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I'm asking this question for dearie, not myself, who will be cycling solo from Alberta to Santa Barbara, California. What type of route would you recommend from Lake Tahoe area, Nevada, going southwest.
He wonders about the Mojave Desert around late Sept.-early Oct.? He is not familiar with cycling the Sierra Nevada mountain pass areas.
I'm not sure if this answers your question, but... You can go down the eastern side of the Sierras, which would be rt. 395. This will take you from the Washoe Valley, south of Reno if you start from Lake Tahoe, down past the Mohave. It goes past Mono Lake among others. It's a very pretty ride. There are a few passes in the 7000+ range. I'm not sure how the shoulders are for bikes. I've only been down the road in a car. The problem will be at the end when he has to go west to Santa Barbara.
If he wants to go down the west side of the state I'd recommend going down rt 1, along the coast. The tricky part will be getting from Lake Tahoe to the coast. I can't even begin to recommend how to do that.
The weather should still be nice late September. We don't usually get snow until later in October. But he should have some warm clothes for the mornings and the high passes.
Thanks very much for your response, roadie gal. Good point about road shoulders in those more rougher areas. (We have them in certain areas in British Columbia, but he knows and has cycled various routes over mountain ranges between B.C. and Alberta. There are 3 mountain ranges parallel to one another to cross, with some options to take some "easier" routes.