My first schedule assumed that I could do 70 miles a day under load. I stayed with this plan until I tried a 32 mile dry run and realized just how far that was. I then decided to create an alternative route that required only 50 miles a day. There aren't all that many places to sleep for the night, either campgrounds or hotels. The alternative route is shorter at the beginning, taking an extra day to get over the Big Sur hills and into San Simeon State Beach. From there, the two routes are the same.
In either case, my first day was a 70 mile trip from Montera to Santa Cruz. Since I didn't know how I'd feel after that ride, I decided to leave a day early in case I wanted to rest after that first day's ride and the weather forecast was suggesting that it might rain in Big Sur on the day I was scheduled to ride through there. I thought having the extra day might help me deal with these issues on the fly.
The main decision would occur in Monterey where I would either stop for the day or take on another 20+ miles to get to Big Sur.
Original Schedule Day 1: Montero to Santa Cruz (70 miles) Day 2: Santa Cruz to Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park (70 miles) Day 3: Big Sur to San Simeon State Beach (70 miles) Day 4: San Simeon to Oceano Campground (55 miles) Day 5: Oceano to Gaviota State Beach (62 miles) Day 6 Gaviota to Santa Barbara (30 miles) Day 7: rest day Day 8: Santa Barbara to Leo Carrillo State Beach (68 miles) Day 9: Leo Carrello to Long Beach (60 miles) Day 10: Long Beach to Laguna Niguel (40 miles) Amended Schedule Day 1: Montero to Santa Cruz (70 miles) Day 2: Santa Cruz to Monterey (40 miles) Day 3: Monterey to Kirk Creek Campground (60 miles) Day 4: Kirk Creek to San Simeon State Beach (40 miles) Day 5: San Simeon to Oceano Campground (55 miles) Day 6: Oceano to Gaviota State Beach (62 miles) Day 7 Gaviota to Santa Barbara (30 miles) Day 8: rest day Day 9: Santa Barbara to Leo Carrillo State Beach (68 miles) Day 10: Leo Carrello to Long Beach (60 miles) Day 11: Long Beach to Laguna Niguel (40 miles)