PCH slip-out near Big Sur

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Imagine you’re flying around a corner on the Pacific Coast Highway,  just north of Big Sur. You’ve picked your knee up off the ground and the throttle is twisted to the stop. Look up and, to your horror, there’s nothing but a precariously balanced piece of asphalt way over on the left, on the right, a guard rail hanging in space and, where your fast moving sport bike is pointed, nothing but a giant gap and some cracked pavement. This is what went through my head when I saw these photos.

Photos: Big Sur Kate

Caltrans is being tight-lipped about the cause of this slip-out, but I doubt it was heavy rain. Big Sur only received 5.75 of its average February rainfall of 8.2 inches and until yesterday, it hadn’t rained in March at all. My best guess is that the cribbing gave way and the soft soil under the road simply had nothing to hold it in place anymore.

Until it’s repaired, the best detour looks to be Nacimiento-Ferguson Road to Mission Road to G14. A short trip on the 101 to Central Road, and then on to G16 will have you back on your way up the coast.

This detour is actually part of the route I took from Los Angeles to Monterey for last year’s Laguna Seca round of MotoGP. If you’ve got enough gas (no Hypermotards, it’s around 100 miles between gas stops), it makes for one of the better rides around.

PCH will be closed for at least one month between Bixby Creek Bridge and Palo Colorado Road while Caltrans rigs a temporary repair. Once it reopens you owe it to yourself to check out the 130 or so miles of coastal road between San Louis Obispo and Carmel that’s carved into the side of cliffs that jut straight up out of the Pacific. Whether you enjoy the scenery on a Moto Guzzi Norge or race through on a GSX-R, you’ll love it either way.

Caltrans

  • jason

    Yikes! One of the best roads to ride I’ve been on.

    • http://www.ninja250blog.com R.Sallee

      It is a phenomenal road but the seven-days-a-week traffic is almost unbearable. Almost.

      I pretty much never cross double yellows to pass but Highway 1 between Carmel and SLO pretty much demands it. Unless sitting behind Winnebagos that won’t pull over is your idea of a good time.

      • Sean Smith

        Don’t forget the Goldwing and harley trikes with trailers that act as rolling chicanes.

      • Kirill

        Occasionally you also get stuck for an hour or so because some idiot flipped his Camry.

  • Scott-jay

    See fresh white color stone at base of intact cribbing on left of failure?
    It says some at Caltrans knew roadway embankment was “active”.

  • http://twitter.com/hagus Luke

    Someone get the Icon motorsports guys out there with a souped up Gixxer and some X-Games ramps, before they patch it up!

  • Toby

    I always try to carve out some time to make a detour onto Nacimiento road when I ride the 1. Perfect curves and gorgeous views back down towards the ocean on the way up the hill.

    It’s also a great way to relieve some frustration after sitting behind a line of RVs for 20 miles!

  • JonB

    You can also cut west across the army base to get from Hwy 1 to 101s.

  • Bronson

    I’ve always wanted to fly out to the west coast and buy/rent a sportbike to ride the PCH. The road and the scenery look simply amazing, and looking at Google maps it appears there are a ton of great side-roads there too (damn, if I could only have a supermoto too!).

    • Kirill

      If you’re going to ride PCH you need to either pump yourself full of Xanax so that you don’t care that you’re spending six hours stuck behind slow-moving traffic or be willing and able to do a lot of illegal suicide passes. Otherwise, you’ll want to kill yourself by the time you get to the other end of the road.

      • http://greatjoballweek.blogspot.com/ Case

        Truth. PCH is a beautiful road but it’s not a great riding road because of all the traffic. It depends what stretch you’re on – it’s 700 miles long.

        RE: the photo / roadway – holy shit that is scary. That sort of thing really gives me the heebie jeebies. Is that what they’re talking about in the MSF courses when they tell you to leave some wiggle room in the corner to avoid ‘road hazards’?

    • http://cynic13th.livejournal.com/ cynic

      Don’t let the others persuade you not to do this. I ride this road at least once a year. The key to having a good time?

      Mid week in the spring early in the morning. Sure you’ll still run into some slow pokes, but you’re on 2 wheels… just pass them on the next straight.