This is a report that went up to rec.bicycles.rides on Oct. 2/96 *Greg* (This started out to be brief, but I got carried away.) Vancouver B.C. to SanFrancisco California ========================================= August 25th to Sept 5th Summary: ======= 1150 miles in 11 days is a reasonably aggressive pace for this trip. I am certainly not recommending this pace to anyone, but this is the pace that I am comfortable with and that I enjoy. I am on the road for the riding 1st, the scenery 2nd and camping and the other sights as a 3rd. Rather than post a day-by-day account of my trip, what I'll do is type out just the highlights and if you want anymore info, you can email me directly. I've posted stats for the trip at the bottom for anyone who is interested. Note: your mileage will vary, your attitude will vary and your weather will certainly vary. I didn't get any rain the whole trip. I had fog and cool weather, but after all my last bicycle trips and vacations, I was due some good weather. Who I am ======== I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, which is in the mid-eastern part of the country. ie. definitely no ocean views. For those familiar with the U.S. it's north of the State of New York. We get cold winters -30 to -40 in the deep part of January and warm summers. Hence, our cycling season is shorter than most. I like to make the most of the days that I can get out. I've got 7 bicycles and of course a Unicycle, so I guess that you can say that I'm a fanatic. I'm not interested in racing, and I can't tell you who won the last Tour D France. (or any of them for that matter). I'm 36 and not in great shape, I don't work out, I don't smoke, I just like to ride! My Bike ====== I ride an old Nishiki Continental touring bike. It's got a 13-32 on the back and a 48-40-30 on the front. I didn't have to use my granny gear the whole trip. I used to use it quite often, but I now find it easier on my back and legs to stand up when I go up the hills rather than grind up. The Trip ======== I decided on the Vancouver to San Francisco trip this year, as I love the west coast. Last year's tour was around B.C. and Washington, and I've done the trip from SanFran to Los Angeles another year. So, this was the last section to do on the west coast. (with the exception of L.A. to the Mexican border). I had 2 weeks vacation to use, and thought it would be a blast. I use the book "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" - A Complete Route Guide, Canada to Mexico; Tom Kirkendall and Vicky Spring. This book is a little out of date, but is quite valuable. Others were riding with this and/or the bikecentenial maps. (anyone know the new name and a web address of BikeCentenial?) I flew into Vancouver with my bike in a plastic bag and my panniers in a duffel bag. I've boxed up my bike on previous trips and bagged it on others and it doesn't seem to matter, something gets damaged. Last year, I boxed up the bike and the box came back looking like it had been dragged behind the plane the whole way. Some airlines don't let you bag bikes, but AirCanada does. Anyway, nothing was damaged this time. I was picked up at the airport by a friend and I spent the day drinking, talking and putting the bike together. (Note: it's not always a good idea to consume enough drinks for 4 people, the night before a tour!) Getting out of Vancouver was easy enough, but a City map certainly helped things out. I ended up at the George Massey Tunnel south of Vancouver, (Richmond to Delta) where you and your bike need to be transported via a van and trailer to the other side of the tunnel. The transportation dept. pays someone to take people through on a semi-regular schedule at no charge. If memory serves me correctly, they are: 8:00 A.M. 9:00, 11:00 1:00 ... etc. The ride is only about 10 minutes and it would be a drag to just miss it. Try http://www2.portal.ca/vanbike/local/forbid.htm for a schedule for this bus. From the other side, it's an easy ride to the ferry at Tsawwassen ferry. I can't remember the exact distance, but it was less than around 1/2 hour. Ferry schedules can be gotten from the BC Ferries Web Page: http://vvv.com/ferries/ A short ride from the Ferry terminal at Swartz Bay on a reasonably busy road into Victoria. A short visit with a friend and then off to the ferry terminal to get to Port Angeles, Washington. Ferry schedules to/from Port Angeles and Victoria can be located on Web