Jakobmckernan

Hey Folks,

I'm sure these questions have been asked countless times before but i would really like your help.

I have always wanted to cycle along the American west coast. It has been playing on my mind for a while but it was always something I would
do later on in my life. However, due to certain circumstances I've suddenly got a 6 week window to attempt the trip with my flights to Vancouver and home from San Francisco payed for (I'm not American). The only problem is that the 6 weeks are from December to mid-January.

So I guess my main question is weather related. Would it be possible to do the route at that time of year or would i be battling snow and ice for the majority of the trip? Also is 6 weeks sufficient time to cover the route? I'd be travelling alone so I would make relatively speedy progress (I have touring experience and I'm quite fit). Finally, what are accommodation options like at that time of the year?

Any help would be appreciated!

B. Carfree

Yes, it's possible to ride the Pacific coast at that time of year. There is a vanishingly small possibility of snow or ice, but if it happens it won't last long enough to stop you; you can just wait it out.

Obviously, I don't know enough about your cycling abilities/habits to know if you can complete the ride in six weeks (quite fit can mean a lot of different things to different people), and at that time of year there is the little matter of frequent, strong south winds. These south winds tend to be accompanied by rain, which makes them doubly fun since you not only have a head wind but you can't look up without being blasted in the face by horizontal rain. It all depends on how many miles you want to ride each day, how many you can handle into strong headwinds, whether or not you are willing to ride in the dark (short daylight hours), how many rest days you like and such. In reality, any reasonably fit person should be able to do that ride in less than six weeks during that time of year, but it's likely going to be wet. Also, many people find that cold weather, particularly when it is wet, saps their strength.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. You will see/hear rivers and creeks that are running much higher than the summer tourists can even imagine. Short detours into the coast range can yield a bounty of beautiful waterfall viewings. The number of RVs on the road, and traffic in general, are dramatically diminished and you can always find hotel space when you want a roof over your head for the night. Also, you will find a lot more friendly support among the locals for your unusual timing (although I did once get a sarcastic comment regarding the unusually early start of summer during one February ride down the coast). There's a lot less fog in the winter and when the days are clear it is absolutely glorious (much better than the best days of summer). However, you can't bank on many clear days, especially during the first half of the ride.

You could even do the ride south to north without the usual wind penalty, since south winds are much more common on most of this part of the coast in the winter. There would still be an infrastructure and view of the ocean penalty to pay; you will have two lanes of traffic between you and the ocean if you ride northbound and the shoulder on hwy101 in OR is more complete in the southbound direction.

If you do the ride, I recommend adding a very bright rear light or two to your set up. The water on the road and sometimes the condensation inside the motor vehicles can obscure motorists' view of you. A blinking light or two can be helpful in being seen early enough that people will give you a bit of extra passing space, which is nice when the roads are large puddles.

valygrl

I would not do that. You won't have snow but there's a high probability of winter storms. This does not mean a little light rain, it means soaking, all-day downpours with strong (often south) wind, and poor visibility. Which, along with the usual stuff, means you won't be able to see & appreciate the scenery.

I think some campgrounds will be closed. You'll have to check with the state park system, I'm sure you can find a web site.

Hotels will be empty, so there's that.

Days are very short, nights are long, boring, cold and wet - so you might not prefer to camp.

I would strongly urge you to tour somewhere season-appropriate. You would probably be able to do that tour, but you might not actually enjoy it much. If you can start in San Diego and head west (edit - east, I always make this mistake!) on the Southern Tier route, that might be better (but still non-optimal in my opinion). January is a great time for New Zealand & Australia.

mtnbud

It's do-able, but I personally don't think it'd be very enjoyable because it rains so often during those months. As B.Carefree mentioned, visibility is an issue. You are much more likely to be unnoticed by cars in wet, windy weather. If you were planning on it, I'd recommend hotels or warmshowers hosts over camping. The weather can be fantastic on the coast when it's not raining, but it rains ALOT during the winter months. Article

By Vancouver, I'm assuming you mean Vancouver BC? Were you planning using the ferry system to get to Washington?

Jakobmckernan

Hey,

Thank you all for the comments. I had figured as much. I was really hoping someone would tell me something different. I don't think I will do it. I'd like it to be enjoyable and not doable.

Could anyone recommend any other routes for that time of year? I can basically fly to anywhere in the U.S at the beginning of December and I need to be in San Francisco by the 14th of January. I was looking at the Western Express route. Anybody have any experience with that?

Jakobmckernan

Perhaps San Diego to San Francisco? Would make more sense weather wise I guess.

valygrl

So I did a little googling about the long range forecast this year, and the pacific ocean water temperature indicators point to "normal" - which usually means on the coast, strong storms interspersed with nice but cool weather. In the desert, it's cold and usually dry.

