Over the Rainbow Crest on Road Bike (2 of 2)

Part 1: Pala Mission - Rainbow.

It took two hours to go just 7.5 miles!

I had never struggled so much and taken so long to go just 7 1/2 miles on a bicycle! By the time I emerged onto Rainbow Crest Rd from the Gomez Creek Rd's monster mile of agony it was a few minutes past 10 am. The sun was starting to melt the sunscreen into my eyes and the ice that I had put in my 'insulated' water bottles before the ride had lost its battle with the outside heat. But, but, that's only a small price to pay for setting foot on a rainbow, isn't it?

Looking back east on Rainbow Crest Rd just after the top of Gomez Creek Rd climb.

Heading WNW on the narrow tarmac lane of Rainbow Crest Rd from the top of Gomez Creek Rd toward Rainbow I was reminded yet again at how not-level/flat traversing a mountain ridge often is. True, the climbing is much more gentle now, but the occasional steep ramps interrupted whatever rhythm I had gotten myself into were all the more aggravating for it.

The well trimmed hedge lining Rainbow Crest Rd as it winds NW toward Rainbow proper.

There are plenty of view to compensate, though. The beautiful valley on the right (NE) side of the road, was strikingly bucolic in charming in a ‘remote Alpine village’ sort of way; acres of avocado and citrus orchards presided over by cute wooden or stone chalets along the moderately tamed mountain ledges. The air smelled of roses and other refreshing blooms in the roadside gardens.

NNW on Rainbow Crest Rd overlooking Rice Canyon.

The road finally turns north after a while and the exposed crest offers a broad view of the valley that houses Interstate 15. The roadside hedge thickens and I descended onto the charming three-way intersection where Rainbow Peaks, Rainbow Crest and Rainbow Heights Rds meet (I wonder if the locals just call them by the second words, omitting the ‘Rainbow’ bit altogether?). The question was, which of these ends in a pot of gold?

The junction of Rainbow Heights & Rainbow Crest Rds.

Rainbow Heights at Rainbow Peaks, Rainbow and Arouba Rds.

After spending a few minutes in the lovely roadside shade refreshing myself while looking around in vain for a stray leprechaun to interrogate I decided that the day was still young enough for a side excursion before heading back down to earth. A right turn it was, and then another slight right down the gentle curves of Rainbow Rd for the dead-ender by the name of Mt Olympus Valley Rd.

Mt Olympus Valley Rd branching east from Rainbow Rd.

I had chanced on it Google-Earthing the route beforehand and found its street view rather fetching. I’m afraid in real life it is rather not spectacular enough for its short length, however. There is no proper street sign where it branches east from Rainbow Rd, but a white wooden ‘Mt Olympus Estates’ sign by Sunshine Properties marks the spot. Sling-shot down the steep little dip, then up a couple of curves around a couple of really big houses before the road dead ends in a cul-de-sac by a Valhalla of a country house with a huge duck pond and white picket fence… and that was it, unless, of course, you are on a 4-wheel drive off-road vehicle or a heavy duty full-suspension mountain bike that can go up a rutted dirt trail to the top of the nearby peak.

Looking west from Mt Olympus Valley Rd at Mt Olympus & Rainbow Peaks Trail.

On the other (west) side of the valley is Mt Olympus itself, of course. It’s a striking looking peak with sharp white cliffs… and is serviced by the paved Rainbow Peaks Rd, though it also houses a women’s correction facility whose guards aren’t keen on visitors, even harmless ones on two wheels.

Descending beautiful Rainbow Heights Rd.

Looking west from near the top of Rainbow Heights Rd. Antennae-topped mountain right center is Red Mountain.

Re-tracing back to the three ways corner and then down winding and steep (about 8% average) Rainbow Heights Rd was not for the novice cyclists. The descent is quite technical with sharp blind turns and lots of cracks and potholes to dodge without there being many turn out opportunities (if the surface is well paved that wouldn’t be such a problem since good bike handlers would easily drop down that road faster than cars, but with the potholes what little car traffic there is soon catches up with you and there is just no room to pass).

