Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway | Seattle to San Francisco
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Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway bike route from Seattle to San Francisco on the West Coast of the United States has been by far one of the best things we’ve ever done! Hands down! However, it didn’t come easy!
Cycling down the Pacific Coast Bike route, via a cycle tour, on Highway 101, and then onto Highway 1 in California took a lot of training and preparation!
In this post, we will provide an overview of how we got ourselves into cycling the Pacific Coast route from Seattle to San Francisco. Then give practical advice for preparing for the cycle touring trip. Next, we will provide a list of the things you need for an unsupported trip of cycling the Pacific Coast. Finally, we will give you a summary of what it was like day by day with a breakdown of our cycling statistics. (Elevation gain, time on the bike, total time, distance, etc.)
In all, we spent 25 days away. 23 days of cycle touring. 21 nights camped. 8 nights with warm showers hosts. 3.5 rest days. 1,013.63 miles cycled. 44.07 average miles/day. 56,278 feet of total elevation gained. 98 hours & 45 minutes spent in the saddle. And ultimately took our time to enjoy God’s beautiful creation.
Here is the cycle touring blog post on Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway from Seattle to San Francisco!
A Beginning to Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway Bike Route
Wondering what led us to do such a crazy bicycle journey on the Pacific Coast bike route from Seattle to San Francisco?
Well, the idea goes back to when I (Jason) was in high school and was on the Oregon coast for a family camping trip with Heather. It was probably the first summer we started dating actually. Anyhow, I saw this couple pull up on their bikes in the misty coastal weather, covered head to toe in rain gear and carrying a ton of stuff on their bikes: saddlebags, gear on their handlebars, essentials on their backs–they were loaded.
I had never seen anything like it before. Therefore, I had to walk up to the couple to pick their brains on what they were doing, even though they were presumably really tired and just wanted to take a rest!
I was fascinated by the idea of packing everything you need and hitting the road for who knows how long.
The couple said they were bicycling much more than just Oregon. They were cycling the Pacific Coast bike route from Seattle to San Francisco!
From that point on I was obsessed over the idea of doing this same journey: cycling from Seattle to San Francisco with no assistance—just everything that could fit on my bike.
I didn’t know if it would be something I’d do on my own, with Heather, or if I’d be able to do it earlier or later in life, but I knew I would do it someday!
Sure enough, when the opportunity presented itself, I had to go for it and Heather was on board too.
Rekindled Inspiration for Cycling Seattle to San Francisco
We didn’t start the trip until August 3, 2015, but the idea of actually getting it planned and beginning the cycle tour started in a small border town called Villa O’Higgins in Patagonia, Chile where we met a Dutch guy by the name of Maarten. He came bikepacking into the town and we got to talking.
He rekindled the idea I had to cycle from Seattle to San Francisco. We quickly became close friends as we were stuck in this border town due to poor weather for nearly a week. So, I got lots of insider info on cycle touring that I would have never found on the net!
Heather and I started to consider doing this trip as we knew we would be going back to Oregon for the latter part of 2015 and potentially gearing up for a big move to Scotland for Physical therapy school for myself. We had the time, we had a lot of the cycle touring gear required to do this type of trip already, and we had the guts to do it.
When we returned to Oregon we started training and gathering all the essential cycle touring gear needed to be able to complete such a journey of cycling the Pacific Coast Highway from Seattle to San Francisco!
Preparing for Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway Bike Route: Seattle to San Francisco
Since returning from South America, we knew we were going to be in over our heads attempting to cycle from Seattle to San Francisco without any preparation beforehand. Attempting a coast bicycle route like this is not for the faint at heart! Therefore, we tried to ease our way into cycling multiple miles a day over the course of a few months. But you know how wanting to do something and actually doing it typically pans out!
By the time we actually wielded ourselves to start training for our cycle trip down the PCH, we only had about 6-weeks. We started off slowly, only doing 30-minute to 1-hour long rides a few times a week then slowly added time and frequency to the rides. As the days drew closer to our take-off date of August 3rd, we were riding upwards of three and fours at a time, but without any of our gear on our bikes. We were riding harder and faster without any gear, but still, we never thought to add in the gear aspect when training for this major feat!
One thing to consider though is when you have all day to complete 50-miles, even with your bike loaded down, it really doesn’t seem that bad.
All in all, we really weren’t prepared to go into cycling the Pacific Coast bike route thing. Especially with our plans of averaging about 45 miles a day! I’m pretty sure we were still getting into shape even two-thirds of the way into our 1,000-mile journey!
Our Total Gear List for Cycle Packing + Where to Purchase Gear
Assembling the Gear Required for Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway Bike Route
The year previous, the whole family went in on buying Heather a new road bike. She loved that thing and was determined to use it as her main method of getting down the Pacific Coast bike route via Highway 101 and the 1.
It wasn’t a touring bike by any means, but it was light, fast, and durable. So, we made it work.
As for my bike, it was much more outdated than Heather’s, a little less pretty, but built like a tank and would do the trick.
Having our bikes in order, we then needed to think about how we would attach and carry all of our gear for the three-and-a-half-week cycle tour. Panniers, a rack to hold the panniers and tools that were small, light, and tough were all on the list of necessities.
We ended up buying racks for both mine and Heather’s bike, purchasing panniers for Heather’s, and repurposing an old motorcycle saddlebag from my dad’s Harley to work on a road bicycle. We had plenty of room to now load up our bikes.
