camping spots that are even more awesome -- all in a dense grove of laurels at the mouth of the Gualala River.

fourfa

Gualala Point campground is indeed beautiful, though infamous for its gangs of aggressive racoons that might harrass you and keep you awake all night long. There are wooden food crates for your stuff (or were last I was there in 2014), but they are absolutely fearless. One ran across my legs while on the ground in a bivy

Not a dealbreaker, it's entertaining in retrospect, but that night I was sad about the missed sleep

TooLegit

Thank you all for your responses. I'm seeing different stats on Strava vs Ride with GPS. I've listed the elevation gain for both apps with the original route below. Any idea why it is so different on both apps and thoughts on what is closer to reality? Day 2 is scary on RWG .

Day 1: Eureka to Burlington Campground (camp). Strava: 1,630ft / RWG: 2,340ft
Day 2: Burlington to Westport (camp) Strava: 6,050ft / RWG: 8,457ft
Day 3: Westport to Gualala (camp) Strava: 6,180ft / RWG: 5,049
Day 4: Gualala to Bodega Bay (rest, hotel) Strava: 4,100ft / RWG: 3,100ft
Day 5: Bodega Bay to SF (home) Strava: 4,600ft / RWG: 3700ft

Brett A

I did that route as part of a solo tour in 2018. Although I headed inland to Sebastopol from Bodega Bay at the end.
I don't know how you could change your itinerary to get from A to B without adding a day or two.
On day 3, you'll climb over a pass between Legget and the coast. So be prepared for that effort. After you leave Legget, you'll climb 1k feet in four miles of switchbacks through the forest, but the drop to the coast is long and pretty much at traffic speed.
Other than that specific climb, my subjective memory of the whole ride from Tillamook, OR to Bodega Bay was that it was pretty level, and all the climbing was from rolling hills. But that's totally subjective. I'm surprised to see 4k to 6k feet per day on your plan. It never felt like that when I was out there.

BTW, what does "RWG" stand for?

TooLegit

Thanks for responding Brett. I really appreciate your perspective!

RWG is my lame attempt at abbreviating Ride With Gps.

I'm not sure how Strava or Ride with GPS calculate their total elevation gain stats. There's a big difference between the 2 apps on Day 2 and Day 3.

djb

its funny how memories can get jogged by stuff----you know how you sometimes keep little nicknacks from a trip as a souvenir? In a drawer of junk I used to have a bill from a Gualala bakery or something just because I thought the town name was so funny, probably havent seen it in 20 years but there you go.

re meters climbing etc, I also recall somewhere along there serenely hustling down one of those long hills at 80kph, on good pavement, nice and quiet, smooth, very uneventful and calm.

TooLegit

We got back from our trip on Sunday. It was a beautiful ride with great weather except for Saturday. It rained all day Saturday which made for an even more epic trip. It was our first tour and loved the experience. We met some wonderful people along the way that would be on the road a long time. This trip made me want to start planning the next trip. Day 1 on 101 out of Eureka was a rude awakening. I was not expecting to ride on the "actual" highway. The cars zooming by were intimidating. I was riding in all kinds of debris and got multiple flats. It delayed our time and we had to cut our day short. Gualala was nice. Gangs of racoons still roam the sites. Since I was sleeping under a tarp I had visitors all night. I didn't have food so I was left alone. We stayed at the Inn at the Tides in Bodega Bay. It was swanky! Sauna, jacuzzi, robes, complimentary wine. It was a great night to finish out trip.

Here are our final numbers using a Wahoo Element Roam

Day 1: Eureka to Miranda (stealth camp) 58.82 miles / 1,608 ft
Day 2: Miranda to Fort Bragg (cheap motel) 80.34 miles / 6,782 ft
Day 3: Fort Bragg to Gualala (camp) 61.83 miles / 4,278 ft
Day 4: Gualala to Bodega Bay (nice hotel) 47.97 miles / 3,986 ft
Day 5: Bodega Bay to SF (home) 69.56 miles / 3,990 ft

Calsun

My trips have all started in Arcata and I have stayed the first night at Richardson Grove SP and then gone through Legget Valley early in the day before it gets too hot. Second night in Mendocino / Albion area. Third night in Jenner. Forth night in San Francisco. Although there is a fair amount of elevation gain you have the benefit of usually being able to go at top speed on the other side. The prevailing wind in this area is from the northwest so you will often gain from at least a partial tailwind. The only steep grade is the one at the west end of Leggett Valley, hence my desire to hit it as early in the day as possible.

Another factor is the time of year for your trip. in the summer one has 14 hours of daylight but in the winter it is less than 10 hours and that limits how many miles you can safely travel each day. I make different stopping points depending upon the time of year so I am not out in twilight or dark conditions.

One needs to be careful in San Francisco as there is a great deal of theft and muggings that are kept out of the press. Keep an eye on your bike at all times and if with a group have one person stay outside to keep an eye on everything. The pizza parlors that have more informal seating arrangements are the most likely to let you come in with your bike(s). I have friends that live in SF and they have had spare tires stolen while in a Safeway, 4 car radios stolen, and one Black Bart car alarm stolen (while it was armed).