Originally Posted by
nemeseri
Thank you everyone! I did it and it was awesome! Incredible views and great way to spend a day.
Finally I chose the San Pedro Mountain Road and HWY-1 all the way down to Santa Cruz.
San Pedro Mnt Rd was a really interesting part because I haven't done any mountain biking before. Well just like you said it was tricky on a road bike especially downhill. Although the view was amazing! I'd say - just to stick with the original topic title - that HWY-1 is probably safer through the tunnel on a road bike. Also it's much-much faster. I recommend to start the ride early to beat traffic.
After San Pedro Mnt Rd, HWY-1 had pretty good biking conditions, huge shoulders everywhere. Someone in an other thread mentioned that HWY-1 is flat all the way down to Santa Cruz. Just a word of caution for absolute beginners like me: it has numerous 5-6% ascends and those can easily add up.
Also it's worth to plan carefully where you want to stop for a brunch or a beer, because south to Half Moon Bay the options are pretty limited.
All-in-all I think this ride is gorgeous and I can recommend for everybody who did 50-mile+ rides before.
The Cabrillo highway tunnel has been a real lifesaver in terms of speed and safety, cutting out devils slide or the steep planet of the apes routes that used to be the only really efficient routes to get to Half Moon Bay.
I remember the first time I rode down to Santa Cruz and it was a little surprising like you mentioned. ENDLESS ROLLERS. Beautiful ride, but with some good challenges, that makes getting into SC feel like a really good accomplishment.
Past Half Moon it's really limited like you said. One of our favorite ever spots is the Bike Hut. You should check it out on your next ride. It's a little detour off along Tunitas Creek, which is a stunning less-trafficed, if challenging connector back to San Francisco via Redwood City Caltrain. We really like bike camping out at Half Moon Bay and we've routed a way that takes you on trails nearly the whole route once you get out of the tunnel.
Check it out here (also includes info about the bike hut and Tunitas Creek Route):
Bike Camping Half Moon Bay ? Pedal Inn: Bike Camping Guide, Provisions, and Cookbook
Here are also a couple of tunnel shots from the bike lane:
