4 Days of ST in California

[BootBuckle]

So here's the deal--my wife and I are going to a wedding in San Diego on June 7th. She’ll still be (teaching) in school, so she’s only able to make it a 3 day trip. I’m (strongly) considering spending a few extra days over there to explore the California coast on 2 wheels, considering that I’m already on the other side of the continent. The wife was a pushover when I showed interest, agreeing that the plane tickets were expensive enough to warrant an extended stay.

No real plans yet, but I’ve found a VERY reasonable rental rate of $50/day on a BMW 1100RT. Not the newest or prettiest bike, but it should be a beast when it comes to eating up California coastline.

I’m going to be packing a tent/sleeping bag, and will send most of my luggage back with the old lady when she flies back east. I’m hoping to stay out of "real" shelter for the entirety of the moto trip, and will likely make it a 4-day/3-night adventure (rounding off a full week in CA including the wedding festivities). I’m hoping to average 500 to 600 miles per day, which I think is reasonable and achievable. The bike must be returned to the place where I picked it up, which does interfere a bit with my “tour of the coast” intention, but it should be one hell of an experience none the less.

Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated as I weigh the pros and cons of taking a trip like this, and potentially turn these plans into a reality over the next few weeks. My start and finish location is in Kearny Mesa, San Diego, CA. Thanks for your help and knowledge!

Please don't chime in saying how I should be doing 1000 mile days--I know where my limits are and I'd like to respect them. Thanks!

-Cal

[Sport-Touring]

[bikerfish1100]

sounds like a hoot.

i think you'll be hard pressed to make 500-600 mile days, especially as this sounds like your first time on the coast. Too much gorgeous scenery, too many photo ops, too many options for palces to explore in greater depth, and if it's a weekend, too much traffic. why push? relax and enjoy the experience.

(there, was that enough of a "don't do a bunch of 1Kers" for ya?)

[greench440]

Unless you're riding in the desert, 5-600 miles will be a lonnnnngggg day.  Starting at Kearny Mesa is pretty far south and if you head to the coast, you're gonna run smack into Orange County and LA.  The coast riding doesn't get good until much farther north, but there are plenty of great roads in the coastal mountain ranges just north of KM near Palm Springs and Idlwild, Angeles Crest, Malibu Canyons, Ventura-Ojai, etc.

Wait until the locals chime in.  Miles, RGBeard, Rogue, GTSRider, etc.

[BootBuckle]

Thanks for the input so far. Maybe I'll circumnavigate LA to the east, and start doing the coastal thing after that? Man, suddenly 4 days doesn't sound like enough time...

[Mrs. DantesDame]

Man, suddenly 4 days doesn't sound like enough time...

Four days is NOT enough...

- Death Valley
- Big Sur
- Pines to Palms Scenic Byway (#74)
- Palomar
- Lake Isabelle (#178)
- Sequoia Nat'l Park
- Yosemite Nat'l Park
- King's Canyon
- Pinnacles Nat'l Park
....

Good luck picking your route  

[james_g]

So here's the deal--my wife and I are going to a wedding in San Diego on June 7th. She’ll still be (teaching) in school, so she’s only able to make it a 3 day trip. I’m (strongly) considering spending a few extra days over there to explore the California coast on 2 wheels, considering that I’m already on the other side of the continent. The wife was a pushover when I showed interest, agreeing that the plane tickets were expensive enough to warrant an extended stay.

No real plans yet, but I’ve found a VERY reasonable rental rate of $50/day on a BMW 1100RT. Not the newest or prettiest bike, but it should be a beast when it comes to eating up California coastline.

I’m going to be packing a tent/sleeping bag, and will send most of my luggage back with the old lady when she flies back east. I’m hoping to stay out of "real" shelter for the entirety of the moto trip, and will likely make it a 4-day/3-night adventure (rounding off a full week in CA including the wedding festivities). I’m hoping to average 500 to 600 miles per day, which I think is reasonable and achievable. The bike must be returned to the place where I picked it up, which does interfere a bit with my “tour of the coast” intention, but it should be one hell of an experience none the less.

Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated as I weigh the pros and cons of taking a trip like this, and potentially turn these plans into a reality over the next few weeks. My start and finish location is in Kearny Mesa, San Diego, CA. Thanks for your help and knowledge!

Please don't chime in saying how I should be doing 1000 mile days--I know where my limits are and I'd like to respect them. Thanks!

-Cal

Four days is more than enough if you're doing it right.

You can easily just ride through L.A. and up to the coast if you want to. Start early in the morning and you'll be out of there in no time at all. What kind of stuff did you want to see? If you want back roads then we can help, if you want coastline then just take 1 up. I would certainly plan a route that includes the mountains though as you'll get a much better feel for what California is about if you see both sides of it.

james

[BootBuckle]

Nothing really planned yet--if I can fit it in, I'd like to do some coastal highway, mountain roads, back roads, and even stop for a few hours Yosemite. Again, all suggestions are appreciated!

[Blunder]

You can't really effecticely ride east around L.A. as the urban/suburban area extends well out into the desert and by June it gets hot out there.

JamesG had a great plan fo ya. Spend half a day slabbing it to get north of L.A. and then look at a map for all the smaller roads. You'll discover the 3 days you have left aren't enough, especially when you consider the options that are coming from people who are far more familiar with the area than me.

