Tycho Brahe 

Common misconception. Coastal California is not hot. Monterey never hit 88 in all the years I lived there.

There are also very few stores along the coast. From Monterey to Cambria there is only Big Sur (expensive for everything) and a few things at the southern part. Things pick up south of Cambria.

laymanstefan

So there may be a change in plans (at least I will have to prepare for one) because my friend from LA has not been responding for about a week. It is fairly possible she is on vacation and won't return until next week, but I just want to make sure there will be no nasty surprise once I arrive in LA: If she doesn't get back to me in time, that also means that I may not be able to store the bike box at her house, meaning I'd leave it at the airport. I cannot bring a bike on the bus driving from LAX to Union station but looking at Google Maps, it is only about 20 miles and not even on big highways, so this should be doable by bike. However, I don't know if it's such a good idea to do this in the evening after I arrive - my arrival is at 6:30, going through customs and add some bad luck I won't be out of the airport until 9 PM and by that time, it will be dark and I am not super comfortable riding a roadbike through unknown, nighttime Los Angeles and I can imagine there a plenty of bad areas that should be avoided.

So I will probably look for accomodation on Airbnb, now there are 2-3 options:
1) I look for a room close to LAX, the next morning I get up early and ride my bike to Union Station (where Boltbus leaves at 8 AM) or
2) I am going for a room close to Union station and take a cab to get there from LAX or
3) Emergency solution if I don't find anything else: I don't really mind pulling an all nighter inside LAX if it is a safe place to be. Once the sun is up, I could ride my bike to Union Station.

Do you guys have any thoughts on that? Maybe some areas I should avoid between LAX and Union Station?
Or alternatives?

Best,

Stefan

prathmann

It's not quite that sparse. Just south of Monterey is Carmel with lots of stores. Then south of Big Sur you have Lucia (conv. store & restaurant), Gorda (store & a couple restaurants), Ragged Pt. (several options), and finally San Simeon just north of Cambria.

tinrobot

You can take the train/subway all the way to Union Station. The metro green line stops close to the airport. Ride your bike to the Airport station, then take the Green line to the Blue line, which will take you downtown. From there, take the red line to Union Station.

Maps and timetables here: https://www.metro.net/riding/maps/

Or if you want to ride, head to the beach via Imperial and take the beach trail north towards Playa Del Ray. From there, find the Ballona Creek bike trail. It ends in Culver City. Then take Venice Blvd east towards downtown. Once in Downtown take a left on Main which gets you to Union Station

Tycho Brahe 

To me, Monterey and Carmel are pretty much the same place. The distance from Big Sur to Lucia is somewhat far, especially considering someone has just biked from Monterey. South of the Lucia market it does get better.

Been meaning to get a simple touring bike and start exploring similar rides on my own.

laymanstefan

Thank you very much. For the first night in LA, I have found an AirBnB accomodation near Santa Monica, so I iwll be able to take the Expo line to Union station in the morning. now I have heard that this is a very new line and a lot of people use it, so it may be difficult to get in with my bike. What do you guys think? Let's say I take the Expo line from Downtown Santa Monica at 6:18, would it be empty enough for me to get on with my bike? I somehow ned to get to Union Station by around 6:30, so what are my options?

tinrobot

Correct. It will be crowded Mon-Fri mornings. Less on the weekends. Probably best to go early. Rush hour starts 7:30 or so.

If you get on the train at the first station (4th Street) then you should be able to find space.

prathmann

Looks to me like you'd need to leave the downtown Santa Monica station by 5:30am in order to get to Union Station by 6:30am with a change to the Red or Purple line at Metro Center.

prathmann

Along that stretch there's also the convenience store a little over half way up the climb out of Big Sur State Park (only a few miles farther). And a couple restaurant options - Ventana Inn near the top of that climb and Deetjen's on the way down the other side.

