I'm finishing my Portland to Santa Cruz tour this week! I'm almost done with Highway 1 (going over the Santa Cruz mountains on my last day rather than taking the coast), and I think this is some of the harder riding I have ever done on tour. You've got all these twisty little hills that take forever to climb, constantly looking over your shoulder for car traffic to make room, drivers who treat a two lane road like the expressway (in my 3 days on the coast I passed two car crashes and two motorcycle crashes), and to top it all off the sandwiches are $18.
I had a great time on this ride, but riding Highway 1 has been harder than any mountain crossing I've ever done. (Highway 20 over the Cascades in WA is close)
Here's a photo of yesterday's stats because I want to brag 😉
by backlikeclap
2 Comments
Anything that has „highway“ in its name, doesn’t sound like something I want to ride.
Yeah, there are lots of rollers and short climbs on that section, and it adds up! After the Leggett hills the biggest climb is at Meyers grade between Fort Ross and Jenner, but in between are numerous other hills that can take their toll. I usually do it in shorter segments so each day doesn’t seem as hard, and there are very few flat sections on this stretch of road. Well done!