San Fran to Santa Barbara

[tdelhagen]

Hello folks -

Sorry that this is a wee bit of a repeat, but my wife and I are planning to ride from SF to Santa Barbara this summer.  We only have about 6 days to do it.  I've toured quite a bit, but my wife is quite new to it.  She's totally fit but is trying to get comfortable on the bike. 

First, is 6 days pushing it?  If it is, does anyone know how we can get 50-70 miles outside of San Fran to start?  We're from NYC so connections are slim on the west coast.  Is there a train that we can hop with our gear?  If so, what's the process and cost?

Any other advice is much appreciated!

best,
Taylor

[aggie]

You should be able to make it in 6 days.

You can take Amtrak from Oakland to Salinas.  Then you can ride over to Monterey to join up with the PC route.  Not sure of the fare but the bike boxes are $15 each with $5 shipping.  There are a number of posts about Amtrak.

[cgarch]

This is a good suggestion. While you could make it from SF to Monterey in two days, there's little point in suffering some of the heavy traffic in between. Go for Salinas and enjoy the trip.

Craig

[bigsurcyclist]

Day 1- Amtrak to salinas and then bus to Monterey.  Day 2- Monterey to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.  Day 3- Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to San Simeon State Park.  Day 4- San Simeon State Park to Oceano County Park...this is a long day! Day 5- Oceano to River Park in Lompoc...another fairly long day.  Day 6- River Park to downtown Santa Barbara...another fairly long day. 

My book, "Bicycling and Touring the Big Sur Coast" on Amazon.com, gives details of the ride between Monterey and San Simeon, in case you're interested. In case your wife is exhausted, you can always ride from San Simeon to the train station in San Luis Obispo and take the train down to Santa Barbara. 

Best of Luck,

Bigsurcyclist

[valygrl]

I would rent a one-way rental car from SF to Monterrey, it's a couple-hour drive.  That gives you a whole day back that you would otherwise spend being tortured by public transportation.

[johnsondasw]

I would rent a one-way rental car from SF to Monterrey, it's a couple-hour drive.  That gives you a whole day back that you would otherwise spend being tortured by public transportation.

And carry two bikes and all your gear in/on a rental car?  Sound like a good idea, but how would that work, unless you rented a very large car (and be sure not to get any grease or scratches anywhere).

[FredHiltz]

My sweetheart and I do it regularly with a mid-size hatchback--a Prius in our case. Front wheels off, lay an old Army blanket on the floor, one bike flat, another blanket, the other bike flat on top. Leaves enough room for luggage or panniers for two for a long trip. It does require two people to load 'em up. A small wagon would do as well.

Fred

[Pat]

Hi - I second the motion on the traffic south of San Francisco.  The sticky spot is Devil's Slide, going up and down.  That ride was pretty hair raising for us (our first ever tour segment).  From Montara all the way to Santa Cruz is a good road and fine scenery.  From Santa Cruz to Monterey it is mostly back roads, so not much traffic there either.

Just sayin,

Pat

[seaworthy]

Does anyone have advice on where to rent touring bikes in San Francisco? One way rentals, perchance?

Thanks!