Page: http://www.olympus.net/gettingAbout/ferryPortAngeles.html Note: If you take the Victoria Express, you'll have to take everything off your bike, as they stow bikes on the deck and put the "luggage" in another spot. They put everything on the boat and then unload it at the other end. I was not impressed at the end, as they threw all the panniers around like they were luggage. My panniers were not packed in such a way that they were gorilla proof. They were not intended to come off the bike till the end of the day. Anyway, if you take the Coho, you can just wheel your bike on and off without any problems. Outside of Port Angeles is a big climb from sea level, so be prepared. I traveled out and to the end of Lake Crescent. Of note here is the sign post that is at the start of Lake Crescent. Sign post: ========= "Cyclists Read Notice: Please use caution while traveling the next ten miles The road is very winding with no shoulders. Many trucks and Recreational Vehicles use this section of road. Please pull off the roadway and allow traffic to pass whenever possible. Remember Sight Distance is limited because of the curvature of the road and the speed difference between vehicles and bicycles may cause vehicles to come upon bicycles without warning." I had arranged to go through this section on a Sunday night to avoid all traffic. I did this section the year before in the middle of the day and it is somewhat scary, but not as difficult as you may think. Lake Crescent is really beautiful and there's a campsite at the West end. No showers ! I stayed at the campground at Humptulips the next night and it was awful. (Riverview Campground) $7 for the night, which comes with incredibly dirty showers, and no toilet paper in the morning. The campground seems to have attracted settlers in the area and most people looked like they had made this their permanent home for their trailers and motor homes. There seemed to besome sort of contest going on to see who could have the loudest dog, and the most junk piled up around their site. In my travels around the U.S., I have seen lots of private campgrounds turned into vagabond homesites and I just don't understand it. I suppose it's a cheaper way to live than having a permanent apartment or home. I think this is an American phenomena. I was concerned about the weather and the time, so I headed straight south and took a shortcut(?) from Humptulips through Abardeen to Raymond. This was a mistake, as the route from Abardeen to Raymond incredibly hilly and under construction. I suppose that I should have known when someone driving a car said that it was quite a climb. I suppose that it wouldn't have been bad if I was prepared for it. The rest of the trip, I followed the "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" route with no major complications. I mostly traveled by myself, but I did end up riding with a good bunch of guys the last 2 days of my trip and we all rode into SanFrancisco together. 2 of them were continuing on south and I was tempted to call into work and extend my vacation, but it really was not to be. I ended up in SanFrancisco a day and a half ahead of schedule, so I got to spend some tourist time around the city. I spent the last night with a friend where I packed up my stuff and got ready for an early flight. I was going to ride to the airport, but my trip was over and it was O.K. to get a ride the last section. Some points of note about the trip. ======================== In the U.S., state parks are your best bet for camping: Washington - Campsites are $10 for a night, but some have hiker/biker sites which are $5 I believe. Oregon - Campsites are $4 for a night (which includes showers) California - Campsites are $3 for a night + $0.50 for 5 minutes of showers. The best campsite that I stayed at was Cape Lookout. Hiker/biker sites were away from the rest of the campers and the sound of the surf was peaceful. Washrooms close by and a water faucet very near the site. K.O.A. campgrounds are expensive. Hiker/Biker at Eureka was $15 U.S. + $1.50 tax. But the hot tub made it all worth while. K.O.A. Campsite at Manchester was $27 for 2 and $5 for each other person. It's a good thing that we had 4 people, as $37/4 wasn't all that bad. The Seven Devils (hills) were not as tough as they sound, it was actually a nice ride. The infamous Leggett hill in California was not as tough as I thought it was going to be. I was really