Veterans Day Arms Service Memorials Ride

 This year's Veterans Day fell on the first day of a really hot Santa Ana Wind event. I was hoping that the heat wouldn't arrive until closer to noon, but the mercury was already in the 80s when I descended into Mission Bay to meet up with a couple of friends at 8:30am. The messenger of the gods obeys no cosmic speed limit when carrying a big load of hot dry air!

Mission Bay Beach Club meet up spot. A huge improvement to the old MB Visitor Center!

My friend Bill R was the day's ride master, and he had plotted us to visit the many military memorials scattered around town. First on the list, especially on a hot day like this, of course, is to get the Veterans Memorial Cross on Mt Soledad out of the way as soon as possible. 

Climbing thru the Muirlands.

We took Fanuel St thru Pacific Beach and scooted clockwise around the mountain via La Jolla Hermosa and La Jolla Bike Path to start up the hill on Nautilus and then Muirland Vista into the Muirlands and then La Jolla Scenic Dr for a more scenic (and less trafficky) ascent. 

Veterans Memorial Cross on Mt Soledad.

On a clear day you can see almost forever!

The Mt Soledad cross was giving good visibility payback to its visitors. It was so clear across the county that you could see tens of miles away and identify most of the mountains in the distance. We didn't linger for long, mind you. It was to be a 50 miles ride and there are more hills to scale in the ever-warming weather, so we took the fast descent down Cardeno Dr and traverse Mission Bay on Ingraham Dr (pretty safe to bike on between Crown Point and Dana Landings), making our way to Ocean Beach on the posted bike route before climbing to Ft Rosecrans National Cemetery via Catalina Blvd. 

Ft Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Most of us know or are related to someone interned at that green lawn overlooking the Pacific Ocean, so we lingered a bit longer before heading back down the hill via Canon Dr... and into the Naval Base for our third stop, Ballast Point - the actual historical whaling station rather than the popular local brewery! 

Along with the Ballast Pt marker, the same site also holds 3 military memorial markers... and quite a fantastic view of the San Diego Bay, North Island, and Downtown. There is also a convenient store nearby to refill our water bottles. The warm dry wind was starting to pick up, and I was going the way of the over-sunned beef jerky.

We were mostly done with the hills for the ride, though, and spun through the scenic and flat Harbor Dr into the Marina District to the USS Midway Museum and the USS San Diego memorial just north of Seaport Village. 

USS San Diego Memorial by Fisherman's Warf

After a quick swing through Balboa Park and Mission Hills, we stopped at the top of Presidio Park to pay a visit to the Mormon Battalion Memorial and Fort Stockton's Historical Marker in the peaceful hilltop clearing overlooking Mission Bay.  

Fort Stockton (1828-1848) changed hands many times during the Mexican War, was last occupied by the Mormon Battalion that had walked here from the Midwest and got here a bit too late to join in any fight. They have a museum just down the hill now, across the lane from the Old Heritage Row of well preserved Victorian Era houses in Old Town San Diego.

One of my dream bucket list items is to mountain bike the Oregon Trail from Independence, MO to Waiilatpu, OR (Honore Morrow's On To Oregon being one of my favorite childhood books. Of course, I've since read Catherine Sager's Across the Plains in 1844, so my perception of the trek is now a bit less romantic). I could hardly imagine doing a 2000 miles trek on foot and pushing or pulling at a hand cart full of belongings and supplies, though. 

Incidentally, once we are done with our late fall bouts of Santa Ana wind, it should be cool enough again to go roam the eastern side of the county, and visit the slot canyon spot that still bears the groove that the Mormons had carved in the process of pulling the handcarts up to the Old Stagecoach route out east of Julian. 

But, that's for another ride... For the day, we finished our 50 miles loop back at Mission Bay Beach Club in the early afternoon feeling thankful both for the friends we get to ride with and the far too many military personnel who had perished in the process of providing us with the peace time we enjoy. Thanks on many fronts, Bill!