San Francisco to San Diego Spring 2017 Hostels and places to stay

[ptr52]

Hi
I will be cycling from SF to San Diego in April and May 2017.
Does anyone have any experience of the HI hostels in SF? (Or other hostels etc in SF)
I am looking for budget accommodation with bike storage.
Also any advice on accommodation between SF and SD on the PC bike route would be appreciated.
Apologies if I have missed any relevant posts, I did search but could not find a great deal.
Regards
Pete

[John Nelson]

Cheap accommodations along the entire Pacific coast are readily available if you are carrying camping equipment, with the exception of in Los Angeles. Unless you ride a long ways, you'll probably spend one night in LA. You can probably arrange a Warm Showers host in SF and LA. The ACA maps identify the campgrounds and hostels. The Pacific coast is generally great for cheap places to sleep.

[ptr52]

Thanks John

What is the policy at the biker/hiker camp sites?  Do they always accommodate cyclists who turn up irrespective of how full they are?
I am not sure if I need to book anything in advance, I don't want to book any more than I need to as it commits me to a fixed schedule.
Regards

Peter

[John Nelson]

In general, you can expect a campground with hiker/biker sites to always accommodate you. This might not officially be the policy on the books, but you can almost always count on it anyway. I've been to a number of hiker/biker campgrounds which were technically over their defined hiker/biker limit, but they always squeeze you in anyway. I've also been to a number of campgrounds without hiker/biker sites and that were full, but they squeeze you in somewhere too. I've also several times been offered a chance to share someone's site in other campgrounds.

Somehow it all works out. Nobody is going to ask you to go cycling down the road in the dark.

[mccormick creek camp]

Hi, we recently open a campground about half way between San Francisco and Santa Cruz and we are very interested in hosting long distance cyclists. Please check out our site: http://www.mcreekcamp.com or visit our hipcamp pages: https://www.hipcamp.com/california/mc-cormick-creek-camp-and-gardens

[Colorado.Michael]

Do you think most of the information in here is still valid a few years later?

[Pat Lamb]

Trust, but verify.  Spiffy smartphones with web access will make your job much easier than it used to be.  Before you leave the last town before the campground or hostel you're heading for, give them a call.