Touring - Touring Big Sur

Has anyone toured Big Sur? Me and a few buddies are planning a tour in sept going up the coast of California. Hitting Hearst Castle and all. Looking for info on good camping spots and any side routes.
Thanks for any help on the subject.

We did it September of 2001...I suggest get a Great Adventure Cylcing map of the area..All the state parks have special camp sites for cyclists which accomdates their needs..Parks are very nice. There is a long segment on the south end where parks are far apart..All facilities for all that..
It is a great tour...We approached it from north to south..My group said the winds are southerly in the afternoon so go south.South puts you right on the 'edge." Only a thousand feet to the ocean... I did not like that. I almost would have preferred to go north...A great tour...A camera is a must. Except for the approx.70 miles on the south end of Big Sur, parks are plentiful..
Travel the route on weekdays...Weekends traffic is awful..Don't need awful traffic when biking nex to the edge.
We choose September...That is supposedly the month when you have the least fog.

Just did that ride south to north a month ago. Definitely heading south is the way to go, the wind is quite consistently southerly.

There is a very good book "Cycling the Pacific Coast" by Kirkendahl and Spring (can get it at Amazon & REI, among other places). This shows elevation profiles, camping and food services along the coast route,from Canada to Mexico. The state park hiker/biker sites are very nice, and they won't turn you away, no matter how full the campground. I know the Hearst Castle side trip is described (I didn't do it).

I would especially try to stay at Kirk Creek, south of Big Sur, it is a wonderful spot, on a spit jutting out over the ocean. Two miles north of there is Limekiln campground, which has hot showers, but the view from Kirk is worth skipping the shower, in my opinion. Julia Pfeiffer is very nice too. Big Sur itself has better services, but is rather populated.

My experience was that south of the town of Big Sur the traffic was quite light, but it was pretty heavy between Big Sur and Monterey. Shoulders are small but adequate, and I agree, if you can avoid the weekend you will be happier. I also have done the section from Monterey to Pfeffier Burns in the southbound direction, and I didn't feel in danger of pitching off the cliffs.

The Pacific Coast Route is lovely all the way to Santa Barbara.

:)
Anna

Thanks for the info. I live in San Diego and me and my buddies are thinking about taking the train to Santa Barbara and heading north on a out and back trip. We would leave Santa Barbara and return in a few days to take the train back home.

Wing...We did some routing away from the coast at Morro Bay inland to San Luis Obispo and south to Santa Maria and Solvang area..The AM coastal fog, sort of liked doing some inland riding for a change...Plus, some great rolling inland scenery with hills and ranch country.. Just gave a little variety..From Santa Maria to Solvang, we biked through the Central Coast wine district. That was a nice ride..

How was the camping along that route? It sounds like it would be a fun trip.

did it long ago (S.F. to San Diego), great ride but very dangerous in spots where there is no shoulder, passing RV's, etc., like much of Hwy. 1 in CA.....would definately use a mirror of some kind, (I like the "Take A Look" FWIW, good write-up on it and mirrors in general at http://home.att.net/~mark.livingood/articles/takealook.html). Prevailing winds tend to blow south, so you might want to do your ride in reverse, though I have talked to people who said riding north was not too bad



Has anyone toured Big Sur? Me and a few buddies are planning a tour in sept going up the coast of California. Hitting Hearst Castle and all. Looking for info on good camping spots and any side routes.
Thanks for any help on the subject.

Wingman..North of Santa Barbara the coast is often undeveloped. Couple spots you can actually camp near the beach and hear the seals harping all night...Other than all of Big Sur lots of scenic spots en route...
Solvang, Hearst Castle.Central Coast vineyards.Morro Rock.and of course Big Sur.
State parks are frequent. I thought facilities, camping, (Camping in coastal redwoods) was great.. Facilities between Hearst Castle to town of Big Sur a little sparse,undeveloped)
One nice option take a night off from camping at town of Lucia in South Big Sur....Had some cabins right overlooking the cliff, with hot tub and all. Each side of Lucia, I could not find a state park for probably about 40 miles, in either direction.-Again, hurray, undeveloped.There was one federal camp site south of Lucia, but w/o showers..
I recommend this bike ride.Again, go on a non-summer , weekdaz....Traffic could push zou off the cliff..

Has anyone toured Big Sur? Me and a few buddies are planning a tour in sept going up the coast of California. Hitting Hearst Castle and all. Looking for info on good camping spots and any side routes.
Thanks for any help on the subject.

