Which route...? Recommendations

Hello. I am flying to San Diego tomorrow to pick up a 2005 vfr. Curious what folks would recommend regarding a return trip to my home in North Lake Tahoe, CA. I don't know the area down there but I'm either going to take highway 1 up and possibly through San Francisco or take 395 North along the easter sierra range.

My concerns are as follows. I hear hwy 1 down there is stop and go for miles, unlike it is in n. cal. Second, 395... I fear it will be SUPER hot while riding.

Any input is awesome.

Thanks.

 

Hiway 1 rocks, be especially sure to slow down just before the Monterey area and enjoy the beauty of big sur.





Parts of 1 are stop and go, but its actually cold while riding because of the sea breeze. I was going through the northern part of hwy 1 in July and froze my ass off. Of course if you go inland a couple miles it gets crazy hot. I'm sure some of the locals can tell you ways with more exciting corners, but the PCH is absolutely beautiful.

 

Hwy 1 is a beautiful drive, but gear up it's been cool and windy along the coast.
The biggest negative to the drive though is time... Sunday traffic is bad all the way up the 1... Who knows what the Mother's Day factor is going to add to it.

395 will be busy til you get past the Mojave desert, then it's a pretty quick ride. It doesn't get congested again til Carson, which I'm sure you're used to.

Escaping from San Diego on a Sunday? good luck with that.

Hwy1 is not really rideable til Santa Monica anyways. It's all city driving til then (or the 5/405).

I'd just hit the 15 to the 395 and jam home.

If you want to have some serious fun, do I-5, catch the 2 to Glendale, East on the 210 for a minute to catch the north 2 again (Angeles Crest Hwy), take a left on Angeles Forest Hwy over the mountains and into Palmdale (probably some of the best riding in so-cal), then hit the 14 til it turns into the 395... You'll probably need to hit a starbucks for a coffee and a good cry after you get out of the mountains...

Drawback to that route: first day on the bike...

 

Excellent, thanks for the info. I will look up the route via glendale for sure.

I've ridden the pch from Hearst Castle basically all the way up to Washington state before so I'm very aware of the chill factor. I'd rather that than the heat any day.

This is good info. And I would agree that 1 is MADE for a bike, just never been that far south on it. Think I"ll go inland.

I hope the sunday isn't too bad. I'm going to dana point for the night, then off the next day.




cheers.