hyped for it and made it up in about 1/2 hour without using the granny gear. The next hill after Leggett is the real killer. After coasting down the 2000 foot descent, my legs were cold when I got to the bottom, and there was another climb of 690 feet and I and a lot of other people that I met had trouble with it. Be warned. I met someone on the road from NewYork who had read my postings and trip report about cycling in Nova Scotia. It was really strange when I was so far from the east coast to run into someone who knew me from the net. It's a small world. One thing that I was dismayed about in the U.S. is the lack of recycling facilities. Canada is quite a contrast to most parts of the U.S. and I had a tough time throwing glass Gatorade bottles in the garbage. Hopefully, things will improve with time. People ask about my vacations and I tell them that loose weight and spend less money on the road than living at home. How many people can say that about their vacations? Animals, Animals, Animals.. Thank goodness that there are food boxes in some of the state parks. The raccoons are plentiful, especially in California. One guy I met had a mountain climbing shackle of sorts that he used on the lock box for the food. Great idea, as the raccoons are pretty clever at getting in those boxes if not sealed tightly. I was chased by a skunk at the Marin Headlands campground just north of SanFran. I ended up in my tent and shut the lights off and waited for him to leave. I saw lots of deer, and I came a little too close to hitting one, when he darted out on the road from behind the bushes. I wouldn't have been a pretty site if it had happened 2 seconds later. I only had 2 days of tailwind the whole trip. I had met someone who was doing this trip for the 3rd time and he said this was the least amount of tailwind that he had encountered. I always pack too much food at the beginning, but it's nice to have the weight drop as the tour progresses. I also traveled with by duffel bag rolled up (and taking quite a bit of space), just in case I had problems and had to cut the trip short and for something to pack my stuff in when I got to SanFrancisco. Summary ======= Another bike vacation is over with and I've had lots of time to reflect on it. I put myself under too much of a time constraint on this trip and as a result, I felt more stressed than other trips. Perhaps I'll go slower on the next trip and not do so many miles. (Yea right !) Riding by yourself if a bit of drag sometimes, as you can never really leave your bike, and you really take a chance when you do lock it up for groceries etc. Perhaps next time, I'll travel with a companion. Next bike trip? Maybe mountain biking in the Moab next spring? regards all, ,__o Greg Goodwin _-\_<, "Human Powered, Madness Driven" (*)/'(*) ggoodwin@nortel.ca Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Distances ======= Total Distance = 1846km = 1147.0825 miles Total Days = 10 full days + 2/3day first day + 1/3 day last day = 11 days Total Time = 86 hours of riding So, that works out to a total average of 21.4 km/hr = 13.3 miles/hr Your mileage may vary. Day 1 Vancouver (B.C.) to Fairholm Campground (Wash.) Lake Crescent Dst. 124.2km Avs.21.8km Atm.5:42 Day 2 Fairholm Campground to HumpTulips Dst. 193.8km Avs.23.1km Atm.8:22 Day 3 Humptulips to Fort Canby State Park Dst. 168.7km Avs.20.2km Atm.8:21 Day 4 Fort Canby State Park to Cape Lookout Dst. 175.4km Avs.21.3km Atm.8:12 Day 5 Cape Lookout to Carl G. Washburn State Park Dst. 173.6km Avs.20.0km Atm.8:41 Day 6 Carl G. Washburn State Park to Bullards' Beach Dst. 151.0km Avs.20.6km Atm.7:19 Day 7 Bullards' Beach to Harris Beach Dst. 156.1km Avs.23.7km Atm.6:34 Day 8 Harris Beach to Eureka Dst. 175.1km Avs.21.6km Atm.8:06 Day 9 Eureka to Richardson Grove State Park Dst. 139.8km Avs.22.0km Atm.6:21 Day 10 Richardson Grove State Park to Manchester Dst. 161.3km Avs.29.9km Atm.8:06 Day 11 Manchester to Samuel P. Taylor State Park Dst. 178.6km Avs.22.5km Atm.7:55 Day 12 Samuel P. Taylor State Park to SanFrancisco (then to Marin Headlands) Dst. 48.0km Avs.19.2km Atm.2:30 The trip was officially over at this point!! Day 12 Totals Dst. 89.4km Avs.16.0km Atm.5:33 Day 13 Marin Headlands to Monica's Place Dst. 19.9km Avs.13.7km Atm.1:27 Aug 22/96 Other Useful links: Travel with Bicycles (Air/Rail/Other) http://www.nicom.com/%7Egeorgef/access/ Eric's Bike Adventure 1995 http://www.re.org/~eric/bike-trip/