I am planning a ride from SB to Oceanside. Anyone done this? Any sugguetions, pitfalls to avoid, great places to stop for lunch around Malibu, Laguna? Routes? We are planning a two day ride.
I’ve ridden from LA to SF roud trip. And now I live in OC, so I’ve ridden all the roads you will be riding on.
Don’t worry about a map, just follow the Ocean down South. Through Oxnard you will have to take some side roads as there is a military base there but it’s very easy to ride around that one as you don’t have another option. The absolute worst part of this ride will be the stretch (4miles) through the Long Beach Harbor. Lots of crap on the road, so make sure you all get new tires and inflate them properly, that should help avoid a non-scenic pit stop in Long Beach 
But don’t let that part keep you from riding this 2 day journey. Just make sure you don’t ride through that stretch first thing in the morning or last thing at night as there would be more traffic at that time. But I don’t think that should be a problem as you do this over a 2 day period.
When you get past the San Onfre State Park (past the Power Plant) you will go under a bridge (20m long or so), take an immediate right after that and you go on a smooth surface road before hitting a rougher stretch for .25miles. Then take a left, up a slight slope and you can show your ID to enter Camp Pendleton. 30min after that you’ll be in Oceanside.
Forgot, after Malibu, right before Santa Monica traffic can be a little fast with not much room on the road. But there is a bike path that curves around the sand, so just take that and you should be safe.
good luck.
Thanks. Round trip SF to LA wow! I live in SD so I have ridden through Pendleton a number of times. I got a map coming from Adventure Cycling. It looks like the only tricky parts are through Long beach and Oxnard.