San Diego to Sacramento Round Trip - Road Only

[p0diabl0]

Work has me up in Sacramento for a week the start of June. Instead of taking a flight I'm taking the money and using it on gas and hotels . I'd camp but I won't have enough space with my work clothes, etc.

Saturday: San Diego to Fresno (boring but I don't see a way around it)
Sunday: Fresno to Yosemite - do a hike - Yosemite to Lake Tahoe
Monday: Tahoe to Sacramento (have to be at work place by 1:30PM so no problem)
Friday: Sacramento to Santa Cruz going through SF (get out of work @ noon)
Saturday: Down the 1 from Santa Cruz to Santa Maria (just south of SLO)
Sunday: Santa Maria to San Diego, going through Mulholland



(The markers just indicate gas, rest stops, a points of interest)


Are there any truly great roads/spots I'm missing out on with this route? Doing it on a Ninja 650R with a Givi E45 and Seahorse 720 panniers. This is my first trip over 350 miles and first time doing anything over night so I'm trying to keep it gentle.

[tjt94]

Originally Posted by p0diabl0

Work has me up in Sacramento for a week the start of June. Instead of taking a flight I'm taking the money and using it on gas and hotels . I'd camp but I won't have enough space with my work clothes, etc.

Saturday: San Diego to Fresno (boring but I don't see a way around it)
Sunday: Fresno to Yosemite - do a hike - Yosemite to Lake Tahoe
Monday: Tahoe to Sacramento (have to be at work place by 1:30PM so no problem)
Friday: Sacramento to Santa Cruz going through SF (get out of work @ noon)
Saturday: Down the 1 from Santa Cruz to Santa Maria (just south of SLO)
Sunday: Santa Maria to San Diego, going through Mulholland



(The markers just indicate gas, rest stops, a points of interest)


Are there any truly great roads/spots I'm missing out on with this route? Doing it on a Ninja 650R with a Givi E45 and Seahorse 720 panniers. This is my first trip over 350 miles and first time doing anything over night so I'm trying to keep it gentle.

The 99 up to Fresno blows! You may consider doing the 395 up to South Lk Tahoe and then the 50 into Sac. Good scenery and not hot like the 99.

[holckster]

If you are making good time up 99, consider continuing on another hour to Oakhurst for the night.
Then you'll catch the early morning light in Yosemite and get ahead of the tourists.
On Hwy 395 depending on time, make the side trip to Bodie Ghost Town. Turn off is 7 miles south of Bridgeport.
While in Sac, check here
http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=31
for our Weekly HDDC Wednesday night dinner ride.

[High Country Herb]

Pretty good route.

I agree about going all the way to Oakhurst on day 1. I wouldn't really want to leave a bike unattended in Fresno at night, no matter how many locks I had. It will also give you more time for Yosemite hikes, a Bodie visit, or anything else you want to check out in the Sierra.

There is a Youth Hostel 3 blocks from the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, which is probably the cheapest place to stay. You will need a reservation.

There is a Motorcycle Museum in Solvang, but they may be closed by the time you get there.

[p0diabl0]

My main hang-up against going all the way to Oakhurst was the hotels - 3x the price of Fresno. But your hostel suggestion in Santa Cruz makes up the price, thanks!

I will definitely check out Bodie and the Wednesday night ride.

[High Country Herb]

You could go just a bit further to Mariposa, where there is another youth hostel less than an hour from Yosemite.

http://www.yosemitebug.com/

[Square1]

Coming back HWY 1 after Big Sur consider taking Naciamento/Ferguson rd to Paso Robles.
Then Hwy 101 from Paso Robles to Santa Margarita/ HWY 58.
Take Hwy 58 all the way across to Hwy 33. From there Hwy 33 south to Maricopa.
There you have two choices:
1: Take 166 east to I-5. I-5 over the Grapevine to Hwy 138.
Take the two lane road paralel to Hwy 138 : Pine Canyon/ Lake Elizabeth Rd. Drop down to Hwy 14 via Bouquet canyon . From there you have the Choice to go down to the coast or the backside of Angeles Crest.

2: From Maricopa short ride west on 166 to Cerro Noroestre/Lockwood Valley to Hwy 33 or keep going on Hwy 166 to Hwy 33.
Take Hwy 33 over the pass to Ojai continue to Hwy 101.

Hwy 1 from Big Sur to Morro Bay is a big tourist trap full with RVs and slow cars!
Traffic through Santa Barbara going south on the 101 on a Sunday is stop n go!
Hwy 33 from 166 to Ojai is my back country, One of the best roads but treat with respect. On the weekend stay clear of Sqids and Hogs!

M

[oldxr]

Unless you are a pro at lane splitting I would not go into the SF Bay area on friday afternoon.From Sacramento a suggestion-take I5 south to Patterson.Take Del Puerto Canyon Rd to Mines rd and past Mt.Hamilton down to San Jose.The road is single lane paved with very little traffic.Average speed is only about 30 mph but the freeways on friday will be worse.The bay area freeways suck.If you want to get to Santa Cruz in a hurry I would run i5 south to 205 west-205 west to 580-580 to 680 south 680 south will run into 17 south in San Jose.Avoid going into San Francisco.You will be able to get in-but the traffic patttern is everybody leaving the city on friday-so you will be lined up with everybody leaving.I live 90 miles east of the bay area in Modesto and the traffic starts at 4:30 am to commute into the bay area.People work in the SF bay area becuase the pay is better but cannot afford housing there.There a 2 newer hotels off of Herndon Rd on the north side of Fresno. But mostly the hotels in Fresno are run down and full of homeless craigslist hookers.A nicer area of Fresno is a town called Clovis -hwy 41 runs through there and there are decent hotels in the Fresno state college area.This would be on the on the north east side of Fresno.But avoid the old hotels on the hwy99 area.If you do go on your propsed route through San Francisco you will find that at the south end of the Golden Gate bridge there is no more freeway-its all surface streets through SF.

[eakins]

make sure not to miss w. ridgecrest rd and fairfax-bolinas road in marin county!
http://www.butlermaps.com/Motorcycle...California-Map