Pacific Coast

[Maurice]

I'd like to do the Pacific Coast as my first long distance bike tour.  I'm not constrained by the calendar, so I'm wondering what would be the best time of year to do this?  I was thinking May or September - outside the rainy season, and before or after the summer hordes on Highway 1.  I would be traveling N to S. Thoughts?

[George]

May is not "outside the rainy season" in Oregon, I'm sad to say. I tried the Oregon coast a few years back, in May, and got poured on with temps in the 50's for the 3 days I rode, before thinking better of the tour timing.

[staehpj1]

I went in September and it was a wonderful time of year for the Pacific Coast.  I'd guess that October would be nice as well, but am not the one to say for sure on that.

[John Nelson]

The ACA has recommendations for the best time to do each route. In addition, you can gain some inferences from when they schedule their organized tours of each route. In 2022, they are starting their van-supported full route on September 10. In 2021, they are doing a self-supported tour of the north half starting on September 8.

I started on August 17 because that was near when they were doing it in the year I went. I don't think you want to start on the same day they do, but somewhere in the ballpark can't be too bad.