Santa Cruz trip suggestions

Hi!

I will be visiting a friend in Santa Cruz next month for a few weeks and am hoping to do quite a bit of riding.

Planning to go up and down the coast as far as I can get in a day.

Any other suggestions for inland trips? Maybe Napa.

Thanks!

-Henry

Welcome.

Sooooooooo much to ride in that area!

Try this:

https://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/Hwy1BigSur.htm

Many more roads on this site as well.

Just FYI; HYW 1 is really only good in 2 sections; this Big Sur parts is great. After that, head to Bodega Bay & head N, its GREAT all the way to Ligget.

Have a great time!

You need to make a side trip to Pescadero. Archangeli's bakery has some of the best 1/2 baked breads anywhere, and they have a lot of artisan goods too.

Archangeli Grocery

287 Stage Road
Pescadero, CA 94060

(650) 879-0147


https://maps.google.com/maps?q=287+Stage+Road+Pescadero,+CA+94060+(650)+879-0147&hl=en&ll=37.253936,-122.383339&spn=0.009342,0.014141&sll=37.253315,-122.383136&sspn=0.001176,0.001768&hq=(650)+879-0147&hnear=287+Stage+Rd,+Pescadero,+California+94060&t=m&z=16&iwloc=B

I'm sure Tyler, JB and other locals with chime in, but on my to do list is Skyline drive, stopping by Alices' Restaurant. I've heard it's a tad busy on weekends so try for a weekday for fewer encounters with cages and squids.

https://www.alicesrestaurant.com/

Napa's nice for sure (the Wine Country generally).

As far as the coast goes, from Santa Cruz you can head straight up north on Hwy 1, over the GGB, and continue on north along the coast, getting quite far in a day. South from Santa Cruz is Big Sur (which I've got a ride planned for mid-February, starting with a rendezvous in Santa Cruz).

The thing to keep in mind about Hwy 1 is...don't be in a hurry. On weekends there can be a lot of cars cruising the sights, and it can get frustrating on a bike, leading to the potential to make poor passing decisions. Be particularly aware of cars pulling across your path on blind curves to cut into look-out spots (more of an issue when you're going south).

Also from Santa Cruz is the Bay Area and its roads and sights / sites.

JB

Here is one route that should give you a good flavor of what's around. There are a ton of other roads that can be added to the mix but this has some of my favorites. Pescadero is good for food or Alice's Restaurant or Cameron's Pub on Hwy 1 in Half Moon Bay. If you stop at Alice's, right across the street is STP (Skywood Trading Post) which is where pretty much everyone stops to ogle each others bikes and shoot the breeze. Be forewarned, this particular route includes several "goat" roads so stay to the right and watch for dirt/leaves in the turns. I'll come up with a couple of others too if you're interested.

Depending on when you'll be riding, I'd be happy to tow you around for a bit should my schedule allow. B)

Very close to Santa Cruz, we enjoyed Big Basin Redwoods. We loved the Monterey aquarium, 1/2 a day at least. We loved the ride down to San Simeon and Morrow bay if you have time. We went inland and spent 2 days in Sequoia, we spent 2 days in Yosemite. These were primarily riding days, not hiking. We hit Mono lake and came back across on 108 Sonora Pass.

The only issue I had was to look at a map and see that the route is just 200 miles without fully appreciating that with all the switchbacks and hairpins that true ground speed would seldom get up to 40 mph and often was under 30 mph while riding as hard as can be done 2 up.

In a week and a half we were able to see and do about 0.01% of what we wanted. Right now we are planning Central CA Take II this fall.

Recently did mount Hamilton, that's a fun ride, but watch out for sand on the road.

Some info I wrote up for another forum member that might be handy.

And there is a ton of info in WheatonFJR's thread from 2011 when he and airboss came out for what became affectionately termed "The Illinois Rolling Clusterfeck"... :lol:

Wow! Thanks for all the info everyone. Much appreciated.

I better get my map out and start studying

Tyler, I will ping you when I have my dates. It is always more fun to ride with a local.

Doesn't get much better than following Tyler, she knows all the good stuff.

Tyler said:

Here is one route that should give you a good flavor of what's around.

Click to expand...

Henry and I will be riding this Sunday... details forthcoming but please post up if you're interested in joining us! B)

Work makes donnie a dull boy.

dcarver said:

Work makes donnie a dull boy.

Click to expand...

Met up with Henry and his friend, Ted, and led them on a merry romp through some San Jose backroads... easy day and we spent more time talking than we did riding so I think Henry will need to be inducted into the CBA (Candy Butt Association) for a 50-miles in 5 hours ride! He's definitely taking notes as he and his family may be moving out to CA sometime in the future! B)

thats the only pic????

R

Fairlaner said:

thats the only pic????
R

Click to expand...

I'm sure Henry will have a few but he's been out riding pretty much every day and doesn't have any wifi where he's staying in the evening...

Got back home on Monday after a wonderful three and a half weeks! Unfortunately I did not have access to a PC and my iPhone did not want to log into the forum.

Tyler was awesome in providing me with routs all the time. Thanks Tyler!

Did day trips from Watsonville from the 15th to the 24th of February. Then rode to Sacramento where I visited a high school friend for five days. After that decided to travel down to San Diego (over three days) to visit my in-laws for three days. And then two days back to Watsonville. Did not want to push my luck too much with the wife so headed back home.

Total of about 4500 miles and I am quite comfy on the FJR now (for a new rider anyway).

Still enjoying my time between jobs and planning to head out again in the near future.