Flounce

hi - planning a bike ride from Irvine to San Luis Obispo and would appreciate any advice.



When I do a quick google maps route, there are three major options for the segment from Long Beach to Ventura (which I would reach by sunset time) are:

1. PCH

2. Inland - Glendale and Simi Valley

3. More Inland - Santa Clarita then west on or parallel to the 126 Hwy.

Will try to attach image.

Let me know your advice regarding the above.

Also any advice on riding from Ventura to San Luis Obispo - which I would be doing in the dark - would be appreciated.

jimincalif

Once you get to the LA river in Long Beach it gets less desirable. I would choose to cross Wilmington as quickly as possible to San Pedro. If you don't mind adding a little distance and some rolling hills, going around the perimeter of Palos Verdes peninsula is beautiful. Get across Wilmington, cross the 110 at Channel, then S on Gaffey and over to Western, probably on Summerland. Down to 25th when then turns into PV Dr S.

I can't see going inland given the amount of beautiful coast available.

No ideas from me on night riding on this route. I'm planning on doing this trip southbound at some point, have relatives in the SLO area so will go for a visit and ride home. You'll be fighting the prevailing winds going northbound.

Flounce

Jim - in regards to crossing Wilmington and Palos Verdes, what do you think about :

from Long Beach, taking Anaheim Street Westward through Wilmington until it hits Palos Verdes North;

then taking PV North until it splits north to Palos Verdes Blvd, taking that for short distance

and then left merging toward Redondo Beach?


That's what I've done in the past.

Secret Squirrel

What time of the evening are you traveling? Wilmington via Anaheim St. was the first the first time I saw a Prostitute doing a drug deal (early morning). Lots of people just standing around.
After that, I decided to only cross over to Long Beach via Del Amo Blvd.

Flounce

That part - Wilmington - will be during the day, so shady characters shouldn't be a big issue. I'm more concerned about traffic and ease of cycling with the cars on various roads.

I'm leaving Orange County at 6am and should reach Ventura by sunset or a bit after.

Ventura to Santa Maria will be in the dark (will probably stop for catnap in Goleta), and Santa Maria to San Luis Obispo should be in the daylight again.

Has anyone taken any of the inland routes from Long Beach to Ventura? I'm just wondering if it might be safer than riding PCH, which would be flatter/shorter/more scenic.

jimincalif

Yes that works. Look at Google maps, I think you can jog down to G street which parallels Anaheim, looks like it would have a lot less traffic and trucks than Anaheim. I've ridden PV North and PV Blvd, they are fine. My suggestion about PV S and PV W is more about scenery. Just depends what you want.

Ventura has the bike path next to the 101 that will take you up a ways, I think you need to get on the 101 at Bates Road for one exit then over the 101 into Carpenteria. I assume you will be on the 101 N from Goleta to Santa Maria? I can't imagine riding a bike thru the northbound tunnel at Gaviota - you push a button and it will turn on yellow flashing lights to warn drivers there is a bike in the tunnel, but that's pretty scary to me.

I would not choose to ride up into LA from Long Beach, not the best parts of town along there.

skidder

Wilmington will be the sketchy part on your first leg. I've done it by going up the LA river to Anaheim St, then a quick 4-5 miles over to PAcific/Gafney in San Pedro (I was riding to Pt Fermin) - just watch the area around you, do it during the day, and I wouldn't call you out if you ran a few lights/stop signs in that area.

Search this subforum for 'Credit Card Touring Santa Barbara to Carlsbad' post be Calamari Chris - he did a write up and posted pictures/map link that shows how to get through the South Bay - Oxnard stretch including the bike-specific trail along the 101.

After Santa Barbara - I HIGHLY advise you NOT to ride the 101 (or 154) at night; way too dark and a the possibility you'll get hit is too high (for me). Better idea is rent a hotel room in Santa Barbara for the night, then take the 154 north out of SB over San Marcos Pass (2100 ft at the top) and down into the Santa Ynez Valley the next day and continue up to SLO from there. There is a non-Hwy 101 way to get to SLO, but it would take longer. And remember the Calif vehicle code allows CHP and other LEOs to order you off the 101 if there are good roads around (which there are).

Good luck, have fun. I'm planning to do the Amtrak Surfliner SLO to OC ride next spring ("credit card tour") and take 4-5 days depending on how many stops I want to make along the way.

Flounce

Skidder - that is super helpful; thank you.

Okay, so I will go up the 154 from SB. (I'm still tempted to do it at night for shortest time / bragging rights, hmmm...)

But tell me more:

Santa Ynez to Santa Maria --> Do I stay on 154 or take "side streets" ?

Santa Maria to San Luis Obispo--> Do I take 101 and 227, or take "side streets" ?