Heading south on delightfully curvy Ranger Rd in Fallbrook.

View of I-15 from Ranger Rd.

A little photo stop at the Old Bridge across the San Luis Rey River on the ride home.

I decided to bail when I got back to the valley floor... That is what sometimes happens when you go on solo exploration rides and there isn't anyone aside from yourself to keep on torturing needlessly. I had planned on heading south on Rice Canyon Rd and then attempt a traverse of Monserate Mountain by way of little known Stewart Crest Rd, but it was now too close to noon and the sun had burnt off what little clouds the morning had thrown up. Not keen on suffering another super steep hiking-a-bike up unfamiliar mountain (and this one with a good chance of running into fenced gates at the top), in >90F heat, I opted to head down Rainbow Valley Blvd for the Old 395 into Fallbrook instead.


The fastest way home would have been to keep going downhill on Old 395 until the bus stop at Hwy 76, of course, but I still had some chubby weight to burn and some pride to uphold, so I went uphill a bit more on E Mission Rd before taking a left onto the irredeemably twisted delight that is the downhill direction of Ranger Rd. The fun came to a stop at Reche Rd, which I took west until I could get on Mission Rd again to speed to the coast on Hwy 76 and then the much more tranquil San Luis Rey River Trail... and the straight forward coastal ride back to town on the PCH. It summed out to be a bit over 92 miles ride whose elevation gain per mile ratio would have been much more respectable had I toughed it out and came home via the inland route instead.

Oh well, there's always another day!

Somewhere Over The Rainbow Crest... On A Road Bike (1 of 2)

A while back I got a tip from a motorcyclist friend about a road that possibly allows eastern access to beautiful Rainbow Heights from Pala Temecula Rd (S16). The road is called Arouba Rd and only looks partly paved from above on Google Earth... with some really hairy elevation gained per mile number. Naturally, this called for an exploration ride!

To get to the south terminus of Pala Temecula Rd, however, requires traveling on the rather dangerous stretch of narrow and super curvy Hwy 76 between the rock quarry just east of I-15 and Cole Grade Rd. To increase my chance of surviving to tell my tales, I decided to bus in instead. From Uptown San Diego this meant rolling into Downtown to catch the 4:54am MTS bus 20 to Escondido to connect to Breeze buses 350 and 389 all the way to Pala Casino. It's a nearly three hours transit that required quite heavy dosage of coffee before and after to survive.

Heading east on Pala Mission Rd.

Finally getting properly on my bike I rolled out of the convenient store at Pala Casino gas station just past 8 am and dropped in for a very quiet visit at Mission San Antonio de Pala at the junction of Pala Mission Rd and Pala Temecula Rd. Not a soul was around as I rolled slowly around the peaceful old mission and its well shaded courtyards.

The view was pretty tranquil from the swing set at Pala Mission School.

Mission San Antonio de Pala.

I used to ride my rigid steel mountain bike down to this place once or twice a months in the early 90's when I lived in Murrieta Hot Springs just north of Temecula. The mission itself hasn't changed much at all, though the surrounding is more developed now. And, of course, the casinos (Pala, Pauma, Pechanga) that had sprung up in the area since then have turned the formerly tranquil S16 into a paved road version of Russian roulette for cyclists. Once the road starts twisting its way up the well wooded valley between Mt Olympus and Tourmaline Queen Mountain north of Pala proper what little shoulder there is disappears along with much of driving/riding visibility. You would think that people would drive slower and more cautiously in such conditions... and you would be quite wrong.

Pala Temecula Rd in Pala.

Pala Temecula, the start of the curvy section that makes Hwy 94 feels quite safe by comparison.

