Pacific Coast Highway Magazine Article

[Joe Nardy]

Cathy and I are getting ready to do a 'bucket list' tour of the Pacific Coast Highway and surrounding roads. Some years ago one of the motorcycle magazines did a three part article on the PCH and other great roads associated with it. Does anyone remember which magazine this article was printed in? Better yet, does anyone happen to have the issues which contain the articles? Any information or copies of the article would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[mriddle]

Enjoy and have a safe trip - that is on my list too.

 

[Big T]

Joe,

I'm assuming you're talking about Hwy 1 from LA to Leggett?

I don't have the magazines, but most of that info is online. I'm sure if you checked at BARF (Bay Area Rider Forum) that they have routes posted somewhere.

Or, they must have sites like this

http://www.oregonmotorcyclist.com/

For California

 

[Steve]

Check with Tim Tom, he just rode a good portion of it.

.

 

[Tim Tom]

Check with Tim Tom, he just rode a good portion of it.

.

I just rode almost all of it . From the northern tip to Pismo Beach. We skipped the mess of LA.


First and foremost. DO NOT go there on the weekend. We spend two days on the PCH, one a friday, and one a Saturday. The Saturday traffic was horrendous, especially considering we had the road to ourselves pretty much the day before.

Secondly I'd recommend riding it from north to south if you can, this way the Pacific ocean is on your right, and you don't have to cross traffic to get to the many scenic vistas. And trust me, you will want to. The views are incredible.

Thirdly, take the extra time and go a bit further north to the Redwood National Forest. It's absolutely incredible, and well worth seeing. From there you can take Hwy 101 south, its not really a highway at this point, and still enjoyable to ride.

BE sure to pop off 101 and ride the Ave of the Giants through Humboldt St Park. It's a fun road that parallels 101, but you are surrounded by enormous ancient sequoias. It is very cool.

About 30 miles south of Humboldt St. Park you can pick up the start of Rt. 1 and its probably the most fun to ride. It is a 30 mile ROLLER COASTER of a road that takes you right to Ft Bragg and the coast. A few turns are so tight they are actually marked 10 mph!

Once you get to the PCH, the corners open up a bit, but are still a blast. The speed limit is 55 and you'd be having all sorts of fun trying to average that speed over the road. Plus it is pretty hard to beat the view.

I hope you don't mind if I post up some pictures of the areas I'm talking about.



Ladybird Johnson Grove, Orick CA (about 60 miles south of Oregon)

Ave of the Giants (Humboldt St. Park)

Oh yeah, you can do this too... It's a bit touristy, but I figured "Hey, when is the next time I'll be here...:

The super fun section of Rt 1 before you get to Ft. Bragg (not my photo, stole from Google maps)

Sample of the PCH. This is one of the more mundane stretches....

Just the average view from the PCH!!!

This should be on every riders bucket-list. It was awesome. How were you getting there? Gonna ride from Chigaco (you could be there in about 4 days of super-slabbing, or about 5 days of more fun backroads) or were you going to fly in and either rent or ship a bike there?

If you do fly in, I'd look into NOT flying in from LA if you can. Perhaps flying into Portland, and flying out of LA on the way home. The traffic gets absurd around LA, and it's generally a zoo.

Ohh yeah, be sure to pack some raingear! The mornings tend to be a bit foggy and wet near the coast, but it is usually burned off by 10 am or so. Dressing in layers is your friend. I was wearing long johns, under armor, a t-shirt, and a thick flannel under my leathers and I was never uncomfortably warm on the coast.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask here, or in a PM. I'd be happy to share my experiences.

 

[Joe Nardy]

I just rode almost all of it . From the northern tip to Pismo Beach. We skipped the mess of LA.


First and foremost. DO NOT go there on the weekend. We spend two days on the PCH, one a friday, and one a Saturday. The Saturday traffic was horrendous, especially considering we had the road to ourselves pretty much the day before.

Secondly I'd recommend riding it from north to south if you can, this way the Pacific ocean is on your right, and you don't have to cross traffic to get to the many scenic vistas. And trust me, you will want to. The views are incredible.

Thirdly, take the extra time and go a bit further north to the Redwood National Forest. It's absolutely incredible, and well worth seeing. From there you can take Hwy 101 south, its not really a highway at this point, and still enjoyable to ride.

