Touring - San Diego to Vancouver

Hi there, although currently suffering from some vile Peruvian illness in the middle of the Andes, I along with my partner plan on arriving in San Diego (California) some time in early to mid October from where we hope to make it to Vancouver by Christmas. (If you`re scratching your head over the distance we`re flying from Quito to Mexico).

My US geography is okay but I don`t have a road map yet and actually have very little idea of how long it`s going to take us to complete that section of our ride. I`ve heard that Highway One is a worthwhile route - has anyone who has cycled from border to border got any tips for us? I know the weather`s going to be turning pretty wintry to say the least but we`re prepared for that (kind of).

If the whole distance is not really possible in two months (we`re not into long stretches of huge days, this will be after over a year on the road) which sections could be missed out or sacrificed? Any issues with putting the ships on a train or whatever public transport is available?

Thanks in advance for any advice, tips etc. If anyone would like some tour info for south america I`d be happy to oblige.

Cheers

Steve

Any way possible you could put together a web site about your So American experiences?
It seems a part of the world which is overlooked by bikers.
Most bikers I read about on here seem to much prefer traveling North to South because of the winds, along the Pacific Ocean
Bikes on trains can be a problem as Amtrak only allows bikes on trains with baggae cars and not all have them, you have to call Amtrak to ask for a specific train
WWW.Mountaineers.org have a fine book "Traveling the Pacific Coast", I located on Amazon.Com, but it reads from North to South also, which I plan to use when I bike from Vancouver B.C. to the Baja next spring.

Hi there, although currently suffering from some vile Peruvian illness in the middle of the Andes, I along with my partner plan on arriving in San Diego (California) some time in early to mid October from where we hope to make it to Vancouver by Christmas. (If you`re scratching your head over the distance we`re flying from Quito to Mexico).

My US geography is okay but I don`t have a road map yet and actually have very little idea of how long it`s going to take us to complete that section of our ride. I`ve heard that Highway One is a worthwhile route - has anyone who has cycled from border to border got any tips for us? I know the weather`s going to be turning pretty wintry to say the least but we`re prepared for that (kind of).

If the whole distance is not really possible in two months (we`re not into long stretches of huge days, this will be after over a year on the road) which sections could be missed out or sacrificed? Any issues with putting the ships on a train or whatever public transport is available?

Thanks in advance for any advice, tips etc. If anyone would like some tour info for south america I`d be happy to oblige.

Cheers

Steve

I can't help with specific routes, but rather a couple general ideas. The Pacific Coast Highway (PCH, also known as Highway One) stretches all the way from San Diego to well north of San Francisco (possibly further, but I'm not familiar with Oregon and Washington). That route would be your best bet through California. It breaks up in many places, especially through Los Angeles, but some parts like LA to SF are absolutely some of the best costal scenery anywhere.

I would imagine two months is more than enough time to make the entire distance, even if you don't go hard everyday... but that's a really hard question to answer for you. The weather, once your north of LA is going to be windy and chilly... fog is very likely in northern california and further north you could expect some rain that time of year.

In California, the only part that may be difficult to cycle through would likely be LA... I've lived there for a long time, but before I owned a bike... so I can give you general advice about the city, but I'm not much help picking good cycling routes through there.

There is AMTRAK train service all the way up the coast, so for example if you decide to skip LA, you could pick up an AMTRAK in Orange County on the south end of LA and take it to The Valley on the north end of LA.

www.amtrak.com

if you have any other specific questions... let me know.

I would recommend the book. Bicycling the Pacific Coast by Tom Kirkendall and Vicky Springs. I have cycled the Oregon Coast and am leaving monday to bike from Victoria, BC to Calif and the book is extremly helpful. He points out that biking south to north is a miserable exsperience, due to north to south winds and the shoulder is narrower on the south to north side of the hiway due to the fact that most people cycle the coast north to south.

You can also contact Odot. Oregon Dept of Transportation and they will send you bike route maps of Ore or you can download them. There is no charge.

We took Amtrak last time to Portland and they took us right to the coast on a bus. And as a bonus the driver actually took us right to the hotel as he was a biker himself. The train is that goes up the coast is on of Americas last great trains. It is a cut above most other amtrak trains and service.

[QUOTE=mntbikedude]I would recommend the book. Bicycling the Pacific Coast by Tom Kirkendall and Vicky Springs.

I've biked from Washington to Los Angeles (my hometown) and would agree that this book is the "bible" for navigating the Pacific Coast route.

I've met some bikers going the "wrong way". Not my first choice, but seems doable if you don't mind getting up early to beat the wind. The narrower shoulder would be an inconvenience, but probably not anything worse than what you've already been through :eek:

Passing through L.A. County, you can avoid most of the congestion by following the coast. Starting at Long Beach, you'll encounter some rough neighborhoods, so you gotta keep your eyes open. After that, there's a 22 mile beach bike path from Palos Verdes to Santa Monica that's heaven: http://www.labikepaths.com/SoBay.html

From Santa Monica to Malibu, you'll have a white-knuckle 10 mile ride on Pacific Coast Highway--no shoulder, lots of speeding cars. Then, it's smooth sailing all the way to Canada!

Unfortunately, there is no camping in the L.A. area until you get north of Malibu. There is a hostel in Santa Monica, however:
http://www.hilosangeles.org/

Feel free to contact me when you're passing through...I'd be honored to buy you guys a beer!

Good riding,
Ron