Cycling California's coast in the winter - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

09-10-2003, 11:04 AM

How about cycling California's coast in the winter time (around christmas)?
We are thinking about San Francisco - San Diego. Is it cold, misty or rainy?

Thanks, two dutch cyclists

09-10-2003, 11:49 AM

"Ed" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in news:bjnp42$ijo$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]:
> How about cycling California's coast in the winter time (around
> christmas)? We are thinking about San Francisco - San Diego. Is it cold,
> misty or rainy?

Winter is the rain season along the California coast. It doesn't rain every
day and sometimes you might get a whole week of sunny weather. Days are
short though. Temperature along the coast is generally cool (but generally
above freezing at night), though San Francisco is also cool in the summer.

If you're camping out, April or May might be a better choice.

09-10-2003, 01:12 PM

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 20:04:44 +0200, "Ed" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
wrote:

>How about cycling California's coast in the winter time (around christmas)?
>We are thinking about San Francisco - San Diego. Is it cold, misty or rainy?

Be forewarned: heavy winter rains can cause flooding and mud slides
and may close coast roads. Heavy fog can also be a problem but can
appear during any season. Generally speaking, although it is hard to
predict major wind patterns, during winner, strong winds will prevail
from south to north.

Average Rainfail (inches)
Dec Jan Jun Jul
San Francisco 2.89 4.45 0.11 0.03
Santa Barbara 2.26 3.57 0.05 0.03
Santa Maria 1.84 2.64 0.05 0.03
San Diego 1.31 2.28 0.09 0.03

Normal Mean Daily Temperature (degrees F)
Dec Jan Jun Jul
San Francisco 49.5 49.4 61.4 62.8
Santa Barbara 53.2 53.1 64.2 67.0
Santa Maria 51.6 51.6 60.9 63.5
San Diego 57.6 57.8 67.4 70.9

Ref:
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09-10-2003, 06:39 PM

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 20:04:44 +0200, "Ed" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
wrote:

>How about cycling California's coast in the winter time (around christmas)?
>We are thinking about San Francisco - San Diego. Is it cold, misty or rainy?

Yes.

09-12-2003, 06:00 PM

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 20:04:44 +0200, "Ed" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
wrote:

>How about cycling California's coast in the winter time (around christmas)?
>We are thinking about San Francisco - San Diego. Is it cold, misty or rainy?
>

Yes. It's not good riding.

If you're looking for another route that time of year, I rode
the Natchez Trace through Mississippi during the first part of
December and found good weather. This may vary from year to year,
however.

Peter