Route Recommendation Request: LA to SF/Berkeley
 

Hello all,

In just over a month, my sister (Berkeley) and I (USC) will be graduating from law school. I have about 6.5-7 days between the end of my finals and the day I graduate. During this short week, I aspire to make the trek upstate to pay her a visit, however short it may be. Note: I will be flying back.

I google'd a bike friendly route from LA to SF. It appears this is ~475 miles. I am wondering if any of you have taken a similar trip and could perhaps offer any words of advice as to my route, or otherwise.

Hi, welcome to the touring forum.

Let me be the first of probably many to say that this extremely popular & beautiful route is most often done in the other direction, mainly due to the northwest prevailing wind on the coast. You really are choosing headwind over tailwind by traveling north. Seriously, about 95% of people go south, for very good reason. There are a couple of other reasons people say they like to go south too - closer to the ocean, better bike lanes, safer, more people traveling in the same direction so you can have traveling companions if you like. For me the wind is really the big reason.

That said, I've done it in both directions, it can be done northbound, but it's a lot more fun the other way.

Here are a couple of resources that offer very detailed route & service information
http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/pacificcoast.cfm
http://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Paci.../dp/0898869544

You can use either of these or just "keep the ocean on your (left/right)". If you are a first-time bike tourist, I would recommend getting one or the other of these (just the map segments you need from A.C.A.), they answer a lot of basic-needs questions leaving you free to enjoy the riding.

There are numerous well-spaced state parks with hiker/biker camp sites (very cheap & nice).

You can read lots of journals here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/c...octype=journal

many journals on that site include equipment lists, which is a common question for new tourists.

Have a great trip! I'll leave you with a picture from a southbound October trip
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2...72smallky7.jpg

+1 on the above. South to North is the wrong direction! You will be fighting the wind the whole way. To give you and idea of how strong the wind can be, I can't remember the exact section but I can remember looking down at the bike computer and i was doing 27 miles an hour on a flat surface without even trying.

I meet a couple of guys going North. We were stopped a construction stop. I yelled across "you are going the wrong way"! They both slumped over their handlebars and the one responded "we know". They looked beat and they had some of the worst hills ahead of them.

I did that trip once in June. I used the Kirkendall-Spring book: http://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Paci...0389600&sr=8-1 but it's basically the same as the Adventure Cycling route. The wind is annoying but if you can accept that you have to go a little slower, it's not so bad for a few days. Leaving early (ie, at dawn) helps.

I would take Amtrak to Santa Barbara or SLO though. It will probably take you all 7 days to cover 475 miles.

I had the same experience just south of Ragged Point on Highway 1. 25-27mph most of the way to San Simeon with no effort on my part and easily doing 30+ if I pushed a bit! I generally don't mind riding into the wind, but I think that 500 miles of it would get pretty old...

Probably depends on your fitness. I did the trip from the SF Bay Area to LA in seven days and had three days near the end where I only rode 50-60 miles and was done shortly after lunch. Felt like I could easily have done the trip in 6 days if I'd pushed a bit further each day. I'll admit I spent quite a bit of time training for the trip, however.

Going north puts you on the cliff side. I rode north up to Kirks Creek in heavy rain (beginning of march) and there was a significant amount of falling rock. I had my eyes and ears peeled, had some way too close calls, and got on friendly waving terms with the guy driving the road clearing machine :) just saying...

maybe better to fly to SF and then on the way back if you run out of time can always take the train from Santa Barbara to LA

This isn't a bad idea. I have to admit, I found that the riding got a bit boring south of Santa Barbara...

Because of the cost of flying with a bike, I'd probably suggest taking Amtrak to the Bay Area, riding from there to Santa Barbara, then hopping a train the rest of the way back to LA if time is in short supply.

Firstly, thanks for all the replies and advice. I did some research and came across a lot of information that echoes everything everyone has said thus far. I came to terms with the fact that SF --> LA is easier, but didn't want to fly my bike up north. The train sounds like a very interesting option, and it would be fun to see California via bike AND train. The only down side is I think I would be losing 1 day of cycling, but I suppose it comes with its advantages.

I am still debating whether to do this trip in May, where I will face relatively strict time constraints, or wait until August where I have no obligations whatsoever.

I suspect that August is probably one of the busiest months, traffic-wise, along the California coast. If you're going to delay, I'd suggest waiting until after Labor Day. Weather is still nice, days are still relatively long, and there will be much less traffic to deal with...

I agree. I went after Labor Day and the crowds where not bad at all.