Cycle Touring Gear List for Getting You Down the Pacific Coast Highway Bike Route
Bike Gear
- Bicycle (preferably a touring bike)
- Cycle computer
- Bicycle Bell
- Comfortable saddle
- Shoe clips or cages
- Pannier rack
- Panniers (the ones we used) or Panniers (these for more rain protection)
- 2 Water bottles
- 2 Water bottle holders
- Frame bag
Tire Repair
- Small bike pump
- 2 extra tubes (for your specific bike)
- Patch kit
- Tire levers
Tools
- Pedal wrench
- Multi-tool
- Lubricant w/ rag
Wearable Cycling Gear
- Helmet
- Sunglasses or other eye protection
- Gloves
- Cycle jersey or merino wool top
- Windbreaker
- Raincoat
- Padded cycle touring shorts
- 2 Merino wool socks
- Cycle touring shoes or clips
- Sunscreen
- Chapstick
Bike Extras
- Cycling headlight
- Cycling taillight
- Saddlebag for tools and tire repair kit
- U-lock & cable
- Spare spokes
- Phone holder
- Reflective strips for safety
- Hi-Vis safety vest
- Toilet paper & baggies for trash
- Waterproof bags to protect equipment
- Guidebook/Map
- Wallet/cash/credit or debit card/I.D.
- Bungy cords/tie-downs
- High energy gels and bars
Camp Gear
- Cycle Touring Tent* (small, compressible, lightweight) *2 person
- Tent stakes
- Guy lines
- Footprint
- Sleeping bag
- Sleeping pad
- Luci light – Get a review of it here.
- Camp chair
Camp Kitchen
- Stove
- Pot set
- Mug
- Spork
- Fuel
- Firestarter
- Nalgene water bottle
- Hydroflask
- Aeropress Coffee Maker– Get a review of it here.
- Dr. Bronner’s Soap
- Hand sanitizer
- Food
Camp Clothes
- Hat
- Beanie
- Buff
- Long-sleeve shirt
- Short sleeve shirt
- Down jacket
- Pants
- Shorts
- Swimming attire
- 2 Underwear
- Pajamas
- Long socks
- Shoes
- Sandals
- Towel
- Toiletries
Camp Extras
- Headlamp
- Frisbee
- Playing cards
- Bananagrams
- First aid kit
- Swiss army knife
- Kindle
- Phone
- Battery pack
- Solar charger
- Rechargeable batteries
- Optional camera gear
- Waterproof bags to protect equipment
Phone Apps
Pacific Coast Bike Route Map – Seattle to San Francisco
Some Helpful Links to Get You Started
PCH Touring Book
Everyone had this book or some form of it while cycling down the Pacific Coast Highway, except for us. We didn’t even know it existed. We did all our own research and mostly winged the whole trip! So if you want to be like us and use our example, then don’t buy this book. But if you want a little more information and follow what everyone else is doing, then get this book.
Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway FAQs
When Should You Cycle the Pacific Coast Highway?
Cycling the Pacific Coast bicycle route should be done from late spring to early fall. Early spring and late fall in the pacific northwest will yield the worst weather for a cyclist. But if you are brave and don’t mind even more rain, or even some snow, then go for it. Otherwise, stick to late spring to early fall.
We did it in the month of August and it was great. Only had a couple of rainy days and mostly clear sunny bluebird skies. But beware, the summer months can get hot even in the pacific northwest. So you will want to be getting your ride started bright and early! However, for the most part, when you’re cycling directly on the coastline, temperatures will be more moderate and you’ll have a nice breeze to cool you off!
We’ve also heard to avoid the busy summer months as there tends to be more traffic on the roads!
Which Direction Should You be Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway?
We recommend going from north to south regardless of your chosen start and ending location. The reason is you will be on the right side of the road closest to the ocean/coastline and will be able to make quick last-minute decisions to peel off for a photo op. Or stop at a pull-out to get those amazing views! Also, for the duration of your trip you will mostly have unobstructed views of the coastline…never having to look through traffic to see those amazing vistas!
Aside from the great views going from north to south gives you a good tailwind!
Should You Do This Cycle Tour Solo?
That just depends on you! We love traveling and doing absolutely everything together so we would say no to solo. But if you are looking for a trip to escape and find yourself through some soul-searching, then go for it, this would be the perfect way to do it!
However, if you are looking to do it with someone else, but are having a hard time finding someone to commit 3-weeks to something like this–don’t fret! We guarantee you will find someone else or a group of others who are in the same boat. You will eventually start running into them frequently enough to where your schedules just merge and then all of a sudden, you have a cycle partner or group! That’s what sort of happened to us and we named the group the Wolf Pack!
Where to Stay During Your Pacific Coast Cycle Tour
There are a few options. You can choose something as budget-friendly as sleeping on the beach for free, staying in a stranger’s house for free-ish, pitching your tent in a state park for a few bucks, or finding something with a price tag like an AirBnB or hotel.
We used all these types of accommodation and each met our needs perfectly when we chose that option.
Wild camping: Most places you can stay right on the beach with your tent with no issues at all. Just check before choosing this option if you do not want to get a fine or told to move on in the middle of the night!
READ MORE | How to Find Free Places to Camp in the United States
LEARN MORE | How to Properly Poop In Nature
Staying in a stranger’s house: Warm Showers – Specific to traveling cyclists, or CouchSurfing – Generally for all types of travelers. We used Warm Shower’s a few different times during this trip and can’t speak more highly of the community and the people we stayed with! They helped shape and make this trip even more special! And with Couchsurfing, we have been using it for years and have stayed with hosts all over the world! With CouchSurfing, you get a bit more of an eclectic group of people hosting, but every experience is unique and interesting in its own way! Although this is technically free, it is always nice to show your hosts your appreciation by making a communal dinner or bring them a bottle of wine as a thank you!
Hiker/Biker camps at the state parks: Usually only costing $5 or $7 per person per night, you get a nice spot to set up your tent, a warm shower, a picnic bench, and a firepit. Because it is specifically designated for hikers and bikers in the state parks, you have to share a lot of the camp area with others, and even sometimes, if you arrive late, all the allocated spots are taken up! So if you are planning on using this option as your primary form of accommodation, then try to arrive earlier or do your trip earlier or later in the cycle touring season!
