Lordfartblaster

Around ventura and oxnard be very careful my friend. Then from malibu south it should be smooth sailing.

mister

I live in Eureka, CA and I've ridden SF to LA the last two summers with a group of friends and I regularly drive 101 from one end of the state to the other. Once in California, come down 101. When you get to Legget, head to Highway 1. Highway 1 starts in Legget as the California coast north of Legget is too treacherous and seismically active to build a road along. I haven't taken Highway 1 south to SF from Legget on a car or by a bike, but I hear it isn't too bad. There's a climb out of Legget that is rumored to have cyclists ditch their unnecessary gear on the way up, but I think that's just an urban legend as the elevation profiles don't look any worse than what you'll experience through Big Sur.

When I've done the ride, we stay in hotels along the way. We stop in Halfmoon Bay, Watsonville, Big Sur, Morro Bay, Lompoc, Oxnard, then finish in Santa Monica. Big Sur is hilly and narrow and during the summer can have lots of traffic. There's a scenic loop through Monterey that is a wonderful little detour through some super fancy housing areas. Be careful going through the farmlands south of San Luis Obispo, especially in the Guadalupe area. If you're going through there in the afternoon/ early evening when folks are getting off work, watch for people that are drinking and driving. Check out Harris Grade for a nice climb into Lompoc; there isn't much shade, so take it easy if you're there in the afternoon.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book Bicycling the Pacific Coast. It has a mile by mile synopsis of the route from Washington to California.

adventurepdx

Yeah, I didn't find Leggett summit that bad, nor the infamous Crescent City Hill. They are typical "mountain grades" of 5-7%, and maybe 1,000-1,300 feet of climbing total on each climb. And there are plenty of 5-7% grades on the coast, it's just that Crescent City and Leggett have the longest sustained climbs. If anyone's climbed actual mountain passes, 1,000 feet of climbing isn't as big a deal, but if you're just doing the Pacific Coast, it is. I think part of it is that the Bicycling the Pacific Coast makes a big deal out of Crescent City and Leggett, so it psyches some people out.

fietsbob

As Hwy 30 gets Closer to the coast and Astoria , west of Svensen, the road is curvy the shoulders Less wide.

East of Westport where the ferry lands, is a Paper mill. so You will be sharing that winding section of the road
with Wood Chip hauling Trucks .. Full, east bound and Empty Westbound .. Year around.

rawly old

Very true. I was able to duck a good bit of 30 on pleasant side roads. Where I live,( just 6 mi. from a pulp mill),
chip trucks are a daily terror, but not as bad as tandem log trucks,(CRINGE). In as much as 101 can be insane,
I did much of the highway riding between 1 & 4am. Come to think of it, I arrived in Astoria at 4 am & had a
convenience store breakfast.