I am considering doing this trip next year and would appreciate advice that might help with planning and logsitics.

I assume that it is best to ride north to south on this route. Is that true?

What time of year is best considering weather, bugs, traffic, etc. FWIW: I thought the weather was great in S.F. on a previous winter visit when all the locals were complaining how cold it was. I would change my tune if it rained hard every day though.

I am guessing that it is probably easiest to ship my bike by UPS, FedX, or Airborne at both ends. Maybe get an LBS in SF to ship it home? Or would it be practical to fly with it as oversize baggage?

I am from the East coast so I am not all that familiar with any of the area except the S.F.area which I have visited a couple times.

Pete in Baltimore

We Sacramentians go to SF in the winter to warm up. The Pacific moderates tempurature, bthough it can eb rainy and stormy.
Be careful one hwy 1. It one of the worst road for riding that is commonly toured one. View sort of makes it worth it.
This is what i do with my bike: I stay on a hotel at either end. I ship my bike in an iron case to the hotel. Then depending on length of trip, I ship it home to have family ship it to teh ending hoitel or directly to the ending hotel with duffels for my equipment stuffed inside.
Its not really cheaper than flying, but it nice to have a hardshell case.

Pete,
You are in for a treat! this is a beautiful trip! The time to go is between early July to the middle of September, it's dry then, and pleasant temps all along the Washington and Oregon coast. The Oregon Dept of Transportation (ODOT) publishes a special map of the Oregon Coast Bicycle Route, it has best roads to take, hill profile map and camping information. This is free, google ODOT for ordering information.

The best way to get out of Seattle is to take a ferry across the sound to Bremerton or Port Townsend, then angle over to Astoria Oregon to the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Oregon State Parks have "Hiker-Biker" campgrounds, for a couple bucks a night you get camping and showers, best deal around and other bike travelers to talk with too.

Have fun, don't forget the camera!

Thanks for the feedback so far. I think I drove some of the lower portion of this route when I was in S.F. That drive was from S.F. Point Reyes. The views were pretty spectacular.

The roads looked a little harrowing, but do-able as far as dealing with cars. How heavy is traffic July to Sept?

How cold of weather do I need to plan for sleeping bag and clothing wise?

Is the amount of climbing similar to the part of the trip that I have seen (Point Reyes to S.F.)?

Any good free resources I should tap into in addition to the ODOT stuff? Any must have books or anything?

Pete

Get this book Pete, it's all you really need, it's the best https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089...124715?ie=UTF8

Light, but good sleeping bag, temps will be cool but not cold at night, not much less than 45 degrees.

Climbing is more in Oregon and to Eureka CA, not bad, use a triple if you're loaded.

The big part of the climbs is that they have quite a few blind spots. They're not huge compared to say the Cascades, but you'll gtet a workout.
Most traffic on the route I travel is weekend between SF and Bodega Bay though there can be heavy traffic up to Gualuala during holidays (My parents have a rental house in Sea Ranch, so I've seen that route a lot, only riden once)

Oh Pete! You're in for something quite special if you're choosing the coast. The book that "shifty" has recommended is awesome. And the ODOT map is quite handy as well. It even gives you traffic volumes for different months. Just watch out for those agressive killer squirrels.

I did the part from Astoria, OR to Brookings in early to mid September last year. I then did the part from Brookings, OR to San Francisco in October, also last year. Later this year in September I'm hoping to do a short trip from Victoria, BC to Astoria.

The weather at that time was excellent, with only one day of rain, and one overnight downpour. Otherwise expect fog. Anyway, I've cycled, motorbiked, and driven the Oregon/California Coast 4 times. Each time in the fall, with good weather. I camped most of the way. My sleeping bag is an old 3 season bag which has been crushed enough that it's more like a heavy summer bag. I never was cold at night.

Traffic in September and October was bearable. But expect traffic volume and agressiveness to increase as you get closer to San Francisco.

My personal recommendation is to start in Seattle after Labour Day and make your way south. By the time the weather turns bad in Seattle you'll be further south where the weather will be better.

By going in the summer you will deal with more crowding, more traffic, albeit also more cyclists to hang with.

In the fall you will have light traffic, pretty good weather, no crowding, but fewer cyclists to hang with. Many nights I was the only cyclist in the Hiker/Biker sites.

Above all, have fun!

...Michelle

i just used the adventure cycling maps and it worked great. I'm doing vancouver BC to san deigo next year because I loved seattle to sf so much. traffic was pretty bad when I went (mid to late july) and there's rarely shoulders on highway 1 but the cars are very nice and i didn't have any problems. bugs weren't too bad either. i sleep outside so if the bugs start bugging me i throw on a bug headnet which happened only about 4 nights.

Just caught your thread regarding your tour from Seattle to SF. There are a group of us doing this in about three weeks. Most of us live in the Seattle area (but on the west side of Puget Sound, a ferry ride away)Adventure Cycle has maps, there is a good book on the subject and our ride begins 3 Sept.!! Jill P. is the organizer, leader, and sparkplug for the group. She is a former President of our local bike club and currently on the board for bike alliance. Club website is https://www.westsoundcycling.com. You may email me directly but my security program will probably screen you. Mention the ride specifically and I will reply with specific route options.

I do know that there is a lot of local knowlege regarding lodging, bike shops, transportation and touring. Iam reasonably certain that someone in our club could help you get your wheels on the ground and rolling in a reasonable manner. You will have such a great time, which ever route you choose. We are leaving from the Poulsbo- Bainbridge area (where I live, and a 30 minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle) It has two excellent bike shops that are 1/2 mile from the ferry dock and either Tom (BI Cycle) or Jeff (Classic Cycle) would gladly accept your bike and do whatever you want or need. Cascade Bike Club is the largest bike club in the US. They are headquartered in Seattle and have a paid staff of at least 4 and about a gajillion volunteers. They are https://www.cascade.org. Many bike shops in Seattle, but frankly I think starting on our side of the water eliminates the big city bicycle blues. You just take the bus, cab, whatever to the ferry terminal downtown. Pay the $5.00, get off of the ferry, stroll to the bike place and start. If you want to camp, there are two state parks- both beautiful and on the saltwater with showers-within 12 miles.

Let me know if I can answer any specific questions. I know that no matter how much info you get ahead of time, you still wonder. Have fun.