I've biked quite a bit in San Diego and the surrounding area over the last several years. Dave suggested that we ride to Oceanside and back. That would be about 70 miles round trip along the Southern California coast. That sounded like a good plan to me!
We finally got on the bikes around 9AM. As we pedaled over I-5 we realized just how nice it was to be on bikes in Southern California.
There was still a bit of fog as we approached the water.
I had taken the memory card out of my camera so that I could transfer yesterday's ride to my computer..........and forgot to put it back in. I didn't realize I wasn't saving photos until we got to Oceanside, so all the photos of the ride north are Dave's. (thanks Dave!)
Dave had said that he was looking forward to the ride along the coast, so rather than a direct route, I had mapped a route that kept us closer to the water. It looked good on "paper" but it ended up we didn't have a lot of ocean views for the first few miles.
We rode around the south end of Mission Bay.
I was on familiar territory, as I had spent 6 weeks on the north shore of Mission Bay a few years ago.
We had pedaled out this morning without breakfast, and had planned to stop along the way. We soon found a beach side establishment that advertised breakfast so we stopped in and where treated to this view as we ate.
Following breakfast we continued northward along the coast.
Before too long we began the climb up Torrey Pines. From the south the elevation gain isn't all that noticable. We soon arrived at the top.
We rolled down the north side of Torrey Pines at 40+ mph, knowing that on the return trip we'd be going considerably slower.
We pedaled onward through Del Mar, Solana Beach, Cardiff, Encinitas, and Carlsbad, before finally reaching Oceanside. Oceanside is the starting location for Race Across America. The starting location was much less hectic today.
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| Standing on the overpass directly above the RAAM start |
We spent a bit of time on the Oceanside Pier taking in the sights and watching surfers.
We probably stayed a bit longer than we should have watching surfers and enjoying the sun, but we eventually got back on the bikes.
We pointed them south and took off. I followed the instructions on my Garmin, Dave followed the rock cairns along the way.
We pedaled southward along the ocean.
After a short distance it was time to turn inland.
We turned southward again when we reached historic Hwy 101.
Our ocean views soon returned.
We were soon rolling down from Del Mar, which meant before long we'd be................
climbing Torrey Pines! In reality it isn't that bad. 2.5 miles at 5-6%
I took a break half way up to capture the military pilots out training.
Dave did hill repeats while I was taking photos and catching my breath!
Dave got a laugh when my faith in my Garmin was shaken. There was a new building being built right on top of a multi-use trail that we were supposed to take. The construction workers didn't have much use for a couple of out of town cyclists, so I winged it, eventually finding our intended route back after a mile or so of riding on local streets.
We soon dropped into Rose Canyon and followed a combination of paths and streets toward Mission Bay. The last mile or so was on the Rose Creek Bike Path. Our daylight was rapidly dissipating.
By the time we got to Mission Bay, the sun had set and we were treated to a nice sunset.
I had mapped today's ride to start from Fiesta Island, but this morning riding from our hotel on Hotel Circle seemed reasonable. Instead of being finished, we now had several miles to ride, and no route on the Garmin. Navigating by the seat of one's pants in the dark is somewhat challenging. We missed a turn onto a path that followed along the San Diego River. When we got to a freeway overpass, we knew we were going too far. Bonus miles isn't normally all that bad, but it was dark, we were tired, and we were ready to be done. We turned around, accessed the San Diego River trail (admittedly easier to see when coming from the south) and pedaled carefully. We hadn't expected to be out past sundown. Neither of us had headlights along. Dave and I both have taillights on the bikes full time, and I was lucky enough to have two. I took one off and mounted it on my backpack straps facing forward. A red light facing forward isn't legal, but it was certainly safer than no light at all. We met one cyclist coming toward us on the dark trail. All of us were happy that the red light was there.
We safely arrived back at our hotel. We showered quickly and made our way to a filling dinner.
It was a great day on bikes!
Today ...........79................0..................0.......................0............79
Jan...............0................0...................0.......................0............0
Feb..........124...............0...................0.......................0...........124
March......277................0..................0........................0..........277
April......559................0..................0........................0..........559
May.........414...............0..................0.......................0...........414
June........337...............0..................0.......................0...........337
July........310...............0..................0.......................0...........310
August.......40.............0....................0......................0............40
Sept..........100..............0...................83......................0...........100
Oct.............29...............0....................0......................0............29
Nov............151..............0......................0......................0...........151
YTD...... 2318.............0...................83.......................0..........2461
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