Animals to Watch for While Cycling the Pacific Coast Bike Route
The Pacific Coast is filled with amazing wildlife. You are sure to see dozens of different species of birds, and countless marine life like whales, dolphins, and sea lions. Not to mention other ground critters like skunks, raccoons, possums, deer, and squirrels. It’s something that brings joy and excitement, especially if you’re lucky enough to see a baby animal just learning walk or playing with its other siblings.
Dangers of Cycling Seattle to San Francisco
Cycling the Pacific Coast highway can get a little sketchy at times. The road doesn’t always have an adequate shoulder or even if there is one, there may be too much debris to allow for riding in. Therefore, you must occupy the main lane of the highway at times to protect yourself and the other motorists on the road. You may get the “bird”, some “eff-U’s”, and even some honks, but wouldn’t you rather that than get run off the road or worse, get hit?
Take a look at the ODOT Oregon Bicyclists Manual to get a full understanding of what you are legally able to do while cycling the Pacific Coast Highway Bike Route.
If you do not take the lane, motorists will try to squeeze by you and therefore putting you at risk of getting hit or the motorist getting in an accident themselves.
Be aware that there are a lot of semi-trucks and RV’s/trailers on this route that cause the weird phenomenon of being sucked into them. When you hear or sense a louder/bigger vehicle coming up from behind you, make sure to have both hands on the handlebars and brace for the passing!
There are many more scenarios that are described in the manual to help keep you safe and sound while enjoying your journey down the Pacific Coast from Seattle to San Francisco.
The Journey Down: Cycling The Pacific Coast Highway Bike Route Told Day by Day
That now brings us to the trip. One of the best trips we have ever done. Cycling Seattle to San Francisco, completely self-supported!
This is a diary of our day to day on the road cycling Seattle to San Francisco down the Pacific Coast bike route. We used the app Track My Tour to document it all!
Monday 3 Aug 2015 09:27
Day 0: And we’re off. Bound for San Francisco… Leaving Portland, Oregon this afternoon after staying with an old friend. Thanks, Chase!
More information and pictures for Day 0 located Here!
Monday 3 Aug 2015 22:33
Day 0: Made it into Seattle this afternoon to check out Pikes Market Place, gum wall, and the space needle. Because we didn’t plan on Seattle being a hot destination, we didn’t book a room in advance. Therefore we had to look elsewhere. And thus, bringing us to Bremerton, WA to stay at the Motel 6. In the morning we will head to a small lake to camp just outside of Shelton. Today we ended with 24 miles of cycling through Portland, Seattle, and Bremerton.
Not sure what the elevation was, but we had some nasty hills to climb while sightseeing in Seattle.
More information and pictures for Day 0 located Here!
Tuesday 4 Aug 2015 21:17
DAY 1: Well we made it to our campsite, which isn’t a campsite. We are sleeping on some old forest logging roads in the middle of Shelton, WA county area. It’s nice. We played frisbee, cards, and had a nice meal. As we look back on our first day, the sites were beautiful. It was very nice and easy-going despite the wind that picked up around 1 and was at our heads till we stopped around 4.
We cycled 51.2 miles and had an elevation gain of 1,355ft for the day. Overall we are at 74.38 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 1 located Here!
Wednesday 5 Aug 2015 21:26
Day 2: Today was another good day. We got off and riding at 9:30 from our primitive campsite. Surprisingly, we ended up using all our water supplies and wasn’t close to a source. So we ended up cycling down the road about six miles and found an old couple who was running a convenience store so that we could ask for some water from the tap. They kindly allowed us, chatted for a little then went on our way.
For lunch, we stopped at a local burger shop in the city of Elma. From there we continued onward. Just a few miles down the road Heather said that her back tire was feeling funny and wanted me to look at. Sure enough, she had a flat tire caused by a huge chunk of glass. Maarten had all the patches so we had to just change the whole tube. Shortly afterward we got onto HWY 101! This is where we will be for the next 4 or 5 hundred miles before going onto HWY 1 in California. Anyways, we are now in the town of South Bend, WA.
Today we cycled 59.6 miles with an elevation gain of 1,508 feet even though Heathers is a little different. Our total distance so far is 133.98 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 2 located Here!
Thursday 6 Aug 2015 15:18
Day 3: Today we road from South Bend, WA, the town that we charged our phones and gave ourselves a little bath in. The public restrooms at the “campground” that we stayed at didn’t have running water nor fully functioning restrooms.
In the morning today, we rode off into a lite headwind and a downpour of mist. This continued for the first 15 miles or so till we started to see more of the pacific coastline. Lunch came upon us quickly.
We have finally started to find our rhythm and have synced into the idiosyncrasies of our bikes; we just keep on pedaling. The time and miles seem to fade away as quickly as the sweat evaporates from our faces. This is what human-powered exploration is all about!
At lunch, we took about 20 minutes to sit in our nice rei chairs and eat some peanut butter and honey sandwiches. As the day kept coming, we saw many beautiful sites: mountains, trees, beaches, trees that were blown down by gale-force winds, and many waterways/bridges. Never have I ever seen so many dead birds on one bridge in my whole life.
As we left this huge almost 4-mile long bridge going over the Columbia River, we finally made it to our second state: Oregon. We went through Astoria rather quickly and pressed on towards the town of Seaside. Here we are staying with a wonderful old man who does CouchSurfing and warm showers.
Heather, Maarten, and I are 3 of 17 people staying with him tonight. This is because the majority of the people here are in town for the huge Volleyball tournament. Tomorrow is a short day so we will stick around to watch some of the action before heading down to Cannon Beach for a little, then onto Nehalem State Park.
