Bay Area - LA route?



S

Steve Juniper

Guest
Looking for suggestions on bike routes between the Bay Area and the LA area. We are five people
going for a week at the end of the summer. Want to go by Big Sur, but want to otherwise avoid auto
traffic. We are old and fussy and will do motels...any suggestions for beautiful routes?

I'm posting this for a friend so if you reply directly, please do so to:

[email protected]
--
Steve Juniper "Always drink upstream from the herd."
 
"Steve Juniper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:5mo1c.172710$uV3.731519@attbi_s51...
> Looking for suggestions on bike routes between the Bay Area and the LA
area.
> We are five people going for a week at the end of the summer. Want to go
by
> Big Sur, but want to otherwise avoid auto traffic. We are old and fussy
and
> will do motels...any suggestions for beautiful routes?
>
> I'm posting this for a friend so if you reply directly, please do so to:
>
> [email protected]
> --
> Steve Juniper "Always drink upstream from the herd."
>

You might be interested in the book, Bicycling the Pacific Coast (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089886562X/shastasoftwar-
20). It describes the coast route in detail.

I rode from San Francisco to LA a few years ago as part of the '99 AIDS ride. Most of the route was
inland. Pretty scenery, and probably a bit easier than the coast route. But, if I were to ride it
again, I think I'd opt for the coast - the coastline is very dramatic. Late in the summer is a good
time...especially after Labor Day. September/October are best for traffic and weather.

One route you might consider is Monterey to San Luis Obispo. This will include most of the scenic
parts, without having to get down into LA proper (which can be a zoo). You can take Amtrak from San
Luis Obispo back to Monterey, and I'm pretty sure they allow bikes on the train (depending on the
train, you might not even have to box your bike).

--
~_-* ...G/ \G http://www.CycliStats.com CycliStats - Software for Cyclists
 
"Steve Juniper" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<5mo1c.172710$uV3.731519@attbi_s51>...
> Looking for suggestions on bike routes between the Bay Area and the LA area. We are five people
> going for a week at the end of the summer. Want to go by Big Sur, but want to otherwise avoid auto
> traffic. We are old and fussy and will do motels...any suggestions for beautiful routes?
>
> I'm posting this for a friend so if you reply directly, please do so to:
>
> [email protected]

Here's one good travelogue of a route between SF and LA http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/sflad1.html

I've ridden on the Pacific Coast bike route in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville area and its very scenic
and very little traffic to encounter in that area.
 
Steve Juniper wrote:

> Looking for suggestions on bike routes between the Bay Area and the LA area. We are five people
> going for a week at the end of the summer. Want to go by Big Sur, but want to otherwise avoid auto
> traffic. We are old and fussy and will do motels...any suggestions for beautiful routes?

Adventure Cycling has a route that covers the entire Pacific Coast. Your friend would be interested
in the last two maps of the route:

http://adventurecycling.org/routes/pacificcoast.cfm

--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://www.terrymorse.com/bike/
 
"Steve Juniper" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<5mo1c.172710$uV3.731519@attbi_s51>...
> Looking for suggestions on bike routes between the Bay Area and the LA area. We are five people
> going for a week at the end of the summer. Want to go by Big Sur, but want to otherwise avoid auto
> traffic. We are old and fussy and will do motels...any suggestions for beautiful routes?
>
> I'm posting this for a friend so if you reply directly, please do so to:
>
> [email protected]

There are two basic routes, with a number of variants. There is the inland route, and the coastal
route. The basic coastal route is well documented; look at the Adventure Cycling site on the
Pacific Coast route, or the Kirkendall and Spring book and the Pacific Coast route, or the Lonely
Planet guide, or .... lots of info. The major alternative, the inland route, basically differs
between Monterey Bay area and the Morro Bay/SLO area, where it follows 101 rather than Hwy 1. This
is the route used by the AIDS ride, Arthritis ride, etc. Since you want to see Big Sur you will
want to do some variant of the coastal route since this is the part of the ride where the two basic
routes differ.

BTW, if you are going 'end of summer', which to me means August, then be prepared for lots of
traffic, esp. along Big Sur coast. The road is narrow, and the Winnebagos wide. I like it a bit
later, say mid-October, when weather is still decent but the majority of the motorhomes are parked
in storage lots (still quite a few).

