Another one aswell- I've found what APPEARS to be an official "nice" route from VC to Blaine US Border- would this be recommended from anyone who is familiar with the area please? If so, I'll amend the ACA part of the route.
VC-Blaine


VC-Blaine Route Map


I should mention aswell- once I'm past the Olympic Peninsula then the Route more or less takes care of itself- it's just these initial stages I'm rerouting etc to take in Seattle and the OP. I know I've made a lot of posts about them asking questions etc, but it's only for this section..!

I've got most of the Chuckanut Drive scenic route put in now, but I notice the ACA misses Burlington and the last part of the Chuckanut? Is it worth rerouting to see Burlington via the rest of the scenic route or is this route scenic aswell, next to the coast?

I really think you are overthinking this. While on the road you will have the electronic tools, plus presumably you can pick up a paper map at the airport when you arrive, you should be able to re-route as you see fit once your feet are on the ground. If you hear something is scenic, then re-route on the fly. If it is foggy or rainy, nothing is scenic.

I have only put a lot of effort into every detail when there are minimal places to stay the night and a long distance in between. Otherwise, I do not like to put too much time into pre-planning, as I am often changing my plans.

This is your first tour, so I understand the level of pre-planning you are doing. But you likely will find road construction or other reasons to re-route later.

I've found that AAA (American Automobile Association) has by far, the best paper maps. You have to be a member to get the maps, so if you will tell me the route ( a gpx file will work) I'd be happy to get the maps for you, if you'll pay the postage for me to send them to you.

Having been on both those routes, I would recommend that you just follow the ACA route. The road you have marked in red towards Burlington is just a straight, flat secondary highway through farmland.. There isn't much to see in Burlington besides shopping malls and auto dealerships. The road from Burlington back to the ACA route is what you would call a dual carriageway with a hard shoulder. The ACA route follows quiet back roads and the seashore.

Hey guys, aye- I was honestly starting to suspect I might be trying to much to micro manage this route aswell.
I'll lay off now and sort the other practicalities like picking out some new Panniers and a front box etc.
Thanks for the advice as always- it all goes in.
PromptCritical Nae worries mate- I'm all good but thanks for the kind offer anyway..!

Front box?

Haha- sorry. Basically meant the front Handlebar Bag you can buy to store valuables and electronic etc.
My old one looked like a box shape.

Hello again- hope you all had a Great Christmas..!
I'm trying to factor in a side trip to and around Yosemite National Park- is anyone aware of any "good" routes to and from Yosemite as I pass it by going down the coast at all? I know it's a fair distance there and back but it's a place I really want to see. It looks amazing.
Also- is it possible to camp/stay anywhere close by too over night- as far as I can tell people have to vacate the Park each day?

[QUOTE=meshcarver;23422556]
I'm trying to factor in a side trip to and around Yosemite National Park - /QUOTE]

When are you planning on doing this trip?

Almost by definition, if you veer off for Yosemite (which is certainly worth it)
you will miss the section of the Pacific coast from Monterrey to San Simeon.
That is the most spectacular stretch, but is currently closed due to major washouts.
And, if this winter has big storms, there may be more washouts.
No telling when Hwy 1 will reopen in 2025.

But ...

California's climate is like books on a bookshelf.
In the summer the coast is cool and foggy, the coast ranges can be quite wet and muddy after a wet winter.
The Central Valley is dry and scorching hot, then the Sierra foothills go from gorgeous in spring to brown in summer.
Finally, the Sierras can have snow and road closures well into May - - even June for the passes.

So, it's a challenge heading from the coast to Yosemite and back. Especially back in southern California.

One nice route is from San Juan Bautista over Panoche Pass via Mercey Hot Springs.
Most people don't care for the Central Valley - I kinda like it. Via Firebaugh and Chowchilla.
White Rock road is a sweet climb, zero traffic, unpaved stretch, possible small bridge out.
Then Hwy 140 from Mariposa largely follows the Merced River into the park.
With one 15-year detour around a rock slide. (California takes its time).