So for today, we rode 70.3 miles with an elevation gain of 1,675 feet and have ridden a total of 205.05 miles. #TheSkinnyWheels
More information and pictures for Day 3 located Here!
Friday 7 Aug 2015 21:00
Day 4: We leisurely woke up at our warm showers hosts house. We slept well. Heather and I slept in the garage and Maarten slept in the washroom. We made do with what space was available. Our host wanted to break his record for the most couch surfers/ warm showers guests in one night, and he did it. He had 19 guests in total for the night. People were in town for volleyball, regular travel, and cycle touring.
In the morning we made coffee, went to a small diner, walked around the beach, and watched some sand volleyball. It was the 34th annual tournament going on in Seaside with over 1,400 teams competing this year. It sure was a sight to see.
Afterward, we gathered up our stuff and got some food. We returned to the road by 1:30. We stopped a bunch to take pictures and see the town of Cannon Beach. One of our most favorite spots on the coast so far was coming into Nehalem Bay State Park. The views from above the town and state park were magnificent.
The coast was sunny and the ocean still had a marine layer of clouds. It was something we had never seen before and it was something special to witness. We arrived in camp around 5 pm. The night was chill and relaxed because we were able to get some firewood, beer, wine, and ice cream.
It was a short day of 23.8 miles but a tough day with the hills. We had 2,018 feet of gain in that short distance. In total, we are at 232.65 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 4 located Here!
Saturday 8 Aug 2015 22:00
DAY 5: Wow, what a day. We took off from Nahalem Bay State Park with one more person, our close friend Brad! The four of us went on down the road into what looked like a wall of clouds and rain in the distance. Although it didn’t start pouring on us till the second half of the ride, we still had fun with it.
We ended up taking a nice afternoon lunch break at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. The four of us indulged ourselves in cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. It wasn’t the best food for cycling, but it sure did taste like the best. After lunch we took off into the rain; it didn’t let up till we reached Pacific City.
Before we started the day, we were all thinking it would be an easy day with no more than 800 feet of elevation gain. But with some advice from a couple of other people to take the alternate route that would get us closer to the coast, see the Three Capes, and have better views forgot to warn us of an 800-foot vertical climb in the latter part of the ride.
We were all shocked at the hill. Each time we crested a banking corner we thought we made it to the top but never did that happen. It had seemed as though we were on a never-ending mountain. Heather was so exhausted that Maarten was pushing her up the road (he was able to do this because he sent his trailer home with Brad’s wife, Kala).
At one point, Brad and I were laughing hysterically because the mountain just never stopped. Eventually, we made it to the top. We climbed 800 ft in 41 minutes. We were toast. After cycling 5 days straight, we needed a rest day and that is what tomorrow is for. Just hanging out and doing nothing.
For the day, we cycled 55.9 miles with an elevation gain of 2,287 feet. The overall distance is 288.74 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 5 located Here!
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Sunday 9 Aug 2015 20:26
Day 6: We woke up pretty late on this Sunday morning at Brad and Kala’s grandparents’ home. Many thanks to them for allowing us to stay there. Maarten made his famous Dutch pancakes and we leisurely got our stuff together to then find a place to camp on the beach. Thanks to Kala, we camped at the beach where Brad and Kala got married. We hung out on the beach, took a nap, played frisbee, watched the magnificent sunset, made a bonfire, and ate s’mores and veggies for dinner. We set up our tents and camped right on the Oregon State beach.
From Pacific City to Winema Beach was just a short 6.5 miles with 140 feet. The total distance thus far, 298.49 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 6 located Here!
Tuesday 10-11 Aug 2015 21:29
Day 7 & 8 (rest): We got up early and took down camp at the beach. We went aimed for Newport. The day had many sights to see. There were many overlooks and little towns to walk through. As we went through Depoe Bay, we stopped at a turnout and watched as a whale was playing in the water below, a few more miles down the road we watched a bunch of sea lions playing in the cove below.
For lunch, we stopped in Lincoln city to have Mo’s world-famous clam chowder. In the evening we had arrived at the place we would be staying for two nights. We stayed with Heather’s grandmas’ best friends’ daughter. She and her family welcomed us with open arms and had a wonderful meal prepared for us. It was such a great way to end the day.
Today was 47.4 miles with 2,454 feet of elevation. Total 345.49 miles.
The next day we rode to town and did the sights of Newport. We played in Ripley’s wax and under the sea museums for most the day, hung out at Nye Beach for a little. Then in the evening, we went over the bridge to take the tour of Rogue Brewery and have dinner over there. Great food, a little slow, and because they dropped one of our burgers on the floor, our beers were free!
Not sure about elevation gains, but we did 14.5 miles around town today putting us at 359.99 for total on the trip.
More information and pictures for Day 7 located Here!
Wednesday 12 Aug 2015 20:17
Day 8 (Cycling): Today was one of the most beautiful days of the trip so far. We cycled from Newport to Honeyman State Park. The weather was perfect. No wind. And Heather and I just took our time to enjoy all the scenery. We stopped at Cape Perpetua, Thors Well, Devils Chasm, and another devil something I can’t remember.
We got on the road at about 10 am and wasn’t at our campsite till just before 7. Heather’s knee was hurting her pretty bad today, so we had to get an ace bandage to wrap it up. The wrap helped a little, sure wasn’t a cure-all by all means.
Today we cycled 58.1 miles with an elevation of 2,745 ft. The total is 418.15 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 8 located Here!
Thursday 13 Aug 2015 22:31
Day 9: This morning we woke up and headed towards Sunset Bay State Park. On our way we didn’t see many spectacular views, yesterday was a much prettier day than today. But still, nonetheless, we were cycling more or less along the Oregon coast. So still, it was a good day.