[james_g]

On the bike it's a three hour ride to Santa Barbara. If you roll out early in the AM (4 or 5) you'll miss a lot of the traffic. It's going to be cold on the coast though so you'll want to dress warmly. The 1 really is worthwhile if you've never ridden it and it's a road that everyone should ride at one time or another. You could easily ride that, cross through the valley, and then ride mountain passes all the way south. That's a really fun four days.

james

[DangerMoney]

I rode from Seattle back home to San Diego in August. If you're riding the CA coast Highway (1 or 101) you'll have a hard time doing 500-600 miles/day unless you're riding 18 hours/day. Lot's of RVs and sight-seers on the two-lane blacktop.  

Inland there's plenty of twisty roads so running at 70-80-90 MPH all-day will be tough to do with the curves.

[elizabethhill]

Good luck on your tour. I think you need more than 4 days to maximize your tour. But if I were you, I'd be more worried with wife's reaction when I get home from the tour  

[miles]

I'd suggest you prioritize what it is that you want to focus on this trip.  Do you want to ride amazing, phenomenal motorcycle roads, scenery be damned?  Do you want to see the typical tourist California sights? Do do you want to see California as the locals know it but tourists never experience?

Any one of those is a fine option, but the routes will vary wildly.

I'm certain that us locals will be happy to act as tour guide, once you have settled on an itinerary.

Personally, I wouldn't even try to see anything but Southern California in only four days of riding. I'd spend a day here in San Diego County, another day in Riverside/San bernardino counties, then up the coast to Santa Barbara and return through Solvang/Ojai and so on.

You'd still be missing incredible amounts of great stuff, but at least you'd get a feel for the region. If you try to see all of California in four days you'll see practically nothing.  

[Rogue]

4 days is plenty even from Escondido.

I recommend you forget about Southern California riding and go for the best near the area.  Go straight for Highway 1 north of Santa Barbara.

So on Day 1, leave at dawn. I do mean dawn like BEFORE the sun comes up.  Because it's 70 miles just to get to the heart of Orange County from Escondido.  It's another 100 miles on the freeways just to escape Los Angeles County.  And trust me you NEED to escape LA's traffic.  Once you're north of LA County, say around Simi Valley, you can relax a bit and maybe have breakfast somewhere.  But from Escondido until then you need to be like bookin' it to the edges of LA County.  I figure around 200 miles before breakfast.  All freeway.

Next, exit on Hwy 33 towards the mountains and your first taste of great Central Coast twisty, empty road.  Connect Hwy 33 to Taft for fuel, then head to Hwy 58 for the next 77 miles of more empty, twisty road.  After then you can re-connect onto the 101/Hwy 1 and head north towards Morro Bay where Hwy 1 splits away from the 101.  Take Hwy 1 north to San Simeon and finish off your day watching the sunset from one of the campsites there.  That should be about 450 miles.  

Day 2, leave really early.  Go east on Hwy 46 and then north on the 101.  Exit Mission Street and catch Indian Valley Road.  Connect this to Peach Tree Road.  Make a left on Hwy 198 and a quick right on Hwy 25.  Test your top speed.    Just kidding.   Or not.  I think it's 70 miles of twisty, empty roads again.  Have lunch in the city of Hollister.  Re-connect to Hwy 101 and go south for about 50 miles to catch G16 in the small town of Greenfield.  Head West on G16 towards the coast.  You will end up at the Monterey Peninsula.  You can find a campsite here if you wish.  

Day 3, take your time exploring Hwy 1 between Monterey and San Simeon.  There's Point Lobos State Reserve.  There's Mission San Antonio.  If you're adventurous then ride Naciemento-Ferguson road.  However, you should end Day 3 in San Simeon again because you will need Day 4 to ride all the way back to Escondido.

There you go!  You will be sick of twisty roads by the end of Day 4 and will be craving the slab home and a long rest.   You'll love the traffic in Southern California.  

[bikerfish1100]

^ what he said. over and out. great roads, killer scenery, nice variety of mountains and ocean.

[Blunder]

Rogue comes through!  

I've ridden HWY 33 up from Ojai (Jamie Sommers is from there   ) and loved every just about every mile of it. But like my beloved NoCal, Socal has a vast riding area and using a tank of fuel just to get somwhere desireable is not out of the norm.

Filed for future reference as I might move to SoCal. That's might. Don't expect me to start using "the" in front of HWY numbers, though, and the Dodgers will still sck.  

[james_g]

I like Rogue's plan but I would spend some time in San Diego county. There's some really good roads here that are right outside your door. You could easily start on local roads on your way up north.

james

[miles]

On a side note, SDBMWMC (which is where the rental bike is coming from, I expect) is a quality shop.  I have no doubt they'll make things go well for you.

Both james_g and I have bought bikes from them! and I've borrowed most of their demo bikes over the last few years just to try them out.

[BootBuckle]

I recommend...

Rogue, thank you so much for the comprehensive explanation of what you think I should do. That was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks to the rest of you for the input as well--I'll update in a few days/weeks as I nail down the logistics.

[bkg123]

Your gonna love the ride. I was just looking at my GPS tracks from last summers trip up the coast from San Diego to Portland. I could only make about 250 miles a day with all the stops for pics and food and attractions. From San Luis Obispo to San Francisco on 1 alone is worth the whole trip.

[greench440]

One thing the Cali crew left out is that you can lane split in Cali, so when traffic backs up or your the 30th in line for a stop light, find the "middle way" and make your way to the front.  Just make sure you do it between the two far left lanes on the freeway or only on multi lane surface streets.