Originally Posted by Bekologist (Post 13210083)

easy packed dirt and gravel route circumvents the devils slide completely between pacifica and montera, you can look down on the devils slide tunnel from the route above on old san pedro road.

Originally Posted by simplygib (Post 13209672)

- South of Daly City, take Skyline Blvd out to its intersection with San Bruno Ave where the bike path begins
- Stay on bike path past San Andreas Lake and Crystal Springs Reservoir
- Back on Skyline Blvd at Crystal Springs Dam
- Skyline to Ralston Ave. (Hwy 92) to Cañada Rd.
- Cañada Rd. to Woodside Rd.
- Woodside Rd. to Portola Rd.
- Portola Rd. to Old La Honda
- Old La Honda to La Honda
- La Honda to PCH

Originally Posted by valygrl (Post 13209939)

Don't know about your first 2 questions.

Old La Honda is better than La Honda, less traffic. It has some steepness to it. Good job avoiding Hwy 92, do not be tempted by that one, it's very busy and dangerous.

In Woodside, Mountain Home Road is better than Woodside Road.

After you get the top of OLH and cross Skyline, you descend, and the intersection with La Honda warrants care, you'll be descending steeply and you do need to stop at that stop sign.

There's a store in San Gregorio- it was featured on a TV commercial during one of the recent bike tours - I think it was the Colorado tour, where there are two guys standing in front of a store messing around with their phone/computer thing which was the product being advertised.

Alteranatively, you can turn off La Honda at Pescadero Road which has less traffic, this does add a climb, but it takes you through Pescadero, where the country store has some of the best baked goods on the coast. SEriously do not miss this store. You can also get there off Stage Road, which runs between San Gregonio and Pescadero - I prefer this to the coast, less traffic, and it's nice scenery. It's hilly.

Originally Posted by sstorkel (Post 13211240)

I live in the area and ride many of these roads frequently. When you get to Woodside Rd., I'd suggest taking either Whiskey Hill Road or Mountain Home Road to Sand Hill Road which quickly changes name to Portola Rd. Climb Old LaHonda Rd. toward Skyline Blvd. The climb is around 3.2mi and averages 7-8%, with a couple of steeper sections. The road is narrow and winding, but there is little car traffic.

Cross Skyline and descend Old LaHonda Rd. until it merges with Highway 84/LaHonda Rd. LaHonda Rd often has no shoulder and there can be a decent amount of car and motorcycle traffic, especially on weekends. Because of the car traffic, I generally try to get off it as soon as possible. If your goal is to head south, consider turning left onto Pescadero Rd. just after the Apple Jacks biker bar.

Fair warning: Pescadero road is steep in places, but there's very little car traffic. It's pretty popular with motorcyclists on the weekend, however. Follow Pescadero Rd. into the town of Pescadero (@ the junction with Stage Rd). Have lunch at Duarte's Tavern or the Arcangeli Bakery. The bakery has a nice picnic area hidden behind the store. Their home-made artichoke garlic bread is great! Duarte's looks like a dive, but they have great soup and pies.

When you're done with lunch, take Cloverdale Rd. to Gazos Creek Rd. until you join up with Highway 1. If you don't plan to have lunch in the town of Pescadero, you can take the Butano Cutoff to save yourself a little bit of riding.



It's been a long time since I've ridden in that area, but I don't remember any specific prohibition against riding across the dam. There's not a bike lane, but not a lot of traffic, either. If you run into trouble, take Crystal Springs Rd. east, then follow Polhemus Rd. southeast. Just after Polhemus crosses Highway 92, you can take the Ralston Ave. Bike Trail over to Cañada Rd.

Originally Posted by simplygib (Post 13211352)

Thanks sstorkel - I updated the map with your suggestions as well as Valygrl's, keeping the "can't miss" bakery on the route. Food always is a priority, after all. :)

Originally Posted by simplygib (Post 13211206)

That's great info. Thanks for posting. I mapped it on ridewithgps here. Does that look about right?

Originally Posted by sstorkel (Post 13212060)

Consider taking Cloverdale and Gazos Creek rather than heading directly to Highway 1. They're generally warm and sunny with no cars. Highway 1 will likely be cooler, windier, and have much more traffic. If you're planning to ride down the coast, you'll get more than enough of that...