California ride some advice please

[hamjam]

This is from another list XS related I was wondering if anyone had some advice for him
Thanks
Jim


We are planning a ride in the early summer and I’m hoping maybe someone here that lives in the intended destination area might have a few suggestions for “the scenic route” to take.



So far the general idea is to fly out to California (somewhere south-ish) and ride up the coast maybe to San Francisco. Then across the mountains over into Utah. Then possibly take in the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Then maybe south and back across the mountains or back the same way we came.



If you live in the area or know the area, and you know some things we should investigate along the way, we’d like to hear about it. We are meeting in a few weeks to set the plans in motion. So if you have an idea, let’s hear it.



Crusher

[mro]

Unfortunately all my pics were taken with a 35mm camera.
California literally has at least a little (and a lot) of just about every kind of scenery you can think of.. HY1, SF south is mostly rolling hills and has a lot of beaches, north of SF the mountains come right down to the Pacific and few beaches (one my favorite rides).

From SF to the Sierras is OK only if you don’t mind ridding on multi-lane freeways till at least your out to the base of the Sierras. (several hours of a rather boring ride). Then three main choices of how to reach the east side of the state. Go to Yosemite and take Tioga Pass, go up Hwy 80 to Tahoe or Reno, or take off of Hwy 80 to Hwy 49 (very cool) to Hwy 70 to Hwy 395. (I’ve got a place off of Hwy 70 above Portola. You can spend a week riding that area and not have to ride the same road twice.)

If you have the time you can ride up HY1 to where it leaves the coast and joins hwy 101 (little ways past Fort Bragg). Choice of staying on 101 to Eureka then out east on 299 or a few miles before Eureka going east on hwy 36 which goes all the way to Hwy 395 (Hwy 395 runs up/down the east side of CA.)

If time allows, would recommend checking out the redwoods just north of SF, then go back to Hwy 1 on the coast. Both Are worth rides of there own and there are some pretty cool roads from Santa Cruz to SF. (I’ve spent years riding/camping/fishing the coast from Santa Cruz to Washington state and I’m sure there must be some place I’ve missed, but not many.)

Above covers only a small fraction of the rides available here in CA CA land…
If ridding during the summer expect a lot of traffic on all the main roads/Hi-ways.
Best time (Me thinks) is late fall, early winter. Fewest cages, campers running about and since I live here that’s when I go for extended road trips when I can.


mro

[mro]

The tube attached to the back of my XS holds a couple fly rods
House at Bodega Bay


View from Berkeley hills, can't see it but the Golden Gate is just below the sun and SF city to the left (I call this "back yard ridding )



This pic is just east of of the pic of the sun set pic.
Hills between Berkeley and Walnut Creek.



These pics don't even make it in the top 100 of the cool places to ride here.

mro

[cywelchjr]

I would recommend that the person wishing to make this trip check out pashnit.com for possible routes.The free section has a lot of good information and there is a pay section (like $20 a year or something like that) that helps with trip planning and it's probably one of the best resources for MC touring on the west coast.

[latexeses]

You don't want to forget Hiway 88 for getting over the Sierras. It is my favorite. Not very many straight sections up there. Two lanes though if you don't like that sort of thing. Lots of great twisties.
Dumps out on 395 in Minden Nevada. The ride down the eastern Sierras is terrific. Starting about the town of Walker, the scenery is really amazing.
Enjoy the Ride.

Rodger

[LoHo]

It's hard to go wrong, unless you get caught on the slabs. You have to ride Hwy 1 along the coast. Hwy 49 through the Gold Country is great. Pashnit is a good source. I've lived here for 51 years and haven't hit all of the great places yet, although I didn't ride for the first 40 of them....