By the middle of the second curve I was seriously doubting my chance of surviving the two or so miles before I could turn west away from this shooting gallery at Arouba Rd. It couldn't come fast enough! The turn off isn't marked, of course. I only recognized it because I had Google Earth-ed the route before hand. It's the first paved lane leading west from the highway. There's a car gate at the bottom (it was open, but I don't know if it's always left open or not). The road makes a sharp right turn shortly after the gate and it looks quite unpleasantly steep.

Arouba Rd branching off from S16 (Pala Temecula Rd).

After the first turn on Arouba Rd.

The first turn on the road had me immediately on my lowest gear (30x26)... and it only got steeper from there. 'At least it is paved,' thought I, until 50 or so yards further up the ramp when the pavement broke up into about 30 yds worth of steep dirt section. On the other side pavement picked up again as the road switchback left up the hill at about 17% grade and gave my legs a good burn. Then, of course, it turned into this really shitty steep and loose dirt and gravel thing with lots of tire-eating ruts and no shade to offer any shelter whatsoever.

Looking back down Arouba Rd's 1st switchback turn.

After the switchback, the Arouba pavement said both 'Good bye' and 'Fuck You' at the same time...

Does it look nasty in the photo? It is worse in real life! I climb fairly well but 30x26 is way too big a granny gear to cope with such a climb, especially when it is driving a set of 25 mm road slick tires. This was when not using SPD shoes/pedals came in handy for me. It was hard just walking the bike up to the top of the ramp. Then I crested and looked down the other side to find...

I love my road bike, but this was way too rough!

The drop west into the valley was even steeper and ruttier than the east side! My friend should be glad that curses and hexes don't actually work 'cause I sure was throwing truck loads of them his way as I gingerly slip-sliding my way hike-a-biking down the really loose gravel road. Even when the slope eases up near the bottom the road was still way too loose and rutty to remount my road bike. I think the bottom of the valley is where the road changes name to Lemon Line Rd, though. I could see a house or two up on top of the hills, but nothing close by but some bee farming boxes by the side of the road.

The foresty bit of Lemon Line Rd.

A bit after the bee boxes the gravel becomes fine gravel and dirt firm enough for slow and cautious riding. Lemon Line Rd snakes its way into thick shades that had me both spooked and mesmerized at the same time. I really would have enjoyed that section of the route more had I not seen relatively fresh bobcat spoors just up the road. Then, almost like magic, the shade trees pulled out a bit and I emerged onto the apex of a really beautiful tight and, gasp, paved switchback. I had reached Jeremy Way!

Jeremy Way, I love you. Jeremy Way, yes, I do!

I don't think I had ever been so happy to see a paved road in my life! I was no longer lost in an unknown valley with only hungry bobcats and bees and a bunch of funny quails for company! The warming morning suddenly didn't feel as much a threat. And though I had arrived here later than I had planned it, I decided to explore a bit and went left on Jeremy Way instead of right and head straight for Rainbow. After all, I am unlikely to come this way again soon or often. Jeremy Way is a dead end road, so I only went up it for a bit before turning back. It turned out to be a good thing to do since I caught a nice long range profile of my route west from one of the curves.

Heading south, up the hill, on Jeremy Way.

Caught a preview of Gomez Creek Rd from a curve on Jeremy Way. That long ramp up the hill really didn't look encouraging!

Oy vez, it was now almost 10 am and the weather forecast was for a high of 92F, so I had better shape up and head west if I want to get over that seriously quads-busting ramp before it gets really hot. So, back down Jeremy Way I went, rolled on past the switchback I had popped up on earlier and had another nice reminder of why wise cyclists don't bomb downhill on unfamiliar roads...

The sand was pretty thick right under the shade on Jeremy Way.

Gomez Creek Rd climbing west toward Rainbow Crest.

I didn't crash, mind you. I had learnt my lesson from the Oak Groves Rd crash last December and wasn't trusting any shaded spot and blind curves... for good reason. They were all covered in sand! Anyhow, Jeremy Way soon climbs out of the shades and becomes Gomez Creek Rd. And it sure is a looker! There area orchards and farms along the south side as the road creeps up the hill in steps of around 7-9% grade.

