This will be my first tour, roughly 350 miles in 5 days. Not terrible, but there are the hills, headwind, and the bike I have is a singlespeed with a 42 chainring, and a 19 cog. Easily upgradable to a 7 speed, but would like to keep it simple. Anyone familiar with the terrain? I've climbed brutal hills with that gear, but never with gear. I'm not oblivious to the fact that it will be difficult, but if it's actually impossible, please speak up. Thanx.

Don't know your abilities, so I certainly wouldn't say it's impossible. But I'd find the trip far more enjoyable with a few gear choices to even out the hills and going in the other direction to have favorable winds (and better views).

If you want to know how hard it will be, how about putting some weight on your bike and then riding 70 miles up and down a few hills to see how you like it?

There is a serious difference between what I can do and what I find enjoyable. On my most recent tour, I rode 91 miles one day. This is what I can do. But, putting out that kind of effort every day would not be something I would find enjoyable.

Assuming you are taking highway 1 all the way north, you will have a few serious climbs. One I have done is just north of Jenner and I needed low gears to get up it. But, I'm 20 years older than you.

If you only have one gear and you can't power the bike in that gear your only choice is to walk. Are you prepared to do this?

Ray

10-4. Tickets paid for, so thats the route. May add a 7 cog hub in the back though. Abilities are yet to tested, but I'm in good shape, ride 10 miles a day, and have faired well on longer rides. This will be my first overniter though.

You may wanna start increasing your miles, 10 miles/day is a far cry from the 70 miles/day your planning, not to mention the difficulty will likely be greater than the miles you're currently riding.

Agree. When I rode from SF to LA, 10-15 miles was the "warm-up" portion of my average training ride! I found the ride tough, but enjoyable... but I had a relatively light bike, 30 gears to choose from and a low gear of around 26". Personally, it sounds to me like the OP is either 1) a troll, or 2) completely unprepared for the proposed trip.

if you are following CA-1 going up the hill leading to Leggett would be pretty difficult to muscle up without walking. You would definitely be walking up a lot of the hills because some are pretty steep. If it would be easy to upgrade to a 7 speed, you should. If you're touring someplace with lower grades, fine, but for an area with some fairly steep ups and downs, a single speed would not really 'keep it simple'.

Summer the wind is coming from the north, and the ocean will always be on your left, across the road from you.

Plan on Headwinds in your mileage goals , and crossing traffic to the Viewpoints.

i did this section that your taking about in my recent tour (Portland Oregon to Los Angles California). granted i was going south but there are some major "hills" and headwinds, also there is NO shoulder going north about 90% of the time so you will have to take into account traffic. my advice would be the you should have your bike upgraded to the 7 speed and you should say 10 days to air on the safe side just in case something happens to you or you bike (flat tire, folded weal, ect...) but having said all that its your trip and you know what you can do and what you find enjoyable. hope this helps and i hope your trip goes well.

I know the route, but I've ridden it going south.
there isn't anything that crazy
but then again, I just came off of my first attempt at the Tour Divide MTB race
I covered 1000 miles in 7 days.

but HWY 1 is totally doable
depends on how much gear you are going to carry, etc...

Can you tour from San Francisco to Eureka in five days on a single-speed bicycle? Sure you can (I'm assuming you're fairly fit and haven't blown out your knees already). You will have some long days with all the hills you'll walk up, but it's definitely not impossible.

You can also tour from San Francisco to Eureka eating dog food. It's definitely not impossible.

But both seem like fairly silly tricks to me. Can you borrow a proper bicycle? Touring is supposed to be fun, you've chosen a wonderful route, and it seems a shame to stack the odds against actually enjoying the experience.

I told our son who rides a SS, "that riding a single speed is like playing 18 holes of golf using only a 9 iron--sometime during the day you might have the right tool for the job"

It is you tour!