Here's something I found that might be relevant for the forecast.
https://www.weather.com/news/weather-...annel-20131021

I would say, the desert southwest is your best bet for enjoyable weather in the USA. You could use Adventure Cycling maps
https://www.adventurecycling.org/rout...southern-tier/

or make your own route, I would do something like this https://goo.gl/maps/76R60 (this is a lot like the southern tier, but adds some highlights - Tucson (you can ride up Mt Lemmon), Chiracahua National Monument, Joshua Tree National Park, a ride over the mountains near Idylwild. You could also adjust it to ride to LA instead of San Diego.

In planning, you'll want to pay careful attention to altitude. There are a lot of mountain ranges that get snowy in winter, the areas around Flagstaff and the Sierra mountain range in CA come to mind. SO if you are tempted to ride in a straight line towards SF, pay attention to your altitude, you're probably going to want to generally stay lower than 4000' and if you ride up the east side of the sierras, you'll have to find somewhere to cross to SF, which you pretty much can't on a bike in January. (so just don't)

If you are seriously interested in the route I made, I can add detail, that map was a quick attempt, but the details are what makes a route good or bad, especially trying to make your way around the mountains and the huge metrolpolis of San Diego/LA.

If you start in Albuquerque (I just picked that b/c it has a big airport), or somewhere on the eastern "end" of the southern tier route and ride towards San Diego, if you have extra time at the end you can ride up the coast, or if not, it's easy to catch a plane, train or rental car from southern California to SF. ANd there is plenty of nice day-riding in the San Diego to Santa Barbara areas, if you want to wander around there. If you head east, you'll start getting into the big open spaces in New Mexico and Texas and you'll have more trouble finding transportation back to SF.

I assume you are flying in from overseas, you can catch a domestic flight from the big western international airports on Southwest or Frontier airlines for more reasonable bike-carrying charges. United, Delta, American, US Airways all have very expensive fees. THis might not apply if it's booked along with your overseas flight.

turkey9186

The most likely time for the Oregon coast, and Willamette Valley, to see snow and ice that stays for more than a couple hours are mid December to January.
If you stay out of the Sierras, the SF Bay area weather is usually not that bad during that time frame. Maybe day trips from SF, Napa, or Santa Cruz?

axolotl

The best cycling in December/January that's in the U.S. is Hawaii. If Hawaii is a possibility for you, I wouldn't even consider anywhere else in the U.S. Kauai, Maui, & the Big Island all offer good cycling.

B. Carfree

Valygrl's ideas are great. Consider ending around San Luis Obispo/Santa Barbara, doing some nice day rides, and then hopping on the Coast Starlight (Amtrak) train to the Bay Area. They just have nicer weather in January than Norcal.

jamawani 

It's the perfect time to tour New Zealand.

fietsbob

Summer High pressure systems create the favorable winds out of the north-west..
winter storms tend to blow in from the south-west.

and winter Marine squalls, leading edge of storms, dump a lot of water , in a short time, on the Coast.

stevepusser

Yeah, a couple of Canadians thought they would be used to inclement weather, so tried the same area last winter. Note how much the weather and their experience improved once they jumped south into central California. It's not just the rain, but hurricane-force crosswinds and bad visibility that can make it dangerous.

Edit: they also noted that the constantly wet roads were made even made more dangerously slippery by some kind of algae or more likely bacterial bioslime growing on them. (roads, not Canadians)

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?..._id=11559&v=Oc

hueyhoolihan

yes! much better.

in '95 i left SF airport on Dec 15 and headed south i passed through SD just before Christmas. had pretty good weather all the way.

with six weeks you could start in Tuscon or even El Paso.

Jakobmckernan

Hey,

I've actually decided to go to New Zealand instead. It just makes the most amount of sense. I have changed my flight plans to New Zealand
and i'll be arriving there on the 8th of December. I'll have just over a month to cycle through.

Has anybody ever bought a touring bike in New Zealand? I'm looking for a LHT, Treck 520 or maybe a Fuji.

Again help would be appreciated!

Ciufalon

Not sure those bikes are readily available in NZ, but I know that there are some good companies there that rent bikes for touring, and I just looked at one that had a 10% discount in Dec. for rentals of more than 7 days. You might look into what is available to rent. I saw a presentation a few months ago given by a couple that rented bikes there and toured. They had a great time and it look fantastic.

B. Carfree

I think they had some major stability issues aside from the winter moss on the roads. I think Bike Fridays were not the best choice of bike for these folks. They're just too squirrelly. They referred to several falls on their prior trips as well, so it's not like they are rock-solid riders on dry pavement.