tanslacks

Hello everyone,

This is my first question and I know before I begin, it is a tough one to nail down. I ride my bike about 4 days a week, 40 to 60 miles at a time with several thousand feet of elevation gain on every ride. I also ride to town and do most of my errands on my bike. I'm 51 years old and ride almost always alone. The reason I mention this I want you to get an idea of my conditioning.

This summer I hope to ride the west coast from Astoria to Malibu area and I am having the hardest time trying to figure out how much time I need. i work full time and can only get 3 weeks off for the trip. I will be doing the ride alone and don't plan on much site seeing other than what I see from my seat. I have done several overnights, but they have all included very large mountain terrain, so I can't judge what to expect on the coast. I will be camping, I rise very early and find it hard to believe that I would only ride 4 or 6 hours a day with the long days and solo travel.

could anyone share some of their thoughts? Thanks in advance

10 Wheels

Were are you starting from?

tanslacks

I'll be flying to Portland and my sister is going to drive me to the Astoria bridge at the WA. OR border. I forgot to mention the trip starts in late July.

10 Wheels

I would think 70 to 90 miles each day is doable.
My problem would be High winds when touring slow me down.

10 Wheels

about 1100 miles

JoeMan

I ride the coast often. From your description of your riding you should have no problem with the route you are choosing. Prevailing winds will be at your back.
35-45 miles per day through Oregon seems to be the norm of tourers on this route. Yes there are some hills in Oregon but nothing anyone would call a mountain pass. There are quite a few bike tourers in the summer months as well as my nemesis -motor homes or BIG pickups with travel trailers. Oregon has some very nice state parks with hike and bike camp spots. Plenty of towns/stores on the way. All Oregon beaches are open to the public. Good fortune on your trip.

kayakdiver

Sounds like you have the miles.. and the riding experience. I'm guessing that something between 50-70 miles per day should be reasonable. Just remember that you ALL day to ride those miles. So ride for a few.. take a nice break and repeat. If I rode 50 per day I would go a little crazy. With the amount of riding you do already... I'm guessing you will be the same. Figure 60 as a reasonable to good pace... I'm guessing based on what you wrote above.. that you will find this more than reasonable.

JimT

I came up with about 1150 miles for the trip. At 60 miles per day that would be 19 days. Seems doable to me. As has been mentioned before, the trick is to get a very early start to cover a lot of miles before RV's get on the road. Also, the last couple of years I don't think as many people are moving each day, but are tending to stay longer in one place............related to gas prices suppose.

Jim

tanslacks

Wow, Thanks for the advice... my buddy who is sort a maniac averaged a century each day! I know can't do that, but I feel ready to plan between 60 and 70. I can't wait to get started. Thanks again.

sstorkel

Not a bad idea to pack the gear you plan to take on your bike, then go ride it to see: 1) what sort of pace you can maintain, and 2) how far you can ride in a day. On my credit-card tour down the Pacific coast, I found that 70-80 miles/day wasn't bad. I found I could easily average 15mph with the gear I was carrying, so the couple of 50-60 mile days that I scheduled seemed pretty short. My trip was around 500 miles. I spent seven days pedaling and probably could have done it in six...

Big Lew

A Buddy and I rode the coast through your planned route, actualy starting in Vancouver, B.C. at ages 45 and 50, without anywhere near your daily riding experience and by the time we reached San Fransisco, we had averaged 75 miles a day. If you are planning 60-70 miles a day, you should have no problems at all, especially considering that at that time of year, the winds will be strong, and with you. It's a great ride, enjoy!

raybo

Don't forget to figure in rest days. I usually rest 1 day in 5. This will give you some leeway in case you or the bike breaks down.

Sixty miles and going uphill on a road bike and a loaded touring bike are not the same thing. Ride some with your full load (a couple days in a row) to get a better idea of how you will feel on tour.

I did a similar ride (from SF to LA) when I was 51, averaging 70 miles/day. While I was able to do it, it was challenging and not as much fun as doing less mileage. I now aim to do 50-60 miles/day.

Have a great time, it is a fabulous ride!

Ray

cyclezealot

My guide has always been the maps of Adventure Cycling.. Are their other sources when determinining bike routing other than Adventure Cycling.... Their map routes you adjacent Big Sur.. If there is a decent inland route as an alternative to Big Sur, I'd like to know..

BigBlueToe

I did this route in 1992 from Seattle to Santa Cruz. I averaged 55 miles a day. I'm not a hammerer - I enjoy the camping as much as the riding. 55 miles a day was tough for me.

Others pack lighter and ride longer. They don't want to stop in the early afternoon. I like getting to the campsite I've selected fairly early so I can relax.

It sounds like you fall more into the latter category. You'll find out after you've been on the road for a week or two. I think 60-70 miles a day is realistic - even 80 if you really like that sort of thing.

However, if you've never ridden on more than a few successive days, it's a different thing. When I train for a tour I go on as many rides as my schedule allows, and try to up the mileage over time. However, I seldom ride more than a couple days in a row. On tour I often ride for a week to ten days before taking a rest day. All those successive days wear you down.

screenwasher

For the Oregon section of the Pacific Coast, ODOT has an excellent biking map. It is free. You can download or request a print copy here.
https://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/BIKEPED/maps.shtml

stedalus

Three weeks is probably fine based on your post, but there are other factors besides pure conditioning, so it's hard to say.

My only advice is to be flexible in your plans and don't make getting to Malibu a hard requirement. If your tour stops being fun, cut back on the mileage and change your stopping point if needed. From your "location" tag, I'm assuming you live in Southern California, so it would be easy for you to catch Amtrak or get a ride from Santa Barbara or Ventura if you run out of time. That section is nice, but it's nothing special, and definitely not worth being miserable on the rest of your tour.

valygrl

There is a decent inland route, it involves a big climb over the mountains to From King City through Fort Hunter-Liggett to Kirk Creek on Nacamiento-Fergusson Road. From Watsonville, head out to San Juan Buatista & Hollister, take Cienega Rd through the Hollister HIlls Rec area, get on Hwy 25 south (remote, beautiful), camp at Pinnacles, go to King City, take Cty Rd G14/Jolon Road connect thru Hunter-Liggett to Nacamiento Road, and UP and over the moutains and then STEEP down to the coast at the south end of Big Sur.

Why do you want to avoid the (IMO) best part of the coast?

Here's a general link, the Watsonville to Hollister part is not meant as a detailed suggestion, just general. I can't remember the good roads, it's been a few years since I lived around there.

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...3,3.482666&z=9


Edit to add - you can go down the Carmel Valley too, those roads are also nice. I just really liked the Pinnacles way.