# Northern California Bike Tour



## siècletourist (Jul 26, 2005)

Just wanted to share a few thoughts and experience about bike touring in Northern California. 

I recently took a 650 mile, two week tour starting in San Francisco and ending in Etna, near the Oregon border. It was my first multi-day bike ride ever. I did it on sort of a comfort hybrid, a Cannondale Adventure 400. It’s heavy, clunky, and some of the cheap stock components had to be replaced, but the bike fulfilled it’s function. It was damn comfortable.

Highlights:

Hiker/Biker Camping: State Parks in California, Oregon and Washington all have hiker/biker sites, which are communal campsites. They usually cost $3 per person and will almost always have room!

Hiker/Biker Campground near Weott, along the Avenue of the Giants: People seem to pass this one by because it’s not included in the “cycling the west coast” book that everyone seems to follow. I had the entire campground to myself. Stay here if at all possible. You’ll have chance to sleep under a creaking grove of old growth redwoods, spot some river otters in the Eel river, and best of all NO CAR CAMPERS or KIDS! You’re guaranteed a well-earned rest 

Hiker’s Hut, Etna: Victorian guesthouse, well known to hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail. Dormitory-style accommodations include kitchen, simple breakfast and super-comfortable living room and garden for $20 a night. Hikers usually make for good company as well. It’s a nice change of pace from the usual campground/motel options. I wish there were more places like this! 

Biggest Challenges:

Usal Road, the Lost Coast, Humboldt County.: Great Mountain Biking Road, not necessarily the best road for touring. Grades in excess of 15% and deep ruts. It seems to go uphill forever. The plusses are a few breathtaking views of the inaccessible Lost Coast and lack of four wheeled vehicles. Some knucklehead tried to drive his minivan down the road and had to abandon it, making the entire road impassible except for dirt bikes. 

Forks of Salmon, Siskiyou County, Somes Bar to Callahan or Etna: One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. This ride has everything: dearth of traffic, challenging climbs, awe-inspiring vistas, and harrowing descents. It gets hot in the summer, but you can at any point pull over and swim in the frigid, crystal clear Salmon river. The north fork has a steeper, higher climb (about 4000 feet) and the South fork features a Restaurant/Store in Cecilville and a more gradual (3000 foot) but longer climb.

Low point of the Trip:

Eureka KOA: I know it’s written up as a stop on the “Cycling the West Coast” book, and I’ve met plenty of bike tourists who love it for the hot showers and hot tub. I had the most miserable night of the trip there. You might like it if:

1. You enjoy sleeping on top of a septic tank. 

2. You like noise. (The site is alongside a major interstate. Scratch that. There’s a lumber yard between you and the interstate. A lumber yard that starts operating at about 6AM).

3. You like taking showers in grotty truck-stop style bathrooms.

4. You’ve always wanted to live in a trailer park. Or you do live in a trailer park and are feeling homesick.

5. You like slugs!


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

*Yeah, I love the hiker/biker sites...*

They were $3 in '78 when I first rode down the coast and they're $3 now. You meet lots of cool people and, as you said, there's always room. Quite a deal considering how much the regular sites cost and how long you have to reserve them in advance.

I often do weekend tours from the San Jose area to hiker/biker sites on the coast: Bodega Dunes S.P., Samual Taylor S.P., Halfmoon Bay S.P., New Brighton beach, Sunset beach, Vet Memorial Park in Monterey, and Pfeiffer Big Sur S.P. I use my lightweight setup: bike + seatpost rack + goretex bivy tent + thermarest + down bag = 25 lbs. Extra pair of cycling clothes and street clothes in a backpack. It still feels like I'm riding a road bike and not a tank.

<img src="https://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/515/235968mini-IMG_1356.jpg">


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