This route lets you ride the Pacific Hwy. from Half Moon Bay to Capitola - another great stretch.
Another route if from San Fran via the Vallejo ferry and thru the Delta region.

Let me know if you are interested.

<<<>>>

There is camping in the park but it is used reserved far in advance.
Little know secret - people who enter the park on bicycles
can camp one night at the backpackers campground. (Not Camp 4)
Additional nights require getting into line for a spot at Camp 4.

If you are interested I can give you more detailed info on routes and the park.

Jama

Sierra Foothills in Late May

Just as a heads-up, we are already getting a lot of rain here, and the end of the Santa Cruz wharf snapped off, taking with it my (already closed down) favorite breakfast place ...

https://www.npr.org/2024/12/24/nx-s1...into-the-ocean

The part of that structure with the attached toilet facilities ....

I'd say it has a bad float...

Badump bump!
(not bad at all actually)

jamawani Hi mate- thanks very much for your route plan, it seems ace..!
I'm starting this trip on the 1st June from VC, crossing into the US on the 4th June (Few days exploring VC). I plan to finish at the end of Aug so in all, June/July/Aug in full.

I definitely want to see Yosemite as I've always wanted to visit- what better way than on this bike trip!?

In effect I have 90 days to do this entire trip- and there's some sights along the way that I HAVE to see, and I much prefer Nature/Scenery over Cities, although I will be visiting San Fran and LA too of course.
Also when you mentioned I'll miss from Monterrey to San Simeon- my intention is not to bypass any parts so I will almost double back and pick up the Coast Road from where I left it- I don't want to miss any of the Route if possible.

As far as washouts and road closures- there's nothing I can do about that and am fully expecting them at some point, in which case aye I'll just have to go around sadly. I'm sure the entire route is mind blowing though so is not a problem mate.

So I've put in to Google Maps your suggested Route- would this be correct:


As I say- IDEALLY I'd want to more or less double back on myself after visiting Yosemite as I don't want to miss any of the main Coastal Route.
But- I might try a slightly different route back on myself if possible. Nothing too far off this detour to Yosemite but just so I can see some more different scenery back to the diverging point.

I'll take you up on your offer about more info for the Route and Park- thanks very much for that..! Feel free to reply here or send a PM to me- either is more than fine and very much appreciated..!!
I look forwards to hearing about it..!

OMG - August in the Central Valley is brutal.
And your profile says "GB" which I presume is Great Britain,
not the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Aussies can handle 45C / 113F - - not so sure about Brits.

Then, too, August is high fire season in California.
The chaparral scrublands of the mid-coast and the Sierra foothills are tinder dry.
This winter is looking to be the third wet winter in a row, so fire danger may be less.
But it will be VERY hot any distance from the coast.

If you are planning 3 months, any chance you could start 2 weeks earlier?
Yes, you are more likely to have wet weather in Washington/Oregon.
But 3 months seems quite a long time for the Pacific Coast Route.
1500-1600 miles. Even at 250 miles per week is 6-7 weeks.

I know it is morally suspect but,
One option is to ride California N-to-S,
then hop up to Vancouver and ride the Wash/Ore stretch.
Riding south to north puts you up against prevailing winds.
(Multiple entries into U.S. can be a visa issue, too.)

The Google map looks O.K. Specifics may vary a bit.
It is a low to very low traffic route.
Camping/lodging is sparse in places.
Sunset State Beach to Mercey H.S. is doable.
But Mercey now charges $75 - it was $25 years back.
Firebaugh and Chowchilla have motels. Mariposa is pricey.
The Yosemite Bug Hostel also used to be cheap.
It's a bit closer to Yosemite than Mariposa.