BE sure to pop off 101 and ride the Ave of the Giants through Humboldt St Park. It's a fun road that parallels 101, but you are surrounded by enormous ancient sequoias. It is very cool.

About 30 miles south of Humboldt St. Park you can pick up the start of Rt. 1 and its probably the most fun to ride. It is a 30 mile ROLLER COASTER of a road that takes you right to Ft Bragg and the coast. A few turns are so tight they are actually marked 10 mph!

Once you get to the PCH, the corners open up a bit, but are still a blast. The speed limit is 55 and you'd be having all sorts of fun trying to average that speed over the road. Plus it is pretty hard to beat the view.

This should be on every riders bucket-list. It was awesome. How were you getting there? Gonna ride from Chigaco (you could be there in about 4 days of super-slabbing, or about 5 days of more fun backroads) or were you going to fly in and either rent or ship a bike there?

If you do fly in, I'd look into NOT flying in from LA if you can. Perhaps flying into Portland, and flying out of LA on the way home. The traffic gets absurd around LA, and it's generally a zoo.

Ohh yeah, be sure to pack some raingear! The mornings tend to be a bit foggy and wet near the coast, but it is usually burned off by 10 am or so. Dressing in layers is your friend. I was wearing long johns, under armor, a t-shirt, and a thick flannel under my leathers and I was never uncomfortably warm on the coast.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask here, or in a PM. I'd be happy to share my experiences.

Tim-Tom,

Thanks for the tips. We will be shipping the FJR to Medford OR where we have some friends who own a shop (Hansen's BBW/Triumph/Ducati). We will spend a couple days riding with them to Crater Lake and other places in the area before heading north to Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. We're also going to do a jet boat dinner tour of Hellgate Canyon while we're there. We want to get into Washington so we'll likely ride along the Washington side of the Columbia River to the coast and catch a bit of the Washington PCH. From there we'll head south and ride as many side roads as possible while we wind our way to the LA area. We have friends (GSR and non-GSR) in the area and hope to ride some of the famous roads in the area like Mulholland Drive and the Angeles Crest Highway. We will drop the bike off at an Allied Van Lines terminal near LA and fly back to Chicago after two awesome weeks of riding.

We have gear well covered, Aerostich suits, heated vests, gloves (Cathy), and grips (me). The FJR is an awesome two-up sport tourer and we will enjoy as many twisty roads as we can fit in while intentionally keeping a very loose schedule.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Joe Nardy]

Joe,

I'm assuming you're talking about Hwy 1 from LA to Leggett?

I don't have the magazines, but most of that info is online. I'm sure if you checked at BARF (Bay Area Rider Forum) that they have routes posted somewhere.

Or, they must have sites like this

http://www.oregonmotorcyclist.com/

For California

Big T,

Actually Rt. 1 and 101 from Astoria OR to LA. I know there a ton of resources out there but the motorcycle magazine article seemed to be the most comprehensive resource around. I'd really like to have a copy for this trip.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[bccap]

Your going all the way to the west coast and give us a miss ? You're off my Christmas card list.

 

[Tim Tom]

Joe,

That sounds like a fantastic trip. Another road you should look into is Rt 299 from Eureka to Redding. It's a fantastic road that cuts through some very cool river valleys and canyons. At some places you even get to go under huge rail-road bridges that span the canyons. It's a lot of fun, and well worth the detour.

Your doing the smart thing by shipping the bike. Trust me. Not to much to see between Chicago and California... Flat and straight the whole way...

Tim

 

[Joe Nardy]

Your going all the way to the west coast and give us a miss ? You're off my Christmas card list.

Wow! That's harsh! We have a lot of time but unfortunately not enough time to get up your way. We would love to meet up with any GSR members along the way but also need to keep making some southward progress. C'mon down to Astoria and we'll buy you lunch.........

Joe

 

[bccap]

Wow! That's harsh! We have a lot of time but unfortunately not enough time to get up your way. We would love to meet up with any GSR members along the way but also need to keep making some southward progress. C'mon down to Astoria and we'll buy you lunch.........

Joe

Well...... I'll let it go this time. But I still think it's like going to Paris and skipping The Louvre. Of course I could be slightly biased ? Have a great trip.

