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I am going to visit family out in San Jose, CA the first week of July. Looking at renting a Harley for a couple days and doing a little bit of sightseeing/riding with the fiancee. I will be renting with Eaglerider and am looking at renting out of either San Francisco or Carmel down near Seaside. What are some good roads to ride and things to see out there? Thanks!!
It depends on how much time you want to spend in the saddle. A long trip but worth it is SF north across the golden gate up to Humbolt Redwoods.
Less time in the saddle but great sight seeing and restaurants is Monterey Peninsula and Big Sur and Carmel Valley.
1s closed below big sur so you have hwy 9 17 Pacheco pass, for the Carmel Monterey Santa Cruz deal then north to Pescadero to skyline Alices Restaurant skyline and woodside rd. Back to HAlfmoon Bay 1north through pacifica to 35 skyline north, ends on Great Highway in ocean beach SF. Through Presidio to Golden Gate bridge Marin headlands or bodega bay, Napa Sonoma wine if thats your thing.you options are endless.
They've opened up alot of the Pacific Coast Highway which is ABSOLUTELY a bucket list road. Go to this website for current info. http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_conditions.html It looks like you can now ride down almost to Lime Kiln State Park. I did that ride from Mountain View CA then turned around about there and rode back. It's a good day. (I didn't want to be on the PCH in the dark if the "marine layer" (FOG to us Easterners) rolled in which is why I turned back there. But the views along the stretch of the PCH down through Big Sur and south is amazing. (North of SF is nice too but getting through town to the Golden Gate Bridge is LOTS of traffic) Here's a photo on the PCH south of Big Sur, just as a teaser
If you are starting from San Jose, getting up to SF and north will take a good 1 1/2 hours. SF is 50 miles north of SJ and with all the traffic, (you do know that you have to use surface streets to get across SF to the Golden Gate bridge) it will probably 2 hours. The wine country is another hour on top of this.
If you are in San Jose, there are some great rides. Go to the top of Mt Hamilton and head east on CA 130 through some undisturbed valleys that will take you to the Central Valley. Head south of Hollister and take CA25 to Pinacles Nat'l Park then over the hill to Soledad and back up to Salinas. Take Skyline (CA35) from US 17 (Los Gatos) all the way up to mid-Peninsula, then head west to Half Moon Bay and then back down to Santa Cruz. Or, you could go directly to Santa Cruz and head south on PCH as far as you can get below Monterey/Big Sur if the road is still washed out. There are lots of rides around SJ.
Lastly, why are you not renting a bike in SJ or around there. SF and Seaside are a long ways away from SJ. I bet there are plenty of rentals in SJ area.
I Don't know what Newton is like but traffic in the SF bay area is off the charts terrible. So plan accordingly . Also don't forget the old saying "the coldest winter I ever spent was one summer in SF" . Enjoy.
I Don't know what Newton is like but traffic in the SF bay area is off the charts terrible. So plan accordingly . Also don't forget the old saying "the coldest winter I ever spent was one summer in SF" . Enjoy.
Traffic in Newton is literally nothing compared to SF Bay Area I can promise you that! But I've heard its terrible so I shall make my plans accordingly!
If you are starting from San Jose, getting up to SF and north will take a good 1 1/2 hours. SF is 50 miles north of SJ and with all the traffic, (you do know that you have to use surface streets to get across SF to the Golden Gate bridge) it will probably 2 hours. The wine country is another hour on top of this.
If you are in San Jose, there are some great rides. Go to the top of Mt Hamilton and head east on CA 130 through some undisturbed valleys that will take you to the Central Valley. Head south of Hollister and take CA25 to Pinacles Nat'l Park then over the hill to Soledad and back up to Salinas. Take Skyline (CA35) from US 17 (Los Gatos) all the way up to mid-Peninsula, then head west to Half Moon Bay and then back down to Santa Cruz. Or, you could go directly to Santa Cruz and head south on PCH as far as you can get below Monterey/Big Sur if the road is still washed out. There are lots of rides around SJ.
Lastly, why are you not renting a bike in SJ or around there. SF and Seaside are a long ways away from SJ. I bet there are plenty of rentals in SJ area.
I was planning on renting with EagleRider as I am a member with them, and Seaside and SF are the two closest Eaglerider Rental locations to where I will be staying. I appreciate your feedback on the routes I will be sure to look into those! Thanks!
We rented bikes at Eagle Rider San Fran last June and had an awesome 10 day big circle up to Oregon and down through Nevada.
Leaving San Francisco we headed north just across the Golden Gate Bridge hit the Muir Woods and Panoramic Highway up to the "Drive Thru Tree" near Ft. Bragg. (There's several "drive thru trees" in the Cali redwoods). Avenue of the Giants was amazing though we skipped the "Trees of Mystery" since it looked like it was more for kiddies. We also visited Mt. Shasta, Lake Tahoe, Virginia City, Reno, and Napa Valley. Closer to San Francisco is Mt. Diablo which was also picturesque.
Word of advice, check the weather and prepare for everything. We went in mid/late June and it was downright cold and in the low 50s on the coast and in the 90s-100s inland. Napa Valley which was usually in the 80s was in the high 90s (and the Californians were all complaining loudly too.. lol) I was amazed at the temperature differences between the PCH and just a few miles inland.
That Eagle Rider was awesome to deal with and had a HUGE selection of bikes. Granted right after that they moved locations and struck the deal with Harley, so no telling if they still have them all.
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