Hi, welcome to the touring forum.

Let me be the first of probably many to say that this extremely popular & beautiful route is most often done in the other direction, mainly due to the northwest prevailing wind on the coast. You really are choosing headwind over tailwind by traveling north. Seriously, about 95% of people go south, for very good reason. There are a couple of other reasons people say they like to go south too - closer to the ocean, better bike lanes, safer, more people traveling in the same direction so you can have traveling companions if you like. For me the wind is really the big reason.

That said, I've done it in both directions, it can be done northbound, but it's a lot more fun the other way.

Here are a couple of resources that offer very detailed route & service information
http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/pacificcoast.cfm
http://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Paci.../dp/0898869544

You can use either of these or just "keep the ocean on your (left/right)". If you are a first-time bike tourist, I would recommend getting one or the other of these (just the map segments you need from A.C.A.), they answer a lot of basic-needs questions leaving you free to enjoy the riding.

There are numerous well-spaced state parks with hiker/biker camp sites (very cheap & nice).

You can read lots of journals here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/c...octype=journal

many journals on that site include equipment lists, which is a common question for new tourists.

Have a great trip! I'll leave you with a picture from a southbound October trip