Is it possible to fly into and out of SFO?
Ride San Fran to San Diego -
Then take Amtrak to Merced - easy to take bike on board -
Ride into Yosemite and back to Merced.
Then take Amtrak up to Vancouver overnight.
Finally ride back to San Fran.

The waterfalls in Yosemite are spectacular in May/early June.
They are only a trickle by August.

Just a few ideas. Ya gotta shake 'em up from time to time.

Jama





Pic - Yosemite Falls at Peak Snowmelt in late May, Valley Still Flooded

Hey jamawani ..!
Thanks very much for the extra info- appreciate it..!
Aye, I know basically in a way there's no perfect time to go, but I'm pretty happy with the dates I have. Flight's all booked too now aswell so I'm set..!
I'd much rather bake than be drowned so am ok with the high temps too- I've travelled a lot and also done some cycling in Australia and India so no worries on that score.
I'll just do a straight shot N-S and will take this detour you described- it sounds amazing tbh..! As I say, I MIGHT come back a slightly different route aswell but essentially pick up where I left the coast too.

The next thing I'm doing is ordering a Cycling Computer GPS- currently 99% settled on the Garmin Edge Explore 2 so am looking into that.

There is a learning curve on using GPS units, so play around with it and try loading some rides into it that you got off the internet so you can see how to follow a ride that you loaded into it. And try using it for routing where you tell it where you want to go and let it tell you when and where to turn, etc.

I have not used that GPS, I have used other Garmin GPS units. But I am sure it will serve you well, the Garmin GPS units are well built for this sort of thing.

I do not know if that GPS comes with the base maps you can use for both home in UK and Pacific Coast or not. That is a question to ask.

This is a long thread at over 200 posts, so I am not going to go back thru all posts to see how you plan to keep your electrics charged. But, with GPS, phone, a light for night use, taillight(s), possible camera, etc., that will be an issue.

Newer powerbanks that can be charged at over 15 watts are a real game changer compared to only a few years ago when you were lucky to be able to charge up a powerbank at over a few watts. But that can tempt you to waste power too.

Do you have a plan?

If I recall correctly, someone on this forum commented that some hiker biker sites have charging stations, but that was not the case when I rode it a decade ago. When I went into a restaurant, I was searching for a seat near outlets, etc. Was not convenient, but it was doable. Occasionally there was an outlet at an unused motor vehicle campsite near the hiker biker site that I could plug into, but that was unreliable and a theft concern.

I think you want to have at least five days of power storage available for charging your devices. If you have less, it is not a crisis, but you may find yourself sitting next to a charger and your powerbank and/or other devices at an outlet waiting for things to charge up.

I use a dynohub and a dyno powered USB charger to keep my electronics going, so what I do is not pertinent to what you will be doing.

Hey mate- I did post about this previously aye- here's a link which HOPEFULLY takes you to the post:

Charger Post

If not, here's an image of the post too to show you my current charger I plan to take- I take it it's sufficient..?

Thanks for your advice with this too- extremely helpful..!
This trip now seems much closer as it's not "next year" anymore..!!!

You could ask to share the corner of another occupied campsite after that one night--offer to pay so you don't come off as a sponger. I've never been turned down the couple times I had to do that at full campgrounds--they'll want to hear all about your adventure so far as they insist on stuffing you full of food you didn't ask for.

You can take a Amtrak thruway bus from Merced to Yosemite Valley as part of your itinerary, too, to escape the brutal heat and that last steep, very narrow, and winding stretch to the Valley floor past the Arch Rock entrance. Luckily, the two times I did it, the motorhomes were willing to wait behind until I waved them by.

But if it was my choice where to start in the Sierra after getting on Amtrak, I'd take it to Stockton (Edit: meant Sacramento), then the thruway bus to Truckee. There's an ACA route mapped from there to Yosemite via Lake Tahoe and then some more splendid country after that, and you come into Yosemite from the east over Tioga Pass. Hmm, the California Zephyr Amtrak train offers direct service once a day from Emeryville to Truckee, too.