First question will be where are you starting from in the Bay Area? That will impact the first part
of the trip since the first task is to get to the Monterey Bay area. If you are going coastal, you
want to get to Carmel so you can head down Hwy 1 through Big Sur and on to Morro Bay area. The
inland routes usually head off somewhere between Watsonville and Salinas to parallel 101. Once you
choose the basic route, the other areas where there are many choices are Lompoc to Santa Barbara,
and then Ventura into
LA. The guide books can give you a start, then you can look at the archives for the alternatives.

- rick
 
"GaryG" <garyg@shasta_SPAMBEGONE_software.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> You can take Amtrak from San Luis Obispo back to Monterey, and I'm pretty sure they allow bikes
> on the train (depending on the train, you might not even have to box your bike).

Between SLO and San Diego, going either direction, there is the Pacific SurfLiner which will take
roll-on bikes (un-boxed; up to 8/train). If you need to get further north, or start further north,
you need to take the Coast Starlight (runs LA <-> Seattle) and bikes need to be boxed and checked
as luggage; boxes need to be < 50 lbs. Train goes to Salinas, not Monterey. Amtrak is a good
option for return, but does have some limitations. Monterey to SLO is a 3 day ride, max, unless
you really lolligag.

- rick
 
I was in California in January, although by car. Drove north along 1 and back south along 101. 101
is a 4-lane controlled access highway and I would not think it would be much fun to cycle between
Monterey area (Salinas) and San Luis Obispo. It should be safe though, with a good shoulder. On
the other hand, as Rick said, I am not sure I would want to cycle the coast road during the
tourist season.

Ken [email protected] (Rick Warner) wrote:

>There are two basic routes, with a number of variants. There is the inland route, and the coastal
>route. The basic coastal route is well documented; look at the Adventure Cycling site on the
>Pacific Coast route, or the Kirkendall and Spring book and the Pacific Coast route, or the Lonely
>Planet guide, or .... lots of info. The major alternative, the inland route, basically differs
>between Monterey Bay area and the Morro Bay/SLO area, where it follows 101 rather than Hwy 1. This
>is the route used by the AIDS ride, Arthritis ride, etc. Since you want to see Big Sur you will
>want to do some variant of the coastal route since this is the part of the ride where the two basic
>routes differ.
>
>BTW, if you are going 'end of summer', which to me means August, then be prepared for lots of
>traffic, esp. along Big Sur coast. The road is narrow, and the Winnebagos wide. I like it a bit
>later, say mid-October, when weather is still decent but the majority of the motorhomes are parked
>in storage lots (still quite a few).
>
>First question will be where are you starting from in the Bay Area? That will impact the first part
>of the trip since the first task is to get to the Monterey Bay area. If you are going coastal, you
>want to get to Carmel so you can head down Hwy 1 through Big Sur and on to Morro Bay area. The
>inland routes usually head off somewhere between Watsonville and Salinas to parallel 101. Once you
>choose the basic route, the other areas where there are many choices are Lompoc to Santa Barbara,
>and then Ventura into
>LA. The guide books can give you a start, then you can look at the archives for the alternatives.
>
>- rick

Ken Brown, Toronto Canada Ontario Rail Trails: http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown delete "nospam" if
replying via e-mail
 
On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 20:17:33 -0500, Ken Brown <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I was in California in January, although by car. Drove north along 1 and back south along 101. 101
>is a 4-lane controlled access highway and I would not think it would be much fun to cycle between
>Monterey area (Salinas) and San Luis Obispo. It should be safe though, with a good shoulder. On
>the other hand, as Rick said, I am not sure I would want to cycle the coast road during the
>tourist season.
>
>Ken

The inland route follows 101 between Salinas and SLO area, not on 101. It is common to start on G17
(Arroyo Seco) and use G15, G14, G18, G19, etc. down past King City. The real question gets to be
what to do at King City area and/or at Paso Robles. You can cut over to the coast from just before
King City, taking Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. At Paso Robles you can take 46 and/or other cutoffs to
the coast, or take 41 over from Atascadero. These are all nice ways to avoid the Cuesta Grade into
SLO which is a pain at best, even with the new lanes. The inland route can avoid 101 entirely, but
the coast route mandates Hwy 1, at least for large chunks.

- rick
 
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