I did this ride in October 2016. It was great. Like other people have suggested, I'd recommend a few detours. If you have the time and the inclination for a lot more climbing than "necessary", there are a lot of good side routes to pick and choose from.
You could start by picking and choosing segments from this route: https://bikepacking.com/routes/sf-peninsula-traverse/ Pescadero has a great bed and breakfast option. Otherwise its a little too long from SF to santa cruz and a little too short from SF to half moon bay (for my taste), if you're staying by the coast. Riding the Butano Fire road up to hwy 9 and descending into Santa Cruz that was is another good option to disrupt the monotony (but beautiful monotony!) of the coast. I regret not taking the "outside loop" through monterrey, hugging the coast instead of climbing a busy highway pass. Big Sur was AWESOME, even if there were lots of cars. Henry Miller Library is a cool spot. lots of camping opportunities. You could also get adventurous here and go up the ridge to the coast road. I've never done that but I've ssen some good pics! Cambria to SLO is kinda Meh. Definitely take the detours that avoid the highway. Los Osos Valley Road. >From Santa Maria I went inland on Foxen Canyon road, which was great (except it was like 100 degrees!). I stayed in Solvang, and then went up 154 over the San Marcos Pass. Near the top, there's an "old San Marcos Rd" (or something) that cuts off and was a SUPER fun descent into Santa Barbara. Now that I"m a more adventerous cyclist, I'd look at the Refugio and Camino del Cielo way up the pass. If you're just going from Solvang to Santa Barbara and its not 100 degrees, that could be reallllly cool. I'd agree with DRW and skip the Santa Barbara to LA section and just hop on a train. (I'd also stop at SLO if you wanted to hug the coast--it was only interesting after that because I started to deviate. Camping: Sunset Beach south of Santa Cruz was nice and had showers. Samuel P Taylor (before SF) is great and has showers. the San Simeon Campground was not so great, I'd avoid that if you can. I snuck into Pfeiffer Burns when the whole area was closed for fires. I had the whole place to myself and it was amazing, but usually its quite crowded. Maybe not in December though. The indoor lodging options in Big Sur are usually quite expensive. Limekiln is another camping option but its pretty exposed. If you do ride past Santa Barbara, the Point Mugu campground is great. But there's not a great stopping option between Solvang/Gaviota and Pt Mugu--the Oxnard Campground was close d(maybe you could sneak in there though). I ended up riding 90 miles that day, the last 20 of which were not super fun. -Hunter On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 1:42:31 PM UTC-7, Jim S. wrote: > > Thank you to all! This is incredibly helpful. > > On Monday, September 9, 2019 at 2:28:21 PM UTC-5, Jim S. wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> >> I may have a bit of time off in December, and I was thinking about a San >> Francisco to Los Angeles bicycle tour. I know there are many sources of >> information regarding this, but I'd value any insights from the group on >> the advisability of such a tour at that time of year (weather and daylight >> may work against me), and any advice on the route generally. I could camp, >> stay in motels, or both. >> >> Thanks in advance for any advice. >> >> Jim S. >> >> >> >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2f557184-2e31-4736-8c40-9d2186ac5703%40googlegroups.com.
