Why this ride
A 1324 km round trip from Sausalito - roughly 17 h 56 in the saddle. It goes by way of Morro Bay and Malibu. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1)
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1324 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 17 h 56
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Road summary
California State Route 1. Big Sur is the stretch everyone means: cliff edge, no barrier in places, and fog that arrives in minutes.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Near Sausalito
The point lies at the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, close to Fort Point and the Presidio, with Sausalito across the strait on the Marin side. There is no grander way to start or finish a ride along the Pacific Coast Highway. When it opened in 1937, the bridge had the longest suspension span in the world, and its colour, officially called International Orange, was chosen partly to stand out in the fog. It still feels astonishing to ride across, with the towers soaring overhead and the Pacific opening up beyond the strait.
Read the complete Near Sausalito write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waypoint 1 is where the day begins. Next is Waypoint 2.
2. Waypoint 2
Big Sur is where California's coast shows its teeth. Between Carmel and San Simeon, the Santa Lucia range rises almost directly from the Pacific, with slopes that climb more than a thousand metres in a few kilometres, and Highway 1 is bolted to the cliff like a ledge. The area gets few services, no big towns and a lot of fog, and because the mountains cut the coast off from the interior, it stayed wild long after the rest of California was settled. In 1937 the highway opened, after many years of work, and made the coast accessible by car for the first time.
Read the complete Waypoint 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waypoint 2 comes up 230 km in. Next is Waypoint 3.
3. Morro Bay
Morro Bay announces itself with a rock. Morro Rock, a smooth, rounded volcanic plug 175 metres high, stands at the mouth of the harbour, guarding the entrance like a stone sentinel. It is the westernmost of a chain of ancient volcanic peaks called the Nine Sisters that march inland toward San Luis Obispo, and Spanish explorers used it as a landmark from the sixteenth century, naming it El Morro, the crown. Peregrine falcons nest on its face, so climbing is banned, but you can walk the sand spit to its base, and the beach is a pleasant place to watch surfers and sea otters.
Read the complete Morro Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
460 km in you reach Waypoint 3. Next is Waypoint 4.
4. Near Malibu
Twenty-one miles of the Pacific Coast Highway pass through Malibu, and most of them are within sight of the sea. The road squeezes between the steep brown slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains and a narrow ribbon of sand, a mix of beach houses, small plazas, surf breaks and sudden gaps with a view over the water. The town itself has about thirteen thousand people, a city of film stars and surfers, and a strong feeling of being at the edge of something. It was once a ranch owned by the Rindge family, who held off development for decades, and the land was divided only in the 1920s, after the state forced a public road through it.
Read the complete Malibu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waypoint 4, about halfway. Next is back through Waypoint 3.
5. back through Waypoint 3
Morro Rock is a volcanic plug, the hard core of a long-extinct volcano, and it rises out of the water at the mouth of Morro Bay like a great grey bell, about 175 metres high. It is the last of a chain of nine such peaks that run inland toward San Luis Obispo, the Nine Sisters, and its slopes are a protected nesting place for peregrine falcons, which means that climbing is forbidden. Rock and town share a name, and the waterfront is dominated by the three tall stacks of the old power station beside it.
Read the complete Waypoint 3 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Waypoint 3 sits at 921 km, about halfway. Next is back through Waypoint 2.
6. back through Waypoint 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Waypoint 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Waypoint 2 comes up 1151 km in. Next is Waypoint 1.
7. Near Sausalito
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Near Sausalito write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waypoint 1 closes the day.