Just as a thought, the Oregon coast ride is also wonderful, and has a bicycle friendly road which either has a bike lane or at least a decent shoulder. There is this one skinny tunnel where you set off a flashing warning light to tell autos there is a bike in the tunnel and then do your best sprint! And the high arched steel bridges are a bit scary.
California's Highway 1 coast is also stunningly beautiful. I camped through it, and was happy with that experience. Either it was a really gorgeous site with many other tourists, or it was sort of a primitive situation which offered peace and seclusion. You will run into other bike tourists on this ride too.
The road. Cycling Hwy 1 is an accomplishment not unlike climbing some peak. On straight flat stretches there is usually a shoulder, but on the twisty, hilly parts there isn't much. When its right on the cliffs over looking the ocean, there usually isn't any. As a south bound traveler, you will sometimes be getting a very unobstructed view of the surf down below. Way down below. Don't look, just concentrate on staying straight and steady.
I suggest traveling during the week days rather then the weekend to avoid tourist traffic. There will be trucks. But they are on a road that is demanding their attention. They are also noisey, at least the log trucks are, so my policy was to keep an ear out for them and then hump it to the nearest siding where I could get out of their way. Then I'd just dawdle and let them go by. Sometimes they could see I did this and wave. I started waving as they went by too. I think promoting peaceful relations with truckers is a good cycling policy. Use a mirror. When you approach sections where the road curves to the right check for anything behind you before hitting the arc. Trucks, cars and Winnebagos climbing hills cut curves pretty tight.
But there are just some spots that are tense. Mostly it's OK, and well worth doing.
When I rode it there was a slide near Ft Ross. Slides are a common occurance at a couple of spots on Hwy 1. The detour was some horrid grade that had signs saying cars with trailers were not advised. I had been hearing about the terrible grade since Mendocino. Fortunately, I asked a nice ranger about the slide and while she assured me the road was closed to all traffic, she also indicated a bike could probably get though. So I stayed on the Hwy which was mostly downhill, instead of the steep detour into the mountains. I had this long stretch of the hwy all to myself. Except for occasional cows, which oddly enough were on the road. Contruction was in progress at the slide spot, so I could easily get through.
I found this book (an earlier version) helpful:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089...lance&n=283155
I sure have enjoyed remembering that excellent trip!