We stopped in Reedsport for lunch. Here is a small food cart that had the best fish tacos in the whole world, well at least all the fish tacos that I have ever tried, they were the best. As we entered Coos Bay/North Bend we stopped at a Safeway to get food and wine. We wanted to have something homemade and very tasty for dinner, so we went with a homemade spaghetti dinner! It was so good and scrumptious.
When we arrived at Sunset Bay State Park, we quickly set up camp then went over to the bay to hang out and play frisbee. Then we came back to make dinner quickly and return to the beach for sunset with a bottle of wine. Not much of a sunset due to the clouds, but still it was pink on the horizon and it was beautiful. Upon arriving back to camp, we made a fire and met a British guy. The night concluded with stories and thunder and lightning with some rain.
Today’s total for miles was 55 and the elevation was 2,000 feet. Overall our miles are at 473.77.
More information and pictures for Day 9 located Here!
Friday 14 Aug 2015 22:35
Day 10: Last night we had a fire and enjoyed each other’s company along with a British guy who pulled into camp late. As we were sitting around the campfire just 20 minutes or so into the burn, some lightning and thunder decided to come out and say hello. There was no rain, so we continued to enjoy the fire. But about an hour in, the sky started to sprinkle on us then quit. This happened about three times until the last became an all-out drenching downpour. We all quickly ran for our tents and said goodnight.
In the morning we woke up to sunny skies, birds chirping and grass evaporating the rain from the night before. Because today was going to be an easy day, we got out of bed around 9:30 and enjoyed making breakfast and hangout before taking down camp. We got on the road around noon. Late start, but not bad for about a 30-mile day.
We headed out and chose to take the less traveled 7 Devils highway to bypass some of the busy 101. 7 Devils aren’t named that for no easy riding. It’s named that because there are 7 peaks that shoot straight up each time, making the one before it looks like child’s play. Our legs were burning, but it was the good kinda burn. We knew we were working for it and the reward of going down was so nice.
The overall elevation gain was only 1,535 feet in a total of 33 miles. We ultimately got to Bandon around 2:30. We walked around the town a little bit, had some samples at the grower’s market, ate some fish tacos at Tony’s Crab Shack, then ventured over to the Creamery to have some fresh cheese samples.
After indulging ourselves in all this goodness, we hurried to where we would be staying for the night through Warm Showers. Our host was a kind older woman by the name Suzy and her partner Ed. Their home was on Laurel Lake seven miles south of Bandon on the west side of 101.
Their house is beautiful, and the lake was spectacular. Maarten, Heather, and I went for a swim and paddle boarded in the lake, this lake is at a surface temperature of 76 degrees and 72 degrees 6 feet down. It was so refreshing to explore and relax around the lake after our ride today. After we got in, Suzy offered us some drinks and homemade angel food cake. What a wonderful way to end the day.
The overall distance so far is 507.83 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 10 located Here!
Sunday 16 Aug 2015 20:59
Day 11 & a rest day: We left the wonderful cabin on Laurel Lake just a little bit past 11 am due to a wonderfully relaxed morning with Suzy and Ed. Suzy got up early to get the mornings eggs from the chickens, made homemade blueberry muffins, and cut up some fresh cantaloupe. We spent a few hours hanging out, talking, and eating before it was time to take down camp and set off down the road for yet another day.
The route for the day took us quite a bit inland before spitting us back out on the coast just north of Port Orford. As we arrived in Port Orford, we went straight to the “Ocean View” to have lunch and relax before we went to the store and make the final 6-mile stretch to Humbug State Park for two nights. Heather and I loaded up our bikes with a bunch of food and wine and hit the road. We hadn’t carried this much extra stuff and we could tell a difference, especially going up the hills.
Arriving at camp pretty early, maybe 3:30 in the afternoon, we quickly set up camp to hurry down to the beach and cool off from the very hot day of riding inland. We learned this beach is extremely windy and there wasn’t much relaxing that could be had. But we made do with what we had and enjoyed it the best we could.
Maarten jumped in the ocean while Heather and I sat in our chairs cooling off in the wind. Brian and Ashley (our friends from southern Oregon) were just a few miles south in Gold Beach so they decided to make the drive with the two little ones and Charlie (their dog) to visit for a little bit. It was nice being able to hang out for an hour or so catching up and seeing how things were going. In the evening, we were able to have a fire with dinner because we were able to scrounge up some firewood from other vacant campsites. We sat around chatting and drinking wine and didn’t get to bed till about midnight. We could stay up because the next day we would be sleeping in and taking our first rest day with absolutely no riding.
Heather and I got up out of bed around 10 am and made breakfast. After we ate, we got our stuff together to go to the beach. As we were walking to the beach, we hid some meat and eggs in the cold stream next to the site because we didn’t have a cooler or frig to put them in. We ended up spending about 3 hours down by the water hanging out and relaxing.
After that, we came back to have lunch and relax in camp. Heather and Maarten read while I made a bracelet from some rope that had washed ashore. With more time to kill, Heather took a long shower as did I. After each of our showers, we made dinner, then walked back down to the beach to see what it was like. It was super cold and windy, so we decided to come back to make a fire and play games.
Yesterday we rode 30.1 miles with 1,488 feet of elevation gain.
Our overall mileage is 538.00 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 11 located Here!
Monday 17 Aug 2015 20:24
Day 12: This morning we all woke up from Humbug State Park after our rest day and got on the road earlier than we have the whole trip: 8:00 am. It was cool getting on the road that early because we were done an hour and a half earlier than normal.
Because this day didn’t have much to see we made the 51 miles go pretty quickly. Although there were 3,744 ft of elevation, we did it in 4.5 hours but by the end of the day, our legs were pretty sore. Luckily tomorrow will be a shorter day for a pseudo rest day.
