Seattle to San Diego

I'm changing jobs at the moment and am thinking about leaving a couple of weeks gap before starting at my next job to do a tour. Was thinking about doing the west coast of the US, it's about 13-1400 miles from Seattle to San Diego/Tijuana. Has anyone done it, or part of it? I've never been to the West Coast - and my route planning has gone as far as sticking it into google maps!

I'd be flying solo as it's short notice - I'd try and stay in Motels but was also wondering about taking a tent - if that would be more practical...

Any tips or advice would be gratefully received...

Sounds like an gnarly adventure dude (!) The west coast is beyond belief. Totally beautiful. Watch out for thieves and don't leave your bike/stuff alone ( ever )

Go for it and travel light. Don't forget the camera.

The ACA are your friends:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/

Was just browsing through the Travel & Tips and found this... possibly too late (have you gone already??) but just in case it helps, I cycled from Seattle to Crescent City (a small place, just inside north California) in 2004 - so only a small part of the whole route, about 600miles over a week.

This book was very useful for planning, and also en-route:
Bicycling the Pacific Coast: A Complete Route Guide, Canada to Mexico: Amazon.co.uk: Vicky Spring, Tom KirKendall: Books

I teamed it up with some maps I bought in Seattle before setting off. I stayed in motels and had no problems finding places for about US$50 a night. But on the way I saw lots of nice, quiet state campgrounds - free to stay in, for just a patch of ground and a toilet - I've thought about doing it again, maybe going a bit further, but using the campgrounds instead and travelling less far each day for a more relaxed trip, with perhaps the odd motel to dry out / have a shower.

The roads could be busy at times, especially with logging trucks in Oregon, but mostly they had wide shoulders to get away from traffic... otherwise it was quite fast and gently rolling, so good for long distance days.

I finished the trip by wrapping my bike in a big tarp from a hardware store and taking it on a Greyhound bus down to San Francisco - so a good escape route if anything goes wrong.

Thanks a lot for the tips, I did it, went out on the 9th Sep and got back last weekend. It was amazing, and surprisingly bike friendly.

Jammy - I bumped into some guys on an ACA tour in the Redwoods on the Or/Cal border, doing the same thing as me over a longer time. They had an RV to carry gear and were camping and cooking. I ended up eating out and staying in motels and hostels where available because I didn't want to carry a tent and only had a short time - which worked for me, but it could be done a lot cheaper and healthier. Keeping tabs on the noticeboards there loads of US tour stuff comes up. I'll be doing so in future.

SiFriday - I stayed a night in Crescent City funnily enough. Did you hug the coast on the way down? I went inland through washington and got on the coast at Bandon, half way through Oregon. Couldn't get over how hilly Oregon and northern California was!

xyz - Yeah! The coast was just mind blowing at times. I enjoyed California immensely. My highlights being the area around Big Sur, the Cambria Scarecrow festival, and cycling over the Golden Gate bridge - which has a fenced off cycle lane on one side believe it or not!

For anyone else considering it - feel free to message me.

Advice, plan your route through military bases carefully. Some let you through if you show ID, others don't. I had to cycle down the shoulder of IS-5 to get through Fort Lewis, they don't let non- military personnel through the base, Google maps/Garmin doesn't tell you that - just sends you straight through. They allow cyclists to go down the shoulder of the motorway because it's the only way south through the base. I nearly did a log in my lycras on that motorway, most frightening thing I've ever done. Ever.

The roads are fine generally, roads are a lot wider over there, and there is usually a big shoulder to cycle on, no curb, just tarmac and a painted line - so like having your own lane. Be careful on bridges though, they tend to be narrow. Most of my close encounters were on bridges.

Plan routes carefully in big cities, especially LA - if I were to do it again I'd just hug the peninsula and take a bit longer to get around LA, there are always cycle lanes and quiet roads by the coast. The traffic there is brutal.

Finish with a pic... Trinidad, California. A local guy told me about a minor road I should take back "the most beautiful bike ride in the world" he said. I was skeptical, until I did it. F*cking awesome! Clifftop minor road through a forest with that view. Would have totally missed it if not for that guy. Just amazing. But then again, so was the whole trip :-)

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Hi,

Thinking about doing a westcoast-trip next year.
Have been to the westcoast before and really loved it. (bus tour)

-I'd really appreciate a list of spots/towns on the trip that shouldn't be missed.
-I'd prefer travelling light and fast so would rather stay in motels ... how much did you pay for a night on average?
-Did you see how full the campgrounds were? ... in case I decide to use them
-How far did you travel each day?
-How was the weather at that time of the year?
-Did you prepare in advance with smaller tours?
-Any general advices?

