Touring - Multi-century rides and experiences.

I want to ride from the San Francisco bay area to Seattle, WA, which is somewhere around 950 miles.

Anyone have any experiences/warnings/advice they would like to share for these long journeys?

What time frame are you looking at doing it in? Would you be self-supported, and carry everything with you, or stay in hotels and buy food, etc?

caad9... :P

i was planning on going with one other friend. we're going to stay in hotels, buy food, crap in the woods, etc

Whats your longest ride?

You should post this in the long distance forum. You'll probably get some advice there.

There are books for this sort of stuff. Search for the title "Cycling the Pacific Coast" or something like that, I forget the title exactly. I've been told it contains excellent information, and I know of riders who actually did that same trip you describe or portions of it, and they claim to have benefited from reading the book.

No, you should peruse the Touring Forum and then post if you have any questions. Unless you're doing it in like 4 days, then go for the Long Distance forum.

Make sure you put in the time training and you'll be fine. I've found when doing several weeks of 100 miles days without rest that every 4-6 days you'll have a day where your legs are toast and the next day they'll be fine.

Bring a camera and don't forget to write down some details on each day since they can tend to blend together

caad9... :P

i was planning on going with one other friend. we're going to stay in hotels, buy food, crap in the woods, etc

Sounds well thought through. Go for it and post a report.

Yeah go to the touring forum, you can't turn around in there w/o encountering someone who's ridden the Pacific Coast.

Also http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/categories/?o=RrzKj&category_id=10&doctype=journal

Bicycling the Pacific Coast by Kirkendall & Spring or the maps from www.adventurecycling.org have lots of information about details for the route, including lodging, food & water, grades and distances.

I suggest you crap in your hotel bathroom or any of the many conveniently located public facilities, rather than in the woods, or at least learn what Poison Oak looks like.

Prevailing wind is from the Northwest, making a southbound journey much more pleasant. Let me say that again - southbound is way way way better. No really, I mean it.

Finally, the Big Sur is really awesome, so go a little farther south if you have time.

I would say avoid narrow roads with logging trucks on them. You don't need a lot of clothes if it's warm and you can wash your riding stuff in the shower. Take a book or guide of motels like from AAA. You can pick your destination each night and call ahead to reserve a room. Your butt will hurt more than usual, take some cream or something for that.

+1 on the Adventure Cycling maps.

Oh, yeah, eat a lot when on the bike.

No, you should peruse the Touring Forum and then post if you have any questions. Unless you're doing it in like 4 days, then go for the Long Distance forum.

+1

I want to ride from the San Francisco bay area to Seattle, WA, which is somewhere around 950 miles.

Anyone have any experiences/warnings/advice they would like to share for these long journeys?
I have some friends who decided that they were going to ride from Portland to San Fran. They had not been on bikes for years, were not in any shape, and were planning to leave in 2 weeks. In short, they completed the trip and actually enjoyed themselves so you are more than capable of doing this trip. They also did the "credit card touring" option which greatly reduced their gear load. Don't plan on any specific amount of mileage each day... you may want to spend more time in certain areas. If you force yourself to pound out X miles per day then you will not enjoy yourself. It's OK to go 10 miles one day and 75 the next...

The entire rt 101 is setup for bed & breakfast touring so there are food and lodging options about every 10 miles or so. There are numerous guidebooks and maps for this route, the touring forum can give you the latest pointers.

Oh yes, plan for cool, wet, and windy conditions...

did it north to south in '95, at the end of a 9 month solo circumnavigation of the us. used adventure cycling maps. big help.

in august the prevailing winds, as already been mentioned, were from the north, and they were a help to me. i would have second thoughts about going against them.

btw, the wind was such an assistance that i was able to do 6 centuries a week with one day off. carrying about 25 lbs of stuff. i'm not an exceptional cyclist, but i already had about 11,000 miles behind me before the seattle to sf leg so was in good shape.

you might consider starting in seattle...

huey

I want to ride from the San Francisco bay area to Seattle, WA, which is somewhere around 950 miles.

Anyone have any experiences/warnings/advice they would like to share for these long journeys?

It will be a great trip and can be more enjoyable with some training beforehand. (My 14 year old is doing that for part of his Summer -- on an mtb.)

did it north to south in '95, at the end of a 9 month solo circumnavigation of the us. used adventure cycling maps. big help.

in august the prevailing winds, as already been mentioned, were from the north, and they were a help to me. i would have second thoughts about going against them.

btw, the wind was such an assistance that i was able to do 6 centuries a week with one day off. carrying about 25 lbs of stuff. i'm not an exceptional cyclist, but i already had about 11,000 miles behind me before the seattle to sf leg so was in good shape.

you might consider starting in seattle...

huey

+1

Yeah go to the touring forum, you can't turn around in there w/o encountering someone who's ridden the Pacific Coast.

Also http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/categories/?o=RrzKj&category_id=10&doctype=journal

Bicycling the Pacific Coast by Kirkendall & Spring or the maps from www.adventurecycling.org have lots of information about details for the route, including lodging, food & water, grades and distances.

I suggest you crap in your hotel bathroom or any of the many conveniently located public facilities, rather than in the woods, or at least learn what Poison Oak looks like.

Prevailing wind is from the Northwest, making a southbound journey much more pleasant. Let me say that again - southbound is way way way better. No really, I mean it.

Finally, the Big Sur is really awesome, so go a little farther south if you have time.

Another +1

Crossed paths with someone a few summers back when I was living in SF and riding in Marin that said he had come down from the Seattle area. From what I can remember he had a steel frame road/touring bike with some fancy waterproof panniers. It was foggy and windy that day (typical mid-summer weather) but he seemed pleasant and happy overall. I'm guessing he was camping when he was stopping, but I didn't think to ask.

Make sure you put in the time training and you'll be fine. I've found when doing several weeks of 100 miles days without rest that every 4-6 days you'll have a day where your legs are toast and the next day they'll be fine.

Bring a camera and don't forget to write down some details on each day since they can tend to blend together

+1 on a rest day
Make sure you eat enough. You can run a caloric deficit for a couple days, but it will catch up with you.

when are you planning on going? I'm leaving June 10 for my PC tour

Prevailing wind is from the Northwest, making a southbound journey much more pleasant. Let me say that again - southbound is way way way better. No really, I mean it.
.

holy bananas this is sooooo true. You know how there are little memories from trips that stay fresh? One of mine is somewhere in Oregon, along a curvy steep section by a good dropoff right by the coast--the tailwind gusts that came along pushed me and my loaded bike UP this hill for a short time, and all I can recall thinking is that noone would ever ever want to do this trip going from south to north....

(another time while going around the Gaspe penninsula , from west to east, I thought the same thing many times and saw some poor buggers going the other way--lets face it, part of researching a bike trip is to get an idea of prevailing winds.

Makes a difference.

I second the recommendation of that book mentioned. I used it, very helpful.