California Loop 2018 Day 1 Part 3 – I continue the ride down the mountainside on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road to Pacific Coast Highway.
The views of the Pacific ocean while descending the mountain are breathtaking. Pacific Coast Highway was closed south of this junction point due to road damage from winter storms and mud slides, a frequent occurrence on the coastal highway.
I rode PCH (Pacific Coast Highway / CA-1) north through Big Sur, where this video ends, and completed Day 1 of this trip grabbing a motel in Salina, CA.
Day 1 was a great start to this trip with California offering up some epic scenery and entertaining roads to ride.
Ride along a portion of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) – California Highway 1 PCH is one of the most stunning and beautiful routes in California. Sit back and relax and think coastal vibes 🙂
Video taken from much, much, much longer video, California Loop 2018 Day 1 Part 3. I made this video to give a small sample of what Pacific Coast Highway has to offer. Also for those that don’t enjoy watching 1 hour YouTube videos …..I like them so I am not going to stop. What you all think about that! 🙂
A portion of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) California Highway 1 was closed. This is often the case as winter storms wreak havoc on roads on the coast, especially PCH CA 1 as this road hugs the California coast line (which is also why this road is so awesome). My original trip was to ride PCH from Morro Bay (I have ridden this section before) to Salinas, CA. Just north of Ragged Point the road was closed.
My detour route had me ride north on US 101 from Santa Margarita, CA (instead of heading south briefly to pick up California Highway 1 (PCH) in San Luis Obispo. I rode US Highway 101 north to Bradley, CA and then road west on Jolon Rd (Monterey County Road G18) through Fort Hunter Leggitt and onto Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. This road was very narrow but had some great curves and was engulfed in the Los Padres National Forest trees creating tunnels of trees, along with some brief epic views of the surrounding mountains.
The only downside was the considerable amount of oncoming traffic that was diverted from PCH. There were several curves where I came to a near stop hugging the right portion of the road as much as possible as some drivers were less than generous with road sharing. Regardless, this detour actually worked out great as this road is occasionally closed due to Army training.
According to the Wikipedia article linked below, In January 2021, the road was washed out due to the impacts of the Dolan Fire and closed. It is not expected to reopen until at least December 2023
Considering I had ridden the original planned route a few times, this was a great opportunity to ride a new and scenic road!
This video covers a portion of Day 1 from Buttonwillow, CA to Santa Margarita, CA riding on California Highway 58. The scenery was very nice including the California golden rolling hills and a very nice (very freshly paved) winding CA-58 Highway.
California Loop 2018 Motorcycle Trip – Overview
California Loop 2018 is a motorcycle trip I rode from May 26th 2018 to June 4th 2018 (9 months after my motorcycle accident where I broke my leg and six months after I purchased Dexter, my 2005 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic).
This trip was tour of some of the many iconic areas of California (there are so many). Trip started from Lake Elsinore, CA riding Interstate to Buttonwillow, CA where I catch CA Highway 58 to Santa Margarita, CA and jump on US Highway 101 and roll north to Humboldt Redwoods State Park near Weott, CA where I camped for a few days and explored the unpopulated areas of the Lost Coast.
Wanderlust Lyfe 