See attached images

jimincalif

Legally I don't think you can ride the 101 from SM to SLO - there are surface streets available, I think the on-ramps are posted bicycles prohibited. I've ridden 227 from AG to SLO and back, but I did it on a weekend morning, traffic was not bad. For much of it there is no shoulder, almost got run off the road by a close-passing motor home. On the weekdays 227 gets traffic on it as an alternate route to SLO as the 101 backs up during rush hour. I would not ride 227 at night myself.

I don't know anything about the 154 route.

skidder

If you take the 154 out of Santa Barbara you can skip by the 246 turn-off (to Solvang and Buellton) and continue on through the Santa Ynez valley up to Los Olivos where it intersects the 101 (it'll be riding through ranch and winery country, pretty scenic ride!). Once at Los Olivos you'd have to do about 10 miles on the 101 up to Los Alamos, where you'd get off and pick up the 134(?) that'll take you up to the Hwy 1 intersection just south of Santa Maria. Take Hwy 1 up to Arroyo Grande, then to the 247(?) which will go north up to SLO. Follow the path on Google maps and you'll get the proper road designations, as I'm not 100% sure of those numbers. Zoom in with the ground images and you can see the roads and scenery, too.

Note: The route I describe above is not the usually coastal bike touring route, that goes south from Pismo to Lompoc, then either to Gaviota (and Santa Barbara) or through Solvang/Santa Ynez along the 246 and up the 154 to Santa Barbara. The Gaviota route would require riding a short distance on the 101 until you got to Santa Barbara (yuck, not recommended!).

Leaving Santa Barbara in the early morning: This ride would be better in the early spring or late fall. IF you're going before the summer temps cool off you'll have cool weather for the climb up the 154, then hopefully it'll be cool enough on the other side of the hills in the Santa Ynez Valley, too. It can get hot in the Valley during summer (90F isn't unlikey) but it should cool off by the time you get to Santa Maria.

augustgarage

Instead of hopping on the 101 in Los Olivos, you can take Foxen Canyon to the 166 (in Santa Maria), then Thompson to Los Berros, then just take the roads that hug the 101 (El Camino Real, Price, Shell Beach, Ontario, Higuera) all the way to SLO.

Alternatively, you can take the 1 from Las Cruces all the way to Pismo; in my experience this route has a lot less traffic at night, but the few motorists I did encounter were more likely to be drunk).

Flounce

Augustgarage - thank you for the detailed directions - that is gold to me. I will be taking the route you describe. Ride is Oct 26-27th.

I just need to figure out if there is a departure time that would allow me the option to ride is straight through without stopping overnight, and not have to ride through either Wilmington, Malibu PCH, or the 154 north of SB in darkness. There doesn't seem to be.

If I depart OC at 1am, I get to Wilmington around 4am. It's probably an hour of riding through the rough parts. I'd reach the north part of Santa Monica - where I start riding PCH - around 6am; and I'd reach Santa Barbara around 2pm. That gives me 4 hours of daylight to ride up and over the 154 to Santa Ynez. It might be sunset while I'm in or just beyond Santa Ynez, and it'd be night riding all the way to SLO, arriving past midnight.

What do you think?

malcala622 

Do not ride the San Gabriel or los Angeles trails after 6pm...some people that hang out there are just looking for a new bike.

augustgarage

Except for a couple stretches with no real shoulder, I actually enjoy riding PCH at night through Malibu, particularly once you get out past Leo Carillo - you won't have a full moon, but if the night is clear, the stars over the ocean are a treat.

As you are probably aware, prevailing winds tend to favor south-bound travel along the coast, although sometimes the direction reverses at night (if you are lucky). Also, the cycle of fires and heavy rains that this region has experienced recently makes it prudent to stay abreast of road closures (I don't see any obvious obstacles for you currently though): Road Closures

Enjoy your ride, and let us know how it goes!

Flounce

Okay, I've since driven the entire bike route described above, in preparation for the ride.

San Marcos Pass / Hwy 154... that has some long segments that seem really unsafe, i.e. Fast traffic in a single narrow lane with no shoulder, winding with no heads up that a bike could be right around the next bend. I'm not sure if willing to ride that , day or night.

From 154 to Foxen Canyon Road to Betteravia... that is s really long segment without water that pretty desolate, at least in my opinion, may I'm a wuss. Maybe I should be wearing Camelback instead of using 3 water bottles and refilling every 3 hours.

Sigh. I've been training for this and think I have the legs for it...

Flounce

Okay, so I cancelled the Irvine to SLO ride, and instead will be riding from downtown San Diego to Santa Barbara, about 230 miles. Not as adventurous as to riding through San Marcos Pass and the east part of Santa Maria, but a bit safer.

jimincalif

I'm glad you checked it out, sounds like a good decision. Good luck on your ride.