Cyclist0108

Be aware of the fire:

Soberanes Fire Updates - CAL FIRE Incident Information

Big Sur fire: Smoke plaguing cities from Monterey to Santa Cruz and beyond - Mercury News

laymanstefan

I guess that was some poor phrasing on my end - I was talking about leaving for Union Station around that time so I'd be at Union station at around 7:30.

Popeyecahn

Hopefully they have 100% containment by the end of this month (which has been their mission), but even still the lingering effects may pose an issue for several weeks.

Tycho Brahe 

I am curious about how your ride went.

laymanstefan

Thanks for asking! It was a fantastic ride - just one body part disagreed:

- The first day, I went from San Francisco to Soquel by Santa Cruz - it was a long ride and I had to get used to American drivers and roads, also with regard to difference in altitude (some pretty steep hills you have got there!).
- The second day was shorter: I went from Soquel to Del Rey Oaks by Monterey. I felt the last day's miles in my legs, but it was a nice ride even though (or maybe just because - different is exciting) it wasn't by the ocean for very long. I had my first flat and used the first of two spare tubes I had brought.
- The third day was unfortunately the hottest day of them all and it was also the longest and toughest: I left Del Rey Oaks relatively early to get to San Simeon before dark. The view was stunning, of course. Unfortunately, there was almost no shade and if there was, I had 50 flies in my face in no time.It was definitely my favorite day though.
- The fourth day, my left heel hurt a bit at the beginning of the ride. Didn't think much of it and about 20 miles into the ride I felt fine. I rode to Lompoc, stopping by Pismo Beach after what turned out to be another long day with a lot of sun..
- The fifth day, hills were barely noticeable as such, the ride went smoothly. Unfortunately, I didn't find a beautiful way by the beach, so I went close to the freeway for a lot of the ride. I got my second flat tire and the last spare tube was gone. My ancle was swollen at this point, the second half of the ride I really had to be careful not to move my left foot up and down too much and try to keep the Achilles tendon as relaxed as possible. I ended up in Carpinteria, a beautiful town by Santa Barbara.
- The sixth and last day led me along the freeway for a bit and once I got into Oxnard, I got my third flat. Time to patch it up! Only 8 miles later, I got another - different thorn, different hole! Every flat I got on this ride was caused by a thorn. So I had to fix it again and it got kind of late. The ride along the beach and through Malibu etc. was fantastic in the sunset - I got to Santa Monica shortly after dark.

I had a doctor check out my ankle and, obviously, he diagnosed tendonitis. I guess I was kicking a bit too ambitiously on day three. Once I got back to Germany, I realized I'd have to get a new chain & cassette - to be honest, I never put on enough oil or measure the stretch of the chain, so I guess this little California adventure was just the last nail in the coffin.

As for the box: I left it with LAX luggage storage for 15 dollars/night until I returned (and took Boltbus up to San Francisco, which was great!), then I was able to get a friend of mine to store it for me. LAX Luggage Storage was expensive, but they pick up your luggage at the airport, which is very convenient.
Especially because I was super stressed the first night in LA:
Once I got the bike out of the box, the rear brakes were so tight I couldn't move the wheel once it was in. Does anyone have a clue why this may have happened? Same thing happened to the front brakes on the way back.

raceboy

I rode from Santa Cruz to Redondo Beach (about 20 miles south of Santa Monica) in six days. You are definitely working on a touring bike with a backpack or panniers. My route was a little different.

Santa Cruz to Monterey
Monterey to San Simeon
San Simeon to Santa Maria
Santa Maria to Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara to Carpinteria (almost a rest day)
Carpinteria to Redondo Beach

Monterey to San Simeon was along, hard day with lots of climbing and just shy of 100 miles. After that, everything else felt easy.

Darth Lefty 

What a great adventure! Ich gratuliere

TakingMyTime

Awesome! You put your bike on a plane, traveled 1/2 way around the globe and went on an awesome bike ride.

Memories for life.