 

[Big T]

Tim-Tom,

Thanks for the tips. We will be shipping the FJR to Medford OR where we have some friends who own a shop (Hansen's BBW/Triumph/Ducati). We will spend a couple days riding with them to Crater Lake and other places in the area before heading north to Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. We're also going to do a jet boat dinner tour of Hellgate Canyon while we're there. We want to get into Washington so we'll likely ride along the Washington side of the Columbia River to the coast and catch a bit of the Washington PCH. From there we'll head south and ride as many side roads as possible while we wind our way to the LA area. We have friends (GSR and non-GSR) in the area and hope to ride some of the famous roads in the area like Mulholland Drive and the Angeles Crest Highway. We will drop the bike off at an Allied Van Lines terminal near LA and fly back to Chicago after two awesome weeks of riding.

We have gear well covered, Aerostich suits, heated vests, gloves (Cathy), and grips (me). The FJR is an awesome two-up sport tourer and we will enjoy as many twisty roads as we can fit in while intentionally keeping a very loose schedule.

Thanks,
Joe

Joe, you can travel from near Crater Lake via the Oregon West Cascades Scenic Byway from Oakridge to Detroit and then on to Mt Hood (if you know where to make that turn, I do). You will want to go to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood. Windy Ridge on Mt St Helens is another must see, but you need most of the day to do it, and it has to be snow free (july-September)

Let me know when you area coming out and I can clue you in to some other great roads in my area and around the Coast ( 3 Capes Scenic Loop, the Pelican Brewpub). Hwy 101 in OR will be slow moving with Tourists and you'll be wanting to pull over and look at stuff, so toss the Mapquest times out the window.

Hope to see you whenever you come. Check out that link I sent you

 

[Sandy]

The Oregon coast is one of my all time favourite places. We don't usually get much south of the Redwoods. Just a little too busy, still a must see though. After numerous previous trips and too many years of not going we've been down there about 5 times in the last 3 years either with buddies on motorcycles or with my wife in the RV. When are you going, how much time do you have and are you camping or moteling? Newport has become one of our places to spend a few days every trip. If you're into this sort of thing they have an incredible Ocean Science Research Centre that's open to the public there and is a NOAA headquarters. If you're into seafood don't get sucked into Mo's billboards but rather try the local restuarants. A great one is called Local Oceans at the far end of the waterfront in Newport and another one called Dory something, a few miles south of Lincoln City. Then there's the brew pubs, my favourite is The Pelican in Pacific City, they make a great IPA and they're right on the beach. Another thing to take in are the tidal pools, great sunsets and lighthouses. Sooooooo much to see, sooooooo little time. All photos were taken while in Newport. Enjoy your trip.


Sunset North of Newport 2 by soates50, on Flickr

 

[conrail]

I did not find your article but I came across this and thought it might be helpful.
http://pashnit.com/roads/cal/Hwy1BigSur.htm

 

[Redman]

.......................http://pashnit.com/roads/cal/Hwy1BigSur.htm

Joe went in September,
and posted this
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=199116

.

 

[tkent02]

The best part of the coast is the part in Oregon and Washington. Don't cut yourself short.

 

[Guest]

Where's all this at?

 

[Kris V]

Make sure you go in either spring or fall. Summer is usually really foggy and wet. I used to live in Monterey and some of the best clear weather was in spring and fall going up and down PCH. Bring wet weather gear. You know what that saying is around San Francisco..."The coldest winter I have ever experienced is a summer in San Francisco" This is very true.

 

[Rockgs1000]

that is an amazing ride, rode to it from arkansas rode it from florence OR down to San Dieago and then back to Arkansas, all those miles i can garuntee the PCH was the best, We even caught Yellow stone, The black hills, Bear tooth pass, badlands, and several scenic roads and places along the way, after the PCH we rode to hover damn and grand canyon, then home. We found hwy242 by accident in ORegan which is also a very great road, going near the three sisters and through a lava field it was pretty awesome sights, The fog was bad in the morning up in Oregan and northern california as well, it was cold rides till it got out of there. Hwy 1 in my opinion was the best the first 30 miles or so getting to the coast was one of the best roads ever made for a motorcycle, I dragged more chrome of the bottom of my pipes on that road than i ever could anywhere else, I accidently dragged my engine guard on the road and popped on of the reflectors off the highway into my lap, some corners the cliff wall is right in your face when it is an inside corner and on the outside corners it is just the opposite. One thing i can say about that area cars for the most part do pull over and let the two wheels go by . I will agree it should be on every individuals list to take this road once in their life. It is amazing!!!!!