Regards,
Tom

Hiya mate, sorry for the slow reply. Replied to your questions below:

-I'd really appreciate a list of spots/towns on the trip that shouldn't be missed.

To be honest I loved the whole trip, but you have to see Big Sur, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz is beautiful - and there is a great hostel there, I also loved Moro Bay, Portland Oregon, Eureka, Fort Bragg in Northern California was lovely, Santa Monica is class, make sure you take in some of the Oregon coast as well, it's very beautiful if a bit colder. The redwoods in northern california were spectacular. Mate I could talk all day, the whole trip was amazing. I think the one thing I'm most pleased about was crossing the Golden Gate bridge on the bike. Don't miss that.

-I'd prefer travelling light and fast so would rather stay in motels ... how much did you pay for a night on average?

That is exactly what I did and it cost me about $60ish a night. Taxes aren't included in the price quoted on websites so it always works out a bit more. You can get motel 6's for a bit less than $60 but they are proper basic and there is no breakfast offering at all so you end up spending more than you save on going out for breakfast. I found the Super 8's quite good. They usually had breakfast included and they weren't too expensive. In tourist hot spots you pay a fair wack, I paid well over 100 in Big Sur, there is camping there which might have worked out better.

-Did you see how full the campgrounds were? ... in case I decide to use them

didn't use campgrounds to be honest. Most of the other touring cyclists did and found them very cost effective. some were $5 a night. showers there as well. I just didn't want to carry a tent but if you have a bit more time it might be a great way to save money.

-How far did you travel each day?

I did about 80 miles a day. Some days I flew along like an express train, other days I crawled. Washington and Oregon are fucking hilly. The early part of the trip was very hard, lots of steep climbs, swollen ankles, sore knees. Plan your route carefully. I had booked a load of motels in advance so just had to ibuprofen my way through it but I had one or two days where I wanted to lash my bike off the side of a mountain!

-How was the weather at that time of the year?
Really good, I arrived early Sep and got back early Oct, no rain, mostly clear, hot off the coast, then a little chilly on the coast until I got South of San Francisco. Most go slightly earlier in the year. I was happy with the way I did it.

-Did you prepare in advance with smaller tours?
I had gone across France earlier in the summer with a couple of mates, but I'd say if you're cycling regularly, even commuting that would get you 80% ready. Maybe do a couple of longer trips on a weekend to prepare. I met a couple doing coast to coast - all they had done was one training ride over 80 miles.

-Any general advices?
-yeah, don't book too many motels in advance in case you want a rest day or run into trouble
-travel as light as possible. My total baggage was under 8kg - just one non cycling outfit, travel docs, then my cycling clothes. even lugging that up some of those brutal hills was hard. don't take a laptop, just a smartphone, if there is anywhere you can save weight, do it.
-check out the adventure cyclists of america - I bumped into a big group on a trip with an RV as a support vehicle, they were doing the whole west coast and camping along the way. luggage in the RV - about 15 of them. every now and again notices go up on their boards for people doing mad stuff like that. Worth keeping an eye on.

Have fun :-)

Just picked up the updates to this, awesome, well done on making it the whole way!

Re your Q ^^^^^, yep, I hugged the coast from the outset - started off with a ferry from Seattle to the tip of Olympic peninsular, then down. I remember Bandon, I stopped there for lunch and spent a while on the beach wandering around the massive sea stacks.

I also have good memories of the Golden Gate. I had a bit of time spare in San Fran after my bus ride, so cycled out to Mount Tam - and got told off by a policeman for cycling on the wrong side of the bikepath... he let me off once he heard my yank accent :-)

Haha! I would go back tomorrow. Really enjoyed Bandon. Beautiful place.

So, this is hopefully my next trip.
Or something like this. Maybe a little shorter- with more camping and detours around Oregon, and NorCal...
Will be in late May 2014, already buying the equipment for a late 'summer' weekend test.
@ Greg, i will probably PM you at some point in the future.

Old thread i know, @MuswellGreg i'm curious what bike did you do it? Been thinking about doing the same trip for ages but can't afford to splash out on a specific touring bike