I also like to ride, and I acquired that love of cycling on the very same roads you describe. From the Santa Monica Pier, to Oceanside, I loved to ride along the coast. But in those days I wasn’t yet old enough to shave, and going through the usual emotional gauntlet experienced in one’s early teens. Cycling was my drug, it was was calmed me down, and brought me peace. Unfortunately, some of my friends, despite also having bikes, preferred to use actual drugs and alcohol, which led them down less pleasant roads, and a couple to untimely ends.

I often liked to ride at night, and dream about riding in distant places. I used to watch the moon set over the Pacific, and wondered what it was like when it rose on the other side. And some 40 years later, I live on the other side, and the moon rises from over the Pacific rather than setting behind it. I still like to ride along the coasts, usually from place like Atami to Kamakura, but I have been as far south as Okinawa and Miyakojima, and as far north as Hokkaido.

My younger days of teen angst are behind me (unfortunately), but cycling is still my drug of choice, but made a little better with a cold beer at the end of a long ride. The coastal roads here are like those in Northern California, minus the lumber trucks and forest fires.