Pacific Coast Route advice

[raybagg]

My wife and I are already looking ahead to next years tour and it looks like we've chosen the Pacific Coast route, following the ACA's maps. We are east coasters and don't really have much experience touring the west. Our window of opportunity is from early April to late August. Any reccomendations on the best time to go? Also I see a lot of chatter about Kirkendall and Springs book "Bicycling the Pacific Coast". Is this truly the guidebook to carry along this route?

Any other advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Raybag

[staehpj1]

We only rode a bit of the coast before heading east on the transamerica route, but...

"Bicycling the Pacific Coast" seemed pretty adequate based on reading it and seeing that small portion of the coast.  I think you could do the trip with no other guides or maps.  

OTOH: if you aren't on a tight budget get both the book and the adventure cycling maps, which I am sure are excellent (based on my experience with the TA route).  Use them both or send whichever you wind up likling less home.

If nothing else they are both a good read.

This message was edited by staehpj1 on 9-25-07 @ 3:06 PM

[valygrl]

Hi, I'm a former Californian and have ridden most of the coast.

I liked the K&S book, compared to using the ACA maps on the Lewis & Clark - the book has more info on side trips & sightseeing.  Either will be fine for grades, distances & services - camping, food, bike shops, etc.  And with either, you might want to supplement with AAA maps or the like for the major urban areas, or you'll be trapped on a little path of roads and won't be able to explore.  Or just blow the map thing off and keep the ocean on your right.  

With regard to timing, later is better for weather, earlier is better for crowds.  You really don't have to worry about too hot on the coast, and later months are drier and have more consistent northwest wind.    April/May is pretty early for the pacific northwest, plan to get a good amount of rain.  June-August should be unrelentingly perfect (still bring rain gear), but everyone else will be out too, so you'll have more traffic.  

Personally I would go in June or July, and just plan on not riding on the major holidays, and trying to ride early in the day on weekends.  The only thing I would really time carefully is to not ride the Big Sur coast on a weekend - but that would be easy just hang out an extra day or two someplace fun a little north of there (SF, Santa Cruz, Monterey - all are nice).  

If you are camping you should be OK with the crowds/campgrounds, but if you are hotelling that time of year plan to book rooms a few days in advance.

Have a lovely trip!

[gregg]

I rode South from Vancouver BC this summer starting on May 4th. I had strong headwinds almost the entire way. I was virtually the only one on the road (which I did like), and the cyclists I did meet were heading North (which should have been a clue).

If I were to do it again, I would have started a bit later, say the end of May, early June. That seems to be when the winds turn around. Given your time frame, starting say, June 1st or so should make for a nice trip.

[raybagg]

Thanks for the great advice folks. Last night I ordered Kirkendall and Springs' book from our local bookstore and once we really finalize our plans we'll pick up the ACA's maps too.

It looks like our timing will lean towards late May or early June. We like the idea of no crowds in May but then there's the rain...June sounds great with the wind in our favor but then there's the crowds and traffic.

OTOH: does it make any sense to start early in May, at the southern terminus, and ride north? Is this just crazy?

[erniegrillo]

The one map to carry for the Oregon section is free and published by the Oregon DOT. It shows the route, campgrounds, distances and hills and has a lot of useful information. Request one, you will be glad you did. If you are camping, no need to worry about crowds in Oregon and for the most part in WA. The state parks have biker sections and the state parks will not turn you away if you are a hiker or biker even if they are full. I would vote against riding north. All the scenic veiws and overlooks are on the ocean side. Also, Oregon has improved the shoulders and route heading south knowing that most cyclists are riding that direction. I've ridden the WA and Oregon coast but only a short section in CA so I can't comment on your Calif section. Have a good ride. You will be riding past some of the most outstanding scenery in the country.    

[valygrl]

I northbounded LA to SF in mid-April 2004 and experienced consistent headwinds.

[Dan_E_Boye]

In Oregon it doesn't really stop raining until June.  The temps are not really that bad so in May it's spring rain, but it's still rain.  

I've only done a little bit of the coast but I will say that I liked the hiker/biker campground at Honeyman State Park 3 miles south of Florence Oregon.

[raybagg]

Thanks for all the great advice folks. Looks like we're southbound in June!! I just received my "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" and have ordered the DOT Oregon Coast Bike Route Maps. Now comes the fun part, planning another bike tour.

Thanks again, see you on the roads.
-Ray

[ldtuttle]

I too am on the east coast, and my son and I have done the route twice.  You're free to contact me directly if you like, but here are a few of our thoughts:  the book is great, but don't bring it with you, just read it now because you're excited and want to dream of things to come.  There are plenty of services along the way.  Our absolute favorite section is from Lincoln City, OR to the Golden Gate (700+ miles).  There are pros and cons to any time of year that you go.  Spring will be cooler with less traffic, summer the opposite.  I wouldn't worry a whole lot about the traffic though.  You have plenty of shoulder and it thins out after Gold Beach for awhile.  You definitely want to go North-South. If you need suggestions regarding bike shipping and a possible ride to the coast depending upon where you start from), I can give you some thoughts on that as well.  Good luck, it's really the best ride!

[raybagg]

If you need suggestions regarding bike shipping and a possible ride to the coast depending upon where you start from), I can give you some thoughts on that as well.  Good luck, it's really the best ride!

Thanks ldtuttle, I may just take you up on that. The early indication is that we'll probably start in Seattle, and pick up the route from there.

Where on the east coast are you?

-Ray

[litespeed]

Just make sure you do the coast before October. Those winter storms are miserable. And definitely do north to south. There are plenty of campgrounds with hiker/biker sections. The Oregon state parks are better than the underfunded California ones. You'll need low gears for Route 1 between Leggett and San Francisco - plenty of short, steep climbs. That is also the best scenery of the trip. Florence OR has a campground right in town on the river. I recommend it.

[WesternFlyer]

Raybag,

I rode most of the Oregon Coast this summer.  Needless to say it has changed a great deal since I rode the entire Pacific Coast in the early sixties.  Many of the smallest towns are dieing or ghost towns.  The larger cities all have an "Old Town" that my dear departed mother would have called tourist traps.  The "Old Town" use to be "town" where you went into a cafe and paid 50 cents for a big logger's plate of pancakes and were seated next to a real life logger or fisherman.

I took an incredibly beautiful day ride out of Bullards Beach State Park following the north bank and then the south bank of the Coquille River.  It is what I remembered in the 60s: real farms and real farm folk and their real livestock and real fields and gardens lining both sides of the river.  Cranberry bogs near the delta. The town of Coquille has an active and busy log yard and log pond with the mini tugs pushing the logs around. The town center is farm and logging oriented complete with mom and pop cafes.  The price of pancakes has gone up!

If you take the south bank back, on Hwy 42S, be sure and stop in Bandons Old Town for ½ pound of cranberry fudge at the Old Town Fudge Factory.  Ask one of the older workers what Bandon was like when they were young.  

Upscale tourism be d*mned.  The Oregon coast is still rugged and beautiful.  Consider going to the National Forest Service website http://www.fs.fed.us/ and getting some of their maps for the areas on the coast you are going to be touring.  Cummins Creek and Rock Creek wilderness areas, south of Waldport, are not on the ACA maps and they are the only old growth forest wilderness left on the Pacific Coast.  As ACA essayist Willie Weir wrote, I have discovered that wide roads lead to destinations.  Narrow roads lead to adventures.  This road had adventure written all over it.  Find that road and tell me about it.

To adventure,

Western Flyer


Western Flyer