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@EdwardZ
Forget streetview as it can't give you a feeling of the PCH from the perspective of a cyclist. Leaving the European tourists in rented mobile homes out of the equation there is still a lot of traffic along the PCH until one gets beyond Santa Barbara--- the normal route to SF is via Interstate 5. Personally I think the worst part is probably between Santa Monica and Malibu. We used to use helmet mirrors. Unless you are used to riding 200+ miles a day--- its generally a two day trip LA-SF by bike (with a few hours sleep in a field, resp. roadside)-- and have gathered experience riding highways I think going the other direction is probably nicer: LA to SD. One can also these days take the train back. LA to SD passes through a lot of quite scenic towns and coastlines. With a distance of around 200 km it can be done in a day but planning 2 days allows for some relaxed stops. The run LA-SF comes from BEFORE the 70s bike boom. It was a kind of "rite of passage". In High School it was the thing to do "once"-- its interesting to note that when I lived in SF back in the early 80s, nobody seemed to care about going SF-LA (most cycling friends thought it was mad). Cheap one-way flights between SF and LA made the trip affordable. Taking two days to ride Highway-1 by motorcar might be nice and tiring with scenic stops (Big Sur etc.) but by bike it just pushing through as one has nearly 500 miles to collect in two, max. 3, days and there is no turning back and no chance to relax until after the flight home...
P.S.: I don't think April/Easter/Spring break is the best time of year. Not only is there more traffic but it can get pretty cold along the way--- nothing like riding in the dark, cold and tired along roads that seem to go on and on and on. Thinking back... mid to late June was popular--- at the start of summer vacation (although one friend, I recall, did not want to wait and did it alone on a school weekend heading out from Hollywood after school and flying back Sunday).