Tandem Cycling - Tandem Tour, San Francisco to Santa Barbara

We're looking forward to this trip: We've worked our you-know-whats-off this year and have had precious few days off together. He has a map and we've booked some motels, B&Bs, and Pigeon Point lighthouse.

I'm interested in hearing your experiences on Hwy. 1, and/or similar tour experiences. Clothes to take? Drying time of cycling shorts in motel rooms? Pitfalls, recommendations, restaurants, experiences -- anything you know is greatly appreciated.

We're leaving the first week of Oct. It can't come soon enough.

We did the ride from Monterey to Santa Monica many years ago on our tandem camping along the way. It was an organized ride and there was a sag wagon for our gear.

Here are some key points...

Nepenthe - http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/

Los Lobos State Park - http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=571

San Simiane http://www.hearstcastle.org/

The views are magnificent along Highway 1. Numerous stops for great pics are required.

Great climbs and descents and in general the wind will be at your back. Have a great time.

Should be a great trip! I've done it several times in the spring, but never in October. Traffic this year seemed lighter than usual (and far fewer tour buses), but I've never found it to be a problem anyway.

Be sure to take the 17-mile Drive option south of Monterey.

Mornings can be a bit chilly and damp along the coast, so some warm clothing would be good to have along.

As mentioned, you should have predominantly tailwinds and plenty of photo opportunities along the way. One of my previous trips down that way is shown at:
http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/358121809hebZAS

We did Moterrey to Morro Bay about a year ago. North to south is definitely the way to go. Favorite place to stay was a the Ragged Point Inn. Wish we could have spent 2 days there. Very peaceful. Have fun.

Drying time of cycling shorts in motel rooms?
Assuming they get properly wet (i.e. you don't get a cold, dry trip [is this possible?] so you actually do sweat), figure longer than one overnight, but they'll be dry by after the second night. And if you wash them, you'll be lucky if they dry that fast, but you can press them with the supplied towel(s) to speed up the process.

Pretty much the same as if you "dry" them in your bedroom at home.

There are a lot of wonderful cycling roads and lots of things to do all the way down. It just depends on what you want. Night in a hot tub overlooking the Pacific at the Ventana Inn or looking for Moonstones on the beach near your campsite?

We are riding a 600k from Salinas to Oxnard on October 19-20. We will likely be in Santa Barbara in the early afternoon on the 20th to make our projected early evening finish. From what I understand from some folks that live in San Luis Obispo and San Miguel, the best time ride is in late September early October as you are most likely to avoid the fog that obscures the best views of Big Sur.

Hopefully we don't get some serious Santa Ana's as you can end up with a headwind going south! (Actually that would be east on the South Coast of Santa Barbara for you nit pickers. ;))

Have fun.

We've booked a night here (http://www.jabberwockinn.com), owned by a friend.

I think the night before will be spent at Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

I'm going to look at the links. I believe we have the hot tub at Ventana, too.

We're spending a night with friends in Lompoc. We're well acquainted with the area from Hearst Castle to Santa Barbara.

Thanks for the suggestions. We're very excited about this trip.

We will be riding the San Jose to Cambria section starting on the 25th of October. We will be spending night 1 in Monterey and night 2 in Lucia. I have done the ride a half dozen times on my single, you have definitely picked the right time to go.

Some great roads along the way:
Spindrift just south of Carmel short road less than a mile but absolutely beautiful.

Nacimiento Ferguson, 7 mile 7% percent grade out and back detour just south of Lucia, after climbing for 3 or 4 miles you will swear you have only gone inland a few hundred yards. Spectacular views.

Bella Vista/Park/East & West Mountain Drive above Santa Barbara, curves in and out of the Canyons above Montecito and Santa Barbra a great way to build up an appetite for Sunday brunch at the Four Seasons Santa Barbara

Stage road will get you off of Highway 1 for while it will bring you into a couple of small towns.
In Pescadaro stop in at Duartes Tavern for must have Green Chile soup.

San Gregorio has a store and post office combinatation that is a favorite stop of local cyclists, nothing special in regards to food but stop in to catch some local music, check a book out of the library or have a shot of Jack Daniels, the place is a real throwback.

[FONT=Arial]Bella Vista/Park/East & West Mountain Drive above Santa Barbara, curves in and out of the Canyons above Montecito and Santa Barbra a great way to build up an appetite for Sunday brunch at the Four Seasons Santa Barbara

Great roads but keep in mind that the Jesusita fire did a lot of damage here. Many of the roads are marked as being closed but are open to local traffic and many cyclists still use them. There have been some recent problems with the interaction between cyclists and residents with some cyclists riding three and four abreast around blind corners. Just because the road is marked as being open to local traffic only don't think that there are no cars on them.

There has been a long running dispute between the local (very wealthy - these homes look DOWN on Oprah Winfrey's place) residents who use some of the hiking trails and mountain bikers who come blasting around corners at full speed.

Bottom line is that the roads above Santa Barbara are passable, expect some burned out moonscape, better ocean views since there are no trees, but be a courteous cyclist and follow the rules of the road. But, I am sure I did not have to tell you to be courteous. Have fun on your trip.

In SLO, the Garden Street Inn was a pleasant, downtown B&B when I stayed there a few years back. For carnivores, Mo's rib place, also downtown, is flavorful.

The panniers are packed (mine weighs 14.6 lbs., cgallagh's weighs .1 lb more) and he's printing off the route slips.

We're taking the ferry from Vallejo to SF, where our son will meet us and ride through SF with us. He knows the streets we're riding on and I'm excited to ride with him again.

Our destination is Pigeon Point lighthouse. Day 2 is PP to Monterey, to stay at the Jabborwock Inn (owned by a friend who used to live here; we re-found each other on Facebook). We're getting a great rate.

Day 3: Monterey to Big Sur River Inn.

Day 4: Big Sur to Cambria.

Day 5: Cambria to Pismo Beach

Day 6: Pismo Beach to Lompoc, where we're staying with friends.

Day 7: Lompoc to Santa Barbara. Two night at Villa Rosas, on the beach near the Pier.

Then we're renting a minivan and driving home. :D

Tailwind and lovely weather await. This is our first bike tour and we're excited. See y'all in a couple weeks.