Once we arrived at camp (Harris Beach State Park) around 1:30, we quickly set up camp and took a shower before heading into Brookings to get our provisions for the night. After dinner, we met some older gentlemen who were retired and were cycling the same route as us. They have done it a few times and a few other routes as well. They had so much wisdom and insight that they could shed onto us to help us later down the road. One of the guys gave us a spreadsheet of all the different hiker/biker camps in San Diego. A huge help when California doesn’t provide much info online as Oregon does.
After all the conversations, it was time to go to bed for one last night. This would be Maarten’s last night with us. He decided that road bike touring wasn’t his thing and that he would rather mountain bike in Bend. So, this was our last night all together. In the morning Grandma Frankie will be picking him up along with the bike and trailer to take him and the stuff back to Grants Pass.
The final distance for the day was 51 miles of the tour plus 4 miles going into town and back. Our overall distance is 594.61 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 12 located Here!
Tuesday 18 Aug 2015 21:49
Day 13: This morning we woke up very relaxed because it was an easy day and Grandma Frankie would be picking Maarten up. We went down to Brookings Harbor marina for lunch. We went to our favorite fish and chips restaurant. The whole morning with grandma was super nice, sunny, and hot. But after we ate lunch and put on our cycling gear the fog rolled in and it became very cold.
We said our goodbyes, said our good travels and said our thank you’s, then grandma and Maarten rode off as did Heather and me toward our next destination of Crescent City. There wasn’t much to see other than the fact of us crossing over the Oregon/California border. We rode the entire length of Oregon and half the length of Washington and now we were in California… So crazy!!
The fog prevented us from seeing the ocean most the day, so the ride became more about our conversations and riding right next to each other than staring out at the beautiful scenery. This nights’ accommodation was provided by a kind old lady named Katie who runs St. Paul’s Episcopal Church here in Crescent City, California. This day was an easy day of riding of only 32 miles and a measly 444 ft of elevation gain. Good thing we had an easy day because tomorrow will be about the same distance as 8 times as much elevation gain as today.
The total distance is 628.88 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 13 located Here!
Wednesday 19 Aug 2015 11:17
Day 14: Today we woke up early to plan the rest of our trip down to San Francisco. We only have 11 days of cycling left. That’s nuts.
We set off from the church in Crescent City around 10:30 and began our huge accent up into the redwoods. It was a crazy road, no shoulders, but we made ourselves wide by owning the road and making vehicles go around us instead of zooming right past us. The ascent was tough but the downhill was rewarding. The ride overall was good, mostly cloudy/foggy but it made for a cool relaxing ride. We had three big hills and one last downhill that lasted for almost 5 miles before getting us into camp for the night.
In the town of Klamath, we found a super energetic man selling smoked salmon. He was a good salesman and we bought some very flavorful smoked salmon from him. For lunch, we stopped halfway up our second mountain to have lunch. We put pieces of salmon on a bagel with cream cheese. It was so good, just the thing we needed to get us up the second half of this mountain and the last one just a few miles down the road.
As we were entering Elk Prairie State Park, we coasted in and were just enjoying all the amazing redwoods that lined the road. Heather coasted for more than 5 miles while I rode with no hands and took pictures of everything cool. Just about a half mile before the campground, we stopped at Big Tree; it’s a tree that’s estimated at being 1500 years old and over 350 feet tall. Of course, we had to get a picture with our bikes under it, even though the trail sign said no bikes permitted on the path (we walked them, that’s ok, right?).
As we rolled into camp, we met up with a girl we chatted with in Humbug State Park and recognized two other cyclists from Humbug as well. In the evening for dinner (both Rachel and I had a fluke with our alcohol stoves, they both kinda exploded on us within 20 seconds of each other’s at two different tables), after everyone made their dinner, we had all ate together and chatted together. After we all decided that Arcata/Eureka was all our next destination, we decided to all ride out in the morning together and camp at this WarmShowers hosts farm.
For the day we rode 36 miles with an elevation of 2,972 feet. We ended with a total distance of 664.28 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 14 located Here!
Thursday 20 Aug 2015 22:59
Day 15: This morning we woke up at 7 and was on the road by 8:15. The 6 people, 5 bikes, and 4 micro-groups merged to form the wolf pack. We road together from Elk Prairie to Eureka, having a spectacular day together. We took so many pictures, stopped at an ice cream shop in Trinidad to have ice cream and left having an everything mashed potato waffle cone meal- seriously one of the most flavorful and delicious meals we have ever eaten.
After Trinidad, we continued south along the 101 and stumbled upon a bike route that paralleled the highway, so we backtracked on the road a hundred yards or so and took it into Arcata for the last 10 or 15 miles. Some of the best riding we have done thus far on our 700+ miles on the road. Once we arrived in Arcata, we planned on going into the Finnish saunas and hot tubs, but little did we know you had to have a reservation to use the baths, especially in a college town when 8,500 kids are flocking back for school this week.
We arrived at 2:18 and the lady said, sorry we have no availability, but maybe if you hang out the 2:30 appointment doesn’t show you can have their spot. We will just let you know 5 minutes past. Sure enough, this appointment was a no show and the wolf pack was able to soak in the hot tubs for a solid half-hour. It was so nice and relaxing to have this luxury.
After this treatment, we ventured over to the Humboldt Brews for a fabulous burger, sweet potato fries, and a beer. Then we only had 5.7 more miles to our WarmShowers host in nearby Eureka. In the evening we played Bananagrams and made camp ice cream out of heavy whipping cream and berries. Seriously so delicious!
In total for the day, we traveled 50.1 miles with 2,157 feet of elevation gain. Overall we are at 714.38 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 15 located Here!