Yeah, definitely go north to south. I had a marvelous time in the Big Sur area going south taking advantage of the prevailing southerly wind. For some stretches along the California coast the wind will be on your back for a hundred miles at a time. You will feel like Lance Armstrong, going up hills at 20 mph. Go north, you might feel like your fat neighbor.

[QUOTE]South puts you right on the 'edge." Only a thousand feet to the ocean... I did not like that. I found that when near the edge, moterhomes gave you a lot of room as they like to crowd away from the edge. It was going north that I felt I would be sideswiped by one. karl

Guess, I slightly freaked just once..Going down a big hill overlooking the ocean, I had a flat at about 15 mph...Front wheel..About 20 miles south of Lucia..One of the last steep decents. Memorable. Glad it was not 35 mph.

Take a look at the journal Big Sur Hinterland (http://bigsur2003.crazyguyonabike.com) on crazyguyonabike.com (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com). It's a good tale of Michelle's 5-day tour in Big Sur in March of 2003. You can leave a message in her guestbook if you have any questions.

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www.denisegoldberg.com (http://www.denisegoldberg.com)

Thanks Denise, I visit that site almost every day I also enjoy reading your journals on crazyguyonabike. You have done some great trips and it has been fun reading your travels.

Thanks Denise, I visit that site almost every day I also enjoy reading your journals on crazyguyonabike. You have done some great trips and it has been fun reading your travels.

Thanks - it's always good to hear that folks are enjoying my journals! I had three trips planned for this year, but at this point I have to cancel at least the first two. I had an unfortunate bike crash on my way to work three weeks ago that landed me in the hospital for a week and a rehab hospital for an additional week. Because of a broken pelvic bone and head injuries (it's a very good thing I was wearing a helmet!), it's going to be a while before I can get back out on my bike. I'm waiting impatiently, but I don't want to do something silly that will increase the amount of time it will take for me to really head out on my bike again. I'm still hoping to get to Hawaii (again) in late October, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that healing will be faster than expected and that I can maybe head to Nova Scotia for a few days in September. Hopefully that's not just a crazy dream!

I wish you a great trip in Big Sur - and if you're up to writing a journal about it I'd love to hear about it!

--- Denise

My prayers are with you get well soon. I will post in detail any trip I take this year. I did a journal on crazyguyonabike its named Tour de San Diego.. it was our first trip it was fun. I learned alot about myself on that short 3 day trip. I also learned alot from reading great journals like yours. hey with the down time post some more pictures if you have any of your travels.. My next trip is a camping vacation at the base of Mt Shasta for some Mountain bike riding. 4 more weeks can't wait.

My prayers are with you get well soon. I will post in detail any trip I take this year. I did a journal on crazyguyonabike its named Tour de San Diego.. it was our first trip it was fun. I learned alot about myself on that short 3 day trip. I also learned alot from reading great journals like yours. hey with the down time post some more pictures if you have any of your travels.. My next trip is a camping vacation at the base of Mt Shasta for some Mountain bike riding. 4 more weeks can't wait.

Just read your Tour de San Diego journal - thanks for pointing it out to me - looks like you had a great trip, and I'm looking forward to reading about your next trip too!

Of course I do have more pictures than I've posted - I'll take a look and see if there are more to be posted in my existing journals. I've also got a smugmug account where I post pics - there are more bike trip photos online at denise.smugmug.com/travel (http://denise.smugmug.com/Travel) - some dups of what is in crazyguyonabike journals, and some new ones too.

--- Denise

Denise were you riding the bike friday when you had your crash? If so how did it fair. I went to your site and noticed that you did a coast of maine tour. I'm from northern maine a little town called portage lake. The northern part of the state is really nice as well. It's remote and close to nature just watch out for the logging trucks.

Denise were you riding the bike friday when you had your crash? If so how did it fair. I went to your site and noticed that you did a coast of maine tour. I'm from northern maine a little town called portage lake. The northern part of the state is really nice as well. It's remote and close to nature just watch out for the logging trucks.

I was riding my Bike Friday Pocket Rocket, which is set up as a skinny tired road bike and is usually my choice for commuting to work. It needs to go to my favorite bike shop for a bit of work, but the frame looks OK to me. The front tire is flat (not a surprise), and the shift/brake levers are no where near where they belong on the handlebars - and I have a sneaking suspicion they may need to be replaced. The best I can tell is that the bike and I totally flipped over - but I've only heard of people who saw me on the ground, not people who saw me crash, so I may never know the total truth.

I was actually planning to drive to Bar Harbor next week - obviously the trip is off for now - to take the ferry to Nova Scotia, do some riding there, and then do some riding in Maine on my return. Hopefully later... I may want to reach you for some advice on places to ride in northern Maine.