Foren » Discussions » A few tips regarding California State Route 1
I'm sure nearly all the UN registrants are looking forward to riding California State Route 1 north from Cambria to Carmel-by-the-Sea. If you're among those who have never ridden it before, this post is for you. I've ridden it quite a few times in both directions, and drove it (in an RV, alas) just last Friday, May 14.
First, it's NOT Pacific Coast Highway (aka PCH). This stretch is part of the section called Cabrillo Highway. It's called PCH between Oxnard and Dana Point (LA-OC area), Cabrillo Highway between San Francisco and eight miles south of Buellton, and Shoreline Highway between Leggett and Marin City (north of SF).
It's an incredibly fun motorcycle road. It's an incredibly scenic road. And it's completely unforgiving of mistakes, with much of its length having cliff walls on the landward side and sheer or nearly sheer drops to the ocean on the seaward side, often without shoulders or guard rails, with tons of tight turns, half of which are blind. This is a combination that warrants extreme focus and alertness. If you're not feeling 100%, you should probably choose to ride a different road that day.
Added to that (and what prompted this post after driving it), the road, being built mostly on the side of a cliff, is subject to slip-outs in one spot or another every winter (see the "Detour" thread for one example). These are not always repaired to be particularly smooth. I came around one blind left-hander (heading south, so I was in the seaward lane, and there was no shoulder or guard rail) and found that just as I reached the apex, the pavement dropped away a couple of inches. I immediately thought how unsettling that would be on a motorcycle at speed! And that was not the only such turn.
And of course, in July, there will be tourist traffic. Legal passing lanes are rare, and turnouts, while not scarce, are not well marked (and safe but illegal passing areas aren't all that common, either). And tourists do weird stuff. On one ride, we got stuck for a while behind a car that came to a full stop in the road at every blind left bend, to shoot pictures of the stunning view to the south!
You can hoon it up on this road. I know I have! But I learned to drive, and to drive fast, on roads like this, and have spent lots of time riding them as well. I have a good sense of what the road's going to around the corner. If your background is flat, straight, roads, then know that you're in for a challenge and ride accordingly. You'll love it anyway!
As for me, Teide National Park is the best option if you travel by quad on Tenerife island because, firstly, there is a vast eye-catching plain near Teide volcano, and secondly, you will rather get tired very soon if you decide to move around by foot. While I was on my vacation last year through riderly.com, which, btw, provides wonderful quad tours, I could feast my eyes on the Teide National Park, Teide volcano, Garcia Sanabria Park, Esperance Forest, Garcia Rocks, La Orotava Valley, and many other sights. It will not be enough time to mention all of them. Also, Monteverde Forest is worth visiting. It impressed me with its stunning laurel thickets, which have been covering the mountain slopes of Anaga for 20 million years. https://riderly.com/blog/4-places-to-visit-in-christchurch-nz-by-motorcycle/