Boise to San Francisco bicycle route

[Jim S.]

Hi, I understand that I can use Google or other sources to research a preferable route. But I was wondering if anyone in the group has done all or part of this ride? I"d be curious about routes you chose, etc. 

Thank you for any ideas.

[Wesley]

I rode down the Pacific coast about a decade ago, and now live in Sacramento. I'd definitely prefer to hit the coast in the north (even follow the Columbia to the coast?) or cross the Sierra near Tahoe, rather than coming down the Central Valley. Other than that, not a lot to add. Are you looking to ride roads the whole way, or use trails/gravel roads?

-Wes

[John A. Bennett]

I rode & camped from Fort Bragg  to San Diego in 2000.

The book reviewed herein, which is still available, was very helpful.

Not sure when it was last updated, but as the song says,

"The road goes on forever...:

https://www.pacific-coast-highway-travel.com/Bicycling-the-Pacific-Coast-Book-Review.html

[Jeffrey Arita]

We rode the TransAmerica route in 2016, starting from Astoria, Oregon, EB to Yorktown, VA.  You could start from Boise heading WB, connecting to the TransAm route near Austin, Oregon (I saw some red heat maps along Highway 26, starting at Vale, Oregon on ridewithgps).  Then head WB on the TransAm to the coast.  There is a fantastic hostel in Mitchell, Oregon (Spoke'N Hostel).  They will even drive you up to see the painted hills!  The stretch from Sisters, Oregon to McKenzie Pass is otherworldly (no spoilers).  Definitely worth doing at least once.  Since you are headed WB, you will have one heckuva downhill from McKenzie Pass.  You will reach the west coast and then connect to the Pacific Coast route SB to SF.  The capes along the Oregon Coast are beautiful.  Redwoods in Northern California.  Coastal views are beautiful.  Source is Adventure Cycling Association (ACA).  Their hard-copy maps leave much to be desired but they more often than not have valuable information (water, food, lodging/camping).

The other option is find a way to ACA's 'Western Express' (WE) route.  We rode part of the WE in June (Carson City, NV to Cedar City, UT).  The primary problem is finding suitable water sources and carrying enough food for several days?  We aren't familiar with Highway 95 SB, so it could be dodgy with tractor trailers.  Also, dependng upon season, south of Winnemucca along Grass Valley Road could be difficult (water, heat, wind) before you actually connect to the WE (loneliest highway in the US).  The prevailing winds are from the west, so you would be likely heading into a headwind.  On one of our (EB) segments (Carson City -> Fallon) we had a fantastic tailwind + it was slightly downhill: it only took us 4H 2M to cover 61 miles fully loaded. 

Have fun!

Jeff

Claremont, CA

On Monday, October 23, 2023 at 3:07:37 PM UTC-7 Jim S. wrote:

[Steven Sweedler]

I have two copies of this book if anyone wants one for shipping. 

Steven Sweedler
Plymouth, New Hampshire

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[velomann]

If I was doing this ride, this is what I would do (I've ridden significant parts of this myself):

From Boise, take Hwy 26 into Oregon and to Austin Junction (between Baker City and John Day.) At that point you're on the Adventure Cycling Trans-Am route, which you can follow west to Florence on the coast. Make sure you time your riding for at least one night at the Spoke'n Hostel in Mitchell, OR, near the Painted Hills. Or alternately, depending on how direct you want your route to be, you can head north from Boise to Kooskia and hook up with the Lewis and Clark route and follow that through Portland to Astoria - More miles, but this route allows you to ride the whole Oregon coast instead of just the southern half from Florence. Either option puts you on the Pacific Coast route all the way to the Bay Area, which I much prefer over any other way to get there. This summer I'll probably be doing the Florence to SF section, with a definite goal to ride the Lost Coast alternate in Northern CA.

Michael Mann

[Shawn Granton]

On Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 6:41:42 AM UTC-7 RBW Owners Bunch wrote:

The book reviewed herein, which is still available, was very helpful.
Not sure when it was last updated, but as the song says,

"The road goes on forever...:
https://www.pacific-coast-highway-travel.com/Bicycling-the-Pacific-Coast-Book-Review.html

The book got updated in 2018 by a new author Bill Thorness. I highly recommend looking for the Thorness edition with the slightly revised title Cycling The Pacific Coast instead of the older Kirkendall/Spring editions. The old books were good for their time, but the new edition is magnitudes better in my opinion.

I wrote about it here:

https://urbanadventureleague.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/a-new-edition-of-the-cycling-the-pacific-coast-book-is-out/

Best,

Shawn in the PDX

 

[Shawn Granton]

On Monday, October 23, 2023 at 8:25:19 PM UTC-7 RBW Owners Bunch wrote:

I rode down the Pacific coast about a decade ago, and now live in Sacramento. I'd definitely prefer to hit the coast in the north (even follow the Columbia to the coast?) 

I would not recommend riding east to west in the Columbia River Valley in summer, at least from east of Portland. The wind is reliably out of the west here, and it is fierce. On a previous tour out that way (east of Biggs Jct) I ended up riding westbound through here, and I was pedaling hard into the downhills.

Shawn in PDX 

[Steven Sweedler]

I ride from Seattle to SF in ‘96. I camped at state parks and stayed in the hiker/biker sites and was overwhelmed (in a good way) with how many cyclists I met from around the world and it seemedeveryone had a copy of “the book” by Kirkendall and Spring. 

Steven Sweedler
Plymouth, New Hampshire

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[rlti...@gmail.com]

That was my experience as well when I did the Pacific Coast tour in 2000. I live in San Diego so I basically flew up to BC and rode home. The book was a great help on that ride.

Robert Tilley

San Diego, CA

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 25, 2023, at 11:58 AM, Steven Sweedler <swee...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Jim S.]

thank you to all for the excellent, helpful responses so far.

[Keith Paugh]

I’ll add my appreciation to all the responses too.

I’m planning (actively thinking about) a trip down the California coast for next fall, and your thoughts and insight are super helpful.

I’ve dug out my Spring/Kirkendell edition of “Bicycling” & put a hold on Thorness’ “Cycling” at the library.

k.

On Oct 25, 2023, at 12:30 PM, Jim S. <jjsi...@gmail.com> wrote:

thank you to all for the excellent, helpful responses so far.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3e65c9cf-bc0a-4cc5-896f-811ee50335b7n%40googlegroups.com.

[Joe Bunik]

That sounds fantastic, Jeffrey.

While attending University of Oregon, we explored the eastern OR /
US-26 zone once and it was spectacular. Alas, it has been far too long
since I've been out that way! Now THAT may be a goal worth setting...

Thanks for reminding me
Joe Bunik
Walnut Creek, CA

On 10/24/23, Jeffrey Arita <jeffre...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We rode the TransAmerica route in 2016, starting from Astoria, Oregon, EB
> to Yorktown, VA. You could start from Boise heading WB, connecting to the
> TransAm route near Austin, Oregon (I saw some red heat maps along Highway
> 26, starting at Vale, Oregon on ridewithgps). Then head WB on the TransAm
> to the coast. There is a fantastic hostel in Mitchell, Oregon (Spoke'N

> Hostel). They will even *drive *you up to see the painted hills! The

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