Friday 21 Aug 2015 17:59
Day 16: This morning we woke up early on the Blue Blossom Organic Farm in Eureka, CA at 6:30 am. We all ate breakfast and drank coffee before the whole wolf pack decided to take off down the road. The pack had the option of taking a long-winded detour along the beautiful Lost Coast of California before returning back to Highway 101, but decided to forego it due to time and the knowledge of it just being massively hilly!
Upon making this decision, we only had a few miles of going down the 101 until google maps had us leave 101 to go on an alternate route that would allow us to have fewer cars and be more scenic. The one thing that Google doesn’t do is have you go on the flattest sections. Therefore, we would most likely be seeing some hills with unknown elevations.
As we hit this hill in the farmlands outside Eureka, figuratively speaking, we were about to be hit upside the head with a cast-iron pan, the hill was a mountain with a straight-up 700-foot vertical ascension. The people on the tandem couldn’t make the steep grade so they had to walk, and Heather and I had to take more breaks than usual to get ourselves up to it. Once we made it to the top, the views of rolling grasslands of Humboldt County were amazing. It was worth not being around cars and being able to see some pretty scenery.
With only a few miles more, we stopped in the small town of Rio Dell to make lunch and rest before entering the Avenue of the Giants. This place was amazing. It’s a small road that runs right through the middle of an old-growth redwood forest. Some of the most fun riding we have done. Halfway through we stopped at an organic farm to get fresh veggies, walk through the sunflower garden, and eat blackberry popsicles.
Afterward, we only had about 8 more miles to camp. We camped at Burlington State Park within the redwoods. The overall day was good, hot, but not too intense.
We cycled 53.9 miles with an elevation gain of 2,333 feet. Our overall distance is 768.47 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 16 located Here!
Sunday 23 Aug 2015 22:00
Day 17 & a Rest Day: We woke up in Burlington State Park to take the road down to Standish Hickey State Park. The day was good. It was hot and hard, but it was overall an amazing ride. We took the advice of Google again and it took us up a couple of steep hills. Even though we had to go up no matter what today, Google had us go up steeper stuff than if we just stayed on Highway 101. We finished out Avenue of the Giants and had lunch in Garberville, CA.
It was a very quaint and unique town with the locals and the older western-style buildings throughout the town. We would be finishing up pretty high today in elevation and the group wasn’t riding altogether, so we didn’t have the support of everyone cheering each other on. Michelle and Jack (tandem couple) ended up hitchhiking to camp because they were too tired and knew that the next day’s ride would be even harder; with Legget hill.
Chris and Rachel pushed on, while Heather and I took our time and stopped at the Gravity House. This place had some weird geothermal activity going on that made some physics not act typically. People seemed taller on the north when compared to someone standing on the south, Gravity was different, magnetism didn’t act correctly, water flowed uphill, and there was a house that was built sideways. We ended up spending about an hour and a half here relaxing and getting our mind blown before arriving at camp.
As soon as we got done, we went over to the store and bought cider and beer. What a refreshment! As we got into the park, we found out that there was a swimming area a short hike down the canyon. So, we quickly set up camp to have an hour or so down in the river. It was so cool and relaxing down there, this was exactly what we needed after a long hard day’s ride. After spending only a few minutes down at the water, we all knew that we wanted to spend a rest day here relaxing with awesome jumping rocks as well.
The next day we all slept in, made pancakes, and hung out down at the river. In the evening, Chris who is a chef in Vancouver, BC, made us an awesome quinoa meal!
We ended up riding 47.6 miles with 5,190 feet elevation gain and are at a total mileage of 816.64 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 17 located Here!
Monday 24 Aug 2015 22:39
Day 18: So today was the next segment of our major incline. The five of us took off from Standish Hickey State Park on the 101 and climbed Legget Hill for three miles then had nearly 10 miles of downhill. The downhill was amazing. The corners were hairpin turns with caution speed recommendations of 10mph. I would go into some of the corners at 35mph. So fun.
Then the rest of the day was up and down. We arrived via California Hwy 1. It is super pretty, and we finally got back to the coast. For lunch, we stopped at the outrageously expensive minimart. But it was comical and that was good enough for us.
We continued to Mackerricher State Park. This is where the Wolfpack finally had to part ways. The others needed to keep going to make sure they made it to San Francisco by Friday. We will arrive on Saturday and will hopefully meet up once again there. If not, we will have a reunion sometime.
We found out there was a brewery just 4 miles south in the town of Fort Bragg along with the famous Glass Beach. So we had to go check them both out after our two-hour nap. We had a wonderful day.
Our mileage for the day was 42.8 miles plus 8.9 for going into town with 4,551 feet elevation. The overall distance is now 868.34 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 18 located Here!
Tuesday 25 Aug 2015 19:10
Day 19: This morning we woke to no alarm and ate pancakes for breakfast. We slowly packed up camp and ventured into Fort Bragg again. This is a quaint little town that had great things to offer. Like a brewery, a mornings’ coffee, and the wonderful Italian sandwich shop. We roamed around until it was getting too late for us to not be on our bikes riding south. Only having 17.5 miles before entering the Van Damme State Park, we wanted to take a bit of a rest day because of all the hills and elevation we have been doing.
We arrived at camp at around 4:30. We went to the beach, made dinner, and went back to the beach for sunset. It wasn’t much of a sunset because of the angle of the cove we were in and also how much overcast there was, but it was still enjoyable! We had a relaxing and fun day!
The overall distance today was 17.5 miles with 1,520 feet elevation gain. The total distance of the trip is 887.33 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 19 located Here!
Wednesday 26 Aug 2015 20:07
Day 20: Heather sang many times of “Gual-lala-laland” or Gualala, CA. We made it to this town and then the county park where the campground was, just before 5 pm. During the day we stopped and had lunch in the small town of Point Arena. We shared a sandwich and a salad. There we hung out for a little while because there were some nice seats to relax in and make more plans for what’s to come after the cycle trip.
