BigBlueToe

The standard route down the Pacific coast goes through Morro Bay (there's a nice hiker/biker site at Morro Bay St. Pk.) and San Luis Opispo. The route takes you off of Highway 1 on South Bay Boulevard (just southeast of "downtown" Morro Bay), and then turns left onto Los Osos Valley Road in Los Osos.

As soon as you turn onto Los Osos Valley Road you'll see a big flashing sign that says "Bike Lane Closed 5 Miles Ahead". It's very daunting for a bike tourist. Last weekend I saw two loaded tourists stopped in front of the sign, obviously debating what to do - forge ahead and risk having to come back and go the long way around, or just turn around, go back to Highway 1, and go into San Luis Obispo the long way.

My alert is to tell people not to worry. The bike lane on Los Osos Valley Road is extremely wide - at least 10 feet. It had been cracking so they're resurfacing it. For awhile they had cones set up, limiting the width to about 3 feet next to the traffic. On one ride they even had the cones right on the stripe so there was no room at all on the bike lane. However, it was only for a short distance. I just rode on the roadway for a few seconds and was fine.

I rode the route yesterday and there was no obstruction whatsoever, even though the flashing sign is still up. There's still a long section that needs to be resurfaced, so I'm guessing the sign will stay up for awhile.

Anyway, don't be dissuaded by the sign. Go ahead and ride LOVR. Most likely you'll have no obstruction at all. If they should close the lane on that side in the future, there's still a wide lane on the other side of the road, and they're not going to be working on it. I'd just cross over and ride on the wrong side until any obstruction was past.

It would be a long detour to go back to Highway 1 and ride into San Luis that way, and there's no reason to do so.

raybo

Thanks!

I'll be riding LOVR this coming Saturday. I take Turri Rd. to LOVR so I might not see the sign.

Ray