Stephen: To your specific question, I suggest 35 mm as a minimum for loaded touring and my personal preference is Schwalbe Marathon Supremes but as you can see others have had good success with other brands as well.
Some info on routing & resources: Anne is spot-on in her assessment of 101 thru Arcata & Eureka. As you enter Arcata from the north, exit Giuntoli Ln and go right. I believe there is a visitors center about where Giuntoli bends left and becomes James Rd. This is the bike route into Arcata. I guarantee you'll meet some interesting characters there! The bike route is Highway 255 Samoa Blvd around Arcata Bay. 255 makes a left and goes over a large bridge to reach Eureka and the bike route is signed thru Eureka, avoiding 101 until the edge of town. If you have time before leaving, get the Humboldt Bay Area bike map from Natural Resources Services, 904 G St, Eureka, 95505 (j...@rcaa.org); tel 707-445-0884. Don't miss Ferndale (south of Eureka / Arcata). It's the gateway to the Lost Coast, which connects to Fort Bragg. In San Francisco, stay at the Hostel International at Fisherman's Wharf (actually in Ft Mason). It has decent access to public transportation and locked bike storage. The downtown hostel has no provision for bikes. Rates are the same and of course you meet wonderful people at hostels. As you come off the GG bridge, follow the bike route signs inland along the marina. Ft Mason is on the first rise you'll come to and is only a mile or 2 from the bridge. When you leave San Francisco, head back toward the GG bridge and hug the coastline rather than go thru the city. Find the Great Highway and head south. Take jog off into Golden Gate Park if you haven't visited already. Anne's caution about the Devil's Slide is well founded. Unless you are comfortable in heavy traffic with no shoulder, it's not advisable. However, the really hairy part is less than 2 miles long (but is climbing!) so if you hit it mid-day you're not in it too long. The option is to take Highway 35 inland (where 35 & 1 cross). 35 is Skyline Blvd. and has a frontage road where it's limited access. It runs along a ridgeline so has a great view. You can drop back onto 1 either on 92 into Half Moon Bay or take Canada Blvd to Woodside as Anne noted. The hostel at Montara is especially cool and IIRC about 12-14 miles north of Half Moon Bay. There is another hostel at Pigeon Point but I haven't stayed there. When you get to Monterey there is a hostel right in town, just a short walk from the aquarium. It's reasonably priced and has bike lockers. Unless you absolutely positively have to ride every mile, I suggest hopping the train across LA to Orange County. You can catch Amtrak in Ventura, Simi Valley, etc. and start riding again in Santa Ana or Irvine. Amtrak only has 3 bike spots per car and can be arbitrary about handling your bike as luggage. A cheaper and more user friendly system is Metrolink (the commuter rail system, sharing the same tracks). Metro goes as far up as the east end of Ventura but has more stops. Both lines run thru Union Station in downtown LA so if some LA sights are in your plan that works. Metrolink tickets also work on the LA Metro subway line. Do your homework on crossing LA before you start. It's size makes it more challenging than other big cities. Hope I haven't exceeded a maximum word count! Let me know if you have questions or want more info. dougP On Nov 16, 8:54 am, Anne Paulson <anne.paul...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 3:40 PM, Stephen <recycle...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > 1) I'm riding down the coast of California all of December and January > > on my AHH. I'm allowing plenty of time to find adventures and make > > friends. Any of you interested in that? I'll be in Crescent City on > > the 1st, and the San Fransisco area a few weeks later, and hopefully > > San Diego by the end of January. This group of people seems to be full > > of good ideas, so I'm open to any suggestions about anything. > > I just rode most of that route a few weeks ago. 35 mm Paselas worked > wonderfully for me, no flats. I only had two flats when I rode across > the US on 35 mm Paselas. On that ride I ended up doing plenty of dirt > roads. > > South of Eureka, I strongly suggest riding the Unknown Coast instead > of staying inland. You won't be sorry. > > The Adventure Cycling maps are better than the book. There are several > places where the book routes the cyclist on the freeway but the AC > route is off the freeway. > > From Arcata to Eureka, both AC and the book route you on Highway 101, > on the east side of Arcata Bay. All the local cyclists seem to take a > different route, down the west side of Arcata Bay and over the Samoa > bridge. I suggest going with the locals. You'll probably have to ask > around. Arcata, which is a college town, seems to be full of cyclists > and has several bike shops where you could ask. > > Since you have plenty of time, south of Point Reyes Station, don't > take Sir Francis Drake Road. Instead, continue south on Highway One > and take either Bolinas-Fairfax Road (fantastic) or Panoramic Highway > (pretty darn good). > > South of San Francisco, between Pacifica and Montara, both book and AC > route the cyclist over Devil's Slide, a busy, narrow, no-shoulder, > hilly, twisty route. Do not start Devil's Slide after 3 pm on a > weekday. I did it starting around 4 on a Thursday, and thought I was > going to die: no shoulder, constant traffic at 50 mph, twists and > turns meaning bad sight lines. My recommendation: skip Devil's Slide > entirely. Instead, go inland to Woodside, and take Old La Honda or > Kings Mountain back to the coast. > > From San Luis Obispo, head inland to the Santa Ynez Valley and Solvang > rather than following the coast and again having to take 101. In the > summer, the valley is scorching, but you will find cooler weather. > > -- > -- Anne Paulson > > He who wills the ends wills the means --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