After our day on the bikes, we restocked in the town of Gualala then made it to camp. After we set up camp, we checked out the river, or better, the lack of the river. Then we went up to the visitor center because they had free wifi so we could chat with the kiddos. While we were up there, we attempted to make dinner, but I forgot the can opener at camp. So we ended up just making berries and cream for dinner. It was so good. Thanks to the wolf pack for blowing our minds with this treat!
Overall our day was good. But my legs were still feeling it. This was one of the only days on the whole trip that my legs were dead, and that other day was yesterday and the day before that. We didn’t peak out too high, just 322 feet, but we sure did have a lot of elevation gains.
We had a total of 4,349 feet all within 49.1 miles. Our total distance for the trip is 937.32 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 20 located Here!
Thursday 27 Aug 2015 22:40
Day 21: Just two more days and we will have made it to our destination of San Francisco. Boy was today a sunny and beautiful day. My nose got so burnt. I didn’t even realize it until settling in for bed when I scratched it on my sleeping bag. This morning we woke up from the campground in Gualala Regional Park and had a 48.8-mile day ahead of us. We had two pretty big hills in front of us with a ton of rolling hills.
We stopped at Fort Ross to check it out and have lunch. Then we left and hung out in the small town of Jenner for some coffee and more relaxing before making the last ten miles into camp at the Bodega Dunes Campground. This day was filled with awesomeness and craziness! First, the hills that we went up were steep, and the downhills were even steeper. The corners were calling for 10mph and I was hitting it at 35mph. One corner I came in so hot that my backend slipped out and I felt as though I was on a slip car track. I came out of it unscathed; it was awesome.
Then later Heather and I were enjoying the ocean side and perfect scenery when a pod? of dolphins appeared and were just jumping and frolicking in the waters below. We observed them for a good half hour before venturing down the road for our last four miles.
The past few nights we have been running into the same two older guys and we all had heard about this Mexican restaurant (La Bodequita) from someone else and we were all headed there at the same time, so we ended up having dinner with them. They were very nice guys and later after dinner we ended up playing Bananagrams with them too. This was a great day, just sad that today was our third to last day of the tour.
Our total distance for the tour is 986.06 miles. Tomorrow we will hit 1,000!! Mileage for the day was 48.8 and elevation was 3,751 feet.
More information and pictures for Day 21 located Here!
Friday 28 Aug 2015 20:08
Day 22: We started the day off, as usual, around 9:30 am. It was a GREAT DAY because we surpassed the 1,000 miles mark (total includes the extras of riding into town for supplies or around the campgrounds; not the exact distance from point A to point B, etc.,…)!
The day offered up some great scenery. We stopped in Tomales at Tomales Bakery for a quick coffee and snack just after the rolling hills and hitting our thousand miles achievement. We wanted something to celebrate it with and their baked goods helped! While we were there, we saw a lot of other cyclists, however, they were not touring by bike, but rather training for an ironman. It was pretty cool to see the differences in our bikes compared to theirs.
We quickly hopped back on the bikes and continued south. For this part of the ride we just really took it slow to take it all in knowing that tomorrow would be our last day of cycling Pacific Coast Highway bike route from Seattle to San Francisco. With our last night on the road, we knew we wanted to have some wine and good food, so when we noticed that the last place to pick up provisions was 8 miles away in Point Reyes, we got a bit down. But knowing it was our last night we bucked up and loaded our bikes down with wine, food, and snacks!
The last 8 miles were brutal and extremely pretty. Entering Samuel P. Taylor State Park was a great campground to end our last night. We ended up eating great food, drinking wine, and playing games late into the night as tomorrow would only be a 35-mile day.
Mileage for the day was 42.1 and elevation was 2,482 feet. Our total distance for the tour is 1,028.16 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 22 located Here!
Saturday 29 Aug 2015 15:11
Day 23: The final hurrah! Today we started the day a little slower, leaving around 10 am. It was nice though because we met a nice couple who had come into the park for the night from San Francisco and shared a couple of laughs and some coffee with. They gave us some pointers and advice on what to see and do while we had a couple of days in San Francisco before heading off to see the grandparents and attend a wedding in Sacramento the following weekend.
The journey into the city was something special for us. It allowed us to look back and reflect on all the miles that had passed. We are so thankful for all the memories we got to share along the way. It was something that wasn’t easy and that we both couldn’t have been able to do on our own. But with undertaking such a monumental achievement of cycling the Pacific Coast from Seattle to San Francisco on our road bikes completely unsupported, it yielded some kind of self-achievement that nothing we have ever done before has given us.
Nothing else compares to it. Is this something that we want to do right away again? No! But in the future doing the same coast route or something different. YES! A thousand times, YES! We wouldn’t change a single moment of this journey for anything. We met some incredible people that will most certainly be lifelong friends and we can’t wait for what our future has for us! Next stop, Scotland… well in January 2016 that is!
Mileage for the day was 34.03 and elevation was 2,281 feet. Our total distance for the tour is 1,062.19 miles.
More information and pictures for Day 23 located Here!
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was one of the best trips/journeys/challenges/adventures we have ever done. If you are on the fence about attempting a cycle touring trip, regardless of where it’s at, we say JUST DO IT! There will definitely be times where all you want to do is give up and throw in the towel, but once you arrive at your next stop, take off your cycling gear, get a shower, and are sitting by a warm fire, you’ll be sure to say, it’s all been worth it!
The challenges faced, the people met, the food tried, the muscles inflamed; the good, the bad, the ugly; everything will all come together and make it one of the best experiences of your life. You will be wanting to do it again. Just like us. We just can’t decide on another trip. Do we pick up where we left off and go from San Francisco to the US/Mexico border, find a route in the central US or east coast, or do we go somewhere on a totally different continent?
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