Riding suggestions near San Diego

[je2000]

I'll be staying in Dana Point, California at the end of September. It's about an hour north up the coast from San Diego.

The 1st thing that came to my mind was the pacific coast highway. Has anyone been out this way before? Any bike rental places? I'm a dual sport rider but really it wouldn't matter what bike I was on out there. Of course if there is any off-road stuff nearby that'd be awesome too.

I checked out the National Geographic Scenic Byways book and while there were routes on the coast, none near San Diego.

Figured a ride to Malibu, (You know, so I can go meet 'Malibu Stacy' :trust:) would take about 3 hours. There is also Mexico but I'd be traveling alone and I'm not sure I'd be up for that.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Dana+Point,+CA&daddr=CA-1%2FPacific+Coast+Hwy+to:E+Shoreline+Dr+to:33.7551 73,-118.407898+to:Highland+Ave+to:Vista+del+Mar+to:Was hington+Blvd+to:CA-1%2FPacific+Coast+Hwy&geocode=Ff3A_gEdYhL8-A%3BFQI8AQId7gL4-A%3BFXgtAwIdjon0-A%3B%3BFZZTBQIdvhHx-A%3BFYjeBQIdMMPw-A%3BFUJ-BgIdCl3w-A%3BFYA6BwIdAOTr-A&hl=en&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=3&sz=10&via=1,2,3,4,5,6&sll=33.946778,-118.177185&sspn=0.91593,1.783905&ie=UTF8&ll=33.762024,-118.082428&spn=0.917913,1.783905&z=10

[CBAT]

Dual sport in Baja. http://www.dualsportrentals.com/index.html

Never mind. They only do Baja in April

[je2000]

Dual sport in Baja. http://www.dualsportrentals.com/index.html

Never mind. They only do Baja in April

Thanks for the link though. I was checking out their September ride pics and it looks to be "tough enough" to be entertaining. Pricey but looks like a lot of fun.

Chances are I'll probably rent a Harley or something. If some place had a motard for rent I'd be all over it in a second. It looks like there's a number of rental places out there. I'll be staying at a 5 star Ritz Carlton so I'm sure they can help me out with that kind of thing too.

Basically any dual sport tour company that shows their bikes sideways with grins is a good company in my book.
http://www.dualsportrentals.com/september_photos.html

[jcyuhn]

Palomar mountain is the sportbike riding destination in San Diego. That, or anywhere in the mountains. The town of Julian is a popular destination.

The PCH is basically a busy stop-n-go surface street until north of LA. You get to ride along the ocean, but there isn't much other thrill to it.

[msnyder755]

PCH is best north of LA as jcyuhn had said. Palamor Mtn is a must if you rent a sportbike but there are sections that have some holes in the way (unless they have been fixed within the last 7 months) Watch out for LEO as he is on the prowl through there. Any of the mtn roads in western San Diego County are good but plan for fuel stops as they can get pretty far apart at times.