People Cycling Rides

Pacific Coast Highway - San Francisco to Santa Barbara.

This is a Approved Ride
Difficult
Ride Info
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Ride Leader
Troy Wilson
Tour Dates
9/11/2025–9/23/2025
Start Location
Oakland, CA
End Location
Oakland, CA
Cost (est.)
$3115 (USD + $150.00 ride fee)
Deposit
$1500 (USD
Payment Due
6/11/2025
Avg. Distance
47 mi / 76 km
Avg. Elevation
2574 ft / 785 m
Ride Description

Join us for what may well be one of the most beautiful and scenic bicycle rides in the world. Our tour will begin with a ferry ride from our hotel in Oakland to San Francisco. From here we ride along the Embarcadero and across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito before returning south through Golden Gate Park and down California Highway 1.  We will spend the next 7 days cycling along the breathtaking California coast with stops in Santa Cruz, Monterey Big Sur, Ragged Point and Moro Bay. Cycling through and over landmarks that include Sausalito, 17 Mile Drive, the Bixby Creek Bridge, San Simeon beaches, Elephant Seals, the Hurst Castle, Moro Rock and Pismo Beach. After 3 days of riding, you can take advantage of a rest day to explore the city of Monterey, where we will spend 2 nights. Of course, if you do not need to rest, you are free to enjoy one of the optional rides that will be offered in the Monterey area. On the 8th day we will turn inland and spend our last three days riding through farmlands, ranches and vineyards with stops in Santa Maria, the Danish style city of Solvang and Santa Barbara. We will pass through more landmarks including Los Olivos and Santa Ynez valley wine country (as seen in the movie Sideways) before heading over the coastal range via San Marcos pass passing by the renowned Cold Spring Tavern on our way to our destination, Santa Barbara. Spend the remainder of the day enjoying the beauty and sights of this amazing city before our final gro… (Join People Cycling to read more)

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People Cycling's Ride Rating

People Cycling has four categories for our rides – Easy, Moderate, Difficult, and Challenging. It should be somewhat obvious what these categories mean, but please become familiar with the elevations and distances that define them:

Easy
Easy rides are under 30mi/48km in average distance and 1600ft/500m in average elevation
Moderate
Moderate rides are over the Easy rating but under 50mi/80km and 2460ft/750m
Difficult
Difficult rides are as over the Moderate rating but under 75mi/120km and 3280/1000m
Challenging
Anything over the Difficult rating

NOTE: This is not a strict guideline. There could be rides that have a day or two where the average elevation or distance exceeds the values given above. These anomalies should be outlined in the ride description. It is recommended that you read it carefully.

About People Cycling

People Cycling is a bicycle touring club, which you can join for free. We offer Domestic and International Cycling Tours which are led by volunteer Ride Leaders. Our tours are made up of a small group of participants (typically 15-20 or so) who want to ride an average of 30 to 55 miles a day over a one or two week period in interesting regions of the world. Our tours range in price from frugal getaways to luxurious adventures. We travel road, gravel, or mountain bike styles, and all bicycle types – including e-bikes, recumbents, and tandems are typically allowed.

Our ride leaders are volunteers and do not financially profit on tours they lead. They are also given broad discretion on how to lead their tours, and we consider them our greatest asset.

People Cycling tours are operated at cost or at lower cost (as negotiated by our ride leaders) than individuals can obtain on commercial tours. Within the cost of a tour, there is a nominal fee to support club operations and provide tools to ride leaders to manage their rides.

What are you waiting for? Join today to see what bicycle adventure awaits you in our club.

A lifetime membership in People Cycling is absolutely FREE, so please join us and become one of us – we the people, cycling together.