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Riding the Pacific Coast Highway
Plus, How Davis redefined the American city and a controversial OKC bike lane
Sam Westby
December 18, 2025
Welcome to the Bike Bulletin. It’s your weekly reminder that the best feeling in the world is riding past lines of cars stuck in traffic. A little extra work brings a whole lot of joy.
Written by Sam Westby @samcwestby
This is a weekly newsletter about bike trips, urban cycling, and a love for two-wheeled transit. The more time you spend on a bike, the better. I share new editions every Thursday.
Here’s what we have today.
🌍 RIDE: The Pacific Coast Highway
🎥 WATCH: Cycling Coast to Coast ASMR
📖 READ: How Davis Helped Redefine How American Cities Think About Cycling
📰 NEWS: An OKC bike lane and a well-travelled bike
ROUTE ON MY RADAR
The Pacific Coast Highway
Here’s what you’d be getting yourself into.
1,850 miles (2,977 km) from Washington to the bottom of California
Constant mountain and ocean views
Sea lions and redwoods
Ride from north to south unless you love headwinds
Bad traffic in some sections - Big Sur, Malibu, Santa Cruz
Some long stretches without services
Link to the Adventure Cycling Association Route
Watch Rad Bike Adventure’s experience on YouTube
BIKE TRIP TIP
Download offline Google Maps before your trip. There have been so many times when this has saved my tail.
When you’re between towns, low on water, and looking for a place to camp, the last thing you want is zero cell service and no way to find answers.
One small caveat: Offline maps only support driving directions, not cycling directions. In the middle of nowhere, that’s usually fine, since you’re likely sticking to the same road anyway.
To download, tap your profile icon and then select the “Offline maps” section.
WHAT I’M WATCHING
Cycling Coast to Coast ASMR
Mat Ryder completed the Trans America Trail in 2024 and put together a 3-hour movie about the experience. There’s no music and no commentary, just natural sounds picked up by his camera.
I put it on in the background while I was working this week and felt like I was on wheels that were better than my desk chair.
Watch on YouTube
WHAT I’M READING
How Davis Helped Redefine How American Cities Think About Cycling
Davis, California, is one of the oldest bike cities in the U.S. It painted the nation’s first bike lane in 1967, and UC Davis faculty and students were biking to campus long before that.
The article highlights how Davis’s bike culture grew from the ground up. Riding came first, and infrastructure followed.
Urban planners often hope bike facilities will encourage people to ride, but Davis shows that a city that already loves biking, with or without infrastructure, can make the movement especially strong.
You can read the entire article at the Sacramento Bee
Paused. An Oklahoma City bike lane project has been paused, as 2 city councilors are worried that it would increase traffic. (Free Press OKC)
17,300 km. The longest distance travelled by one bicycle in Vancouver’s bikeshare network was over 2,263 trips. (Vancouver Sun)
A Note From Sam
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