I want to ride my bike from SF to Yosemite park. I know there are people who have done it already. What was their itinerary?
thanks

Alternatively, I wouldn't mind getting a link to some website that'll help me plot my route, something like veloroutes.com or bikely.org. Any suggestions?

I don't come to this forum often, it was just by coincidence that I came upon this post.

I biked to Yosemite last August - it was amazing. I didn't do it directly from SF, in order to get out of the city I took BART to Pittsburg Bay Point and started my trip from there. Before this ride my furthest distance was 80 miles so I took BART to get me out of the Bay Area and to cut down on the miles I needed to ride.

This is the route I took:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Pittsburg%2FBay+Point+BART&daddr=Evergreen+Rd+%26+Mather+Rd,+Groveland,+CA+95321&mra=cc&dirflg=h&sll=37.98431,-120.9001&sspn=1.179773,2.845459&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=9

It was about 140 miles. The first 100 or so were easy but then I started climbing up into Yosemite. For the total trip, there was about 12,000 feet of climbing. The hardest climb is by Old Priest grade, it will take you from 1150 to 2500 feet - there are two routes, Old priest grade which is 1.8 miles or new priest grade which is about 5 miles. I took the 1.8 mile route but it was so steep (20% grade at some points) that I ended up walking to the top - the heat was so strong that I had to stop every ten minutes in some shade. If I were to do it again I would probably take the longer/less steep route so I wouldn't have to walk (this is the only hill I have walked my bike up).

After this climb there aren't any impossible climbs anymore - but the last 30 miles took forever because Yosemite is still at about 4000 or so feet. I have read on here that some people take highway 140 and go from a southern approach. My destination was right outside Yosemite on the northern half so I took 120. If you're going to Yosemite valley, the trip is a bit longer.

There are some sections on highway 4 that have no shoulder - cars will give you room but be warned!

I ate lunch in Copperopolis (around mile 80) at the Old Corner Saloon, It's a local bar but they have a lunch menu, I was the only one in there when I stopped by. I think I had a chicken sandwich and macaroni salad - after downing clif bars for the last 5 hours it was absolutely delicious. It gets really hot and dry - water isn't enough, bring gatorade or something similar. I did it solo and I took my time - it was about 9.5 hours cycling not including breaks/lunch etc. I can answer any questions you might have.

Ask Jamawani over in the Touring Forum - if you want to do it in more than one day, there are much better options. The 140 approach is nicer than the 120.

Please do this mid-week and not on a holiday.

many thanks to andreubat, this is exactly what I needed to know. I'm going to do this ride next month, for sure!!!
valygrl i'll take your advice and seek out jamawani's in the touring forum.