Edit: Truckee isn't a baggage stop, so it's up to the conductor and how they feel that day whether they open the baggage car and wheel the bike out. There is at least one YT vidio of a couple doing that and riding back to SAC, but it's a risk. The Capital Corridor train route from starts in San Jose, ends in SAC.

Happy new year.

That should do nicely. Plus of course you need the charger that can charge at the 18 watts that it cites. It is my experience that some of the chargers that are sold at steep discounts are not very good and do not charge at rated capacity. Best to buy a charger from an electronics store that sells quality stuff if you want to make sure it will charge at the rated capacity.

That power bank can probably be charged from empty to full in four hours if you have a good charger for it.

***

The post just before this one, someone suggested taking an Amtrak bus. If you sign up for a bus, some buses have racks on the front of the bus to carry bikes, some do not. And some will carry a bike in the luggage compartment. Best to verify that you can take a bike on the bus when you sign up for it. Photo below is from the end of my Pacific Coast trip, the bus was leaving San Francisco and going to an Amtrak station (Emeryville), our bikes are on a rack on the front of the bus.



Some buses and Amtrak trains limit the number of pieces of luggage. Photo below is inside an Amtrak station. The bus I took to the station only allowed two pieces of luggage in the luggage compartment, plus the bike incurred an extra fee, and that bus only allowed a small bag inside the bus, in my case that was the handlebar bag.

The red mesh duffle holds my four panniers so that the four panniers were a single piece of luggage. For the Amtrak train, I was only allowed two pieces of checked luggage and the bike was one piece, the red duffle was the other. The yellow rack top bag and handlebar bag were carried onto the train.



I also had to do some weight adjustments, that red mesh bag with the panniers had to be below 50 pounds (~23kg). But I usually put my heaviest stuff in the bottom of the panniers and lightest stuff in the rack top bag, so for bus and train travel I moved some heavy stuff to my rack top bag which is the yellow bag on the bench.

Sometimes the travel to and from a bike tour is the complicated part. For this trip, I bought that red mesh duffle (~$20 on Amazon) specifically for this trip. In the case above, the bus ride to the Amtrak station had different luggage rules than the Amtrak train ride. The bus was operated by a different bus company.

Understatement of the year - and it's early morning, January 1st.

Compared to Europe, in the U.S. it's tedious and super expensive.
Amtrak remains the best option - if you have the time.
And if you and/or your destination is within 300 miles of an Amtrak station.
(And if that station has bike or roll-on service.)
(And if Amtrak's long distance routes will be around by the end of the year.)

MSN is right about all the extra fees - airlines are awful, but so is Greyhound.
A shout-out to Oregon's regional busses - unboxed bikes and panniers are fine underneath.
StayHeap used to rec one-way car/van rentals,
but those have gotten outrageously expensive, if they are even available.

Safe touring, everybody! And Happy New Year.

You could have caught the ferry across the bay and then taken the bay trail to Emeryville. Wouldn't even have to unload the bike.

That was 10 years ago. I do not recall the details that well but the only option we could find was a bus to take us to the Amtrak station to get there early enough for the train. I do not recall a ferry being an option. We were staying at the Fishermans Wharf hostel. I think we left the hostel that morning at about 4:30am.



My touring partner in front of me on the way to the bus stop. It was early July, so the sun came up quite early, but it was still quite dark out. Camera exposure was a 10th of a second at f2, ISO 400, because it was still rather dark.

That was before roll on or trainside luggage check was available, we needed the time at the station to buy boxes and box up the bikes, etc. Plus, our luggage had to be re-packed to meet Amtrak luggage requirements, which took time.

That said, the train was several hours late, we had plenty of time. If I recall correctly, they said that the train arrived the previous day too late for the cleaning crew to clean the train. So, they had to wait for the next work day to clean it before our trip to Chicago. We got to Chicago too late for the bus ride home too.