For decades the most nervous stretch of Highway 1 south of San Francisco was Devil's Slide, a ledge carved into crumbling cliffs above the Pacific between Pacifica and Montara, which slid into the ocean so often that the road was closed for months at a time. In 2013 twin tunnels finally bypassed it, and the old road became a walking and cycling trail where you can stand on the cliff edge and see what the engineers were up against. Pacifica sits at the northern end of that story, a string of beach neighbourhoods tucked into coves and valleys between the coastal hills and the surf.
It is a good place to start and finish a long ride. The town has fuel, supermarkets and the famous Taco Bell on Linda Mar beach, built in timber with an open-air terrace over the sand, which may be the only fast-food restaurant anywhere that surfers would call a destination. Pacifica Pier stretches far out into the waves and is a favourite spot for anglers and pelican watchers.
History is here too. In 1769 the Spanish soldiers of the Portolá expedition, searching for Monterey Bay, climbed Sweeney Ridge above the town and became the first Europeans known to have seen San Francisco Bay. The site is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the walk to the top gives a view of both the bay and the ocean.
The ride to Yosemite and over the Tioga Pass is a long one, crossing the Central Valley and climbing into the Sierra Nevada to one of the highest road passes in California. The Tioga road is closed by snow for much of the year, usually opening in late May or June and closing in autumn, so check before you leave.
Pacifica's weather is the joke of the Bay Area. Fog rolls in most summer afternoons, the wind blows hard off the ocean, and the temperature can drop by fifteen degrees in a few minutes. Carry warm layers, whatever the season.