Looking back at the stone walled house at the Gomez Creek Rd elbow turn.

The bottom of the Gomez Creek Rd dip.

Then the road crests at a tight right elbow turn flanked by really cool stone walls and a handsome ranch house. From there it is a fun little curvy descent to a sharp (and quite sandy) turning dip and climbs out of it at about 8-13% grade until the right elbow turn between a huge fir tree and a ranch house. That's when it really kicks up.

The last bit of Gomez Creek quads/lungs-buster before Rainbow Crest.

It was a good thing I had glimpsed at the climb's profile while I was on Jeremy Way as I wouldn't have liked to be surprised by that post-elbow-turn ramp! The bottom part of it is surely on the wrong side of 23% grade, and it only dropped off to a steady long grind of 12-15% and doesn't start to mellow out until very close to the top, .4 mile from the turn. If you are familiar with the hills of San Diego City, this was like going up the first ramp on Juan St followed by Illion St wall that only drops off to the Pringle St climb from San Diego Ave.

Yes, I did reach Rainbow at the crest of the climb, but by then I was way too wasted to feel happy. I just wanted to toss the bike back down the hill and die! But, I couldn't just then. I wasn't quite out of the woods yet.

Part 2 coming up in a bit.

Cuyamaca Peak by Road Bike

At 6, 512 ft (1985 m), Cuyamaca Peak is the second highest point in San Diego County (second only to 6533 ft tall Hot Springs Mountain near Warner Springs), and its distinctive wave shape in the middle of a rectangular mountain block is easy to spot from afar. As there is no paved road all the way to the top of Hot Springs Mountain, Cuyamaca Peak is the highest point a road bike could go in San Diego... and it was the main objective of my adventure bike ride a couple of weeks ago.

A friend and I started riding from Santee Trolley Station and picked up two more accomplices in Alpine. I'm afraid my plan was a bit more ambitious than prudent as I didn't quite realize how relentlessly steep Lookout Rd is. We all crested the Hwy 79 climb at a good clip, but the 3.5 miles from Paso Picacho Campground (where we stopped to refill our water bottles and to use the excellent restroom) to the top of Cuyamaca Peak took a whole hour in itself (running into stiff headwind about 200 vertical feet from the top sure didn't help). Lookout Fire Rd is a popular hiking route to the top of the mountain, so we ran into quite a few friendly hikers on the way. They are quite awesome about making way for us and were full of encouragement.



As you can see from the video, the view is quite spectacular both along the way up and from the top. We were also lucky about running into a lot of wild birds and deers. My friend Dezary even almost got rammed by a very cage-free chicken as we rolled up Hwy 79 through Descanso. It came tumbling out of the bush on the bank of the road as if chased by a coyote and made quite a racket... just a few yards from the 'honor system' basket selling eggs for $3 a dozen.

By the way, the stretch of I-8 between E Willow Rd and Hwy 79/Japatul Valley Rd is open to bicycle because there really aren't any reasonable alternate surface road between the two exits (we fit lycra crowd on lighter bikes might not have much trouble coping with the Japatul Wall or Viejas Grade Rd detour, but not all on bikes are light or fit!).

My riding buddies called it finished when we rolled back into Alpine and I spun on alone back to Santee. I had meant to detour into Crest and Granite Hills to check out a couple of enticing-looking roads along the way, but the afternoon was getting old and my legs were insistent that I shut the &%@% up about more double digit grade climbing after all they had put up with up the big mountain, so I settled for a very minor side trip around Lake Jennings before catching the trolley home in Santee.

It was quite a good trip. Only 80 miles, but with a decent elevation gain of 7920ft (most of the climbing were done in the first 40 miles). From Santee to Alpine and then through to Paso Picacho is really a long drawn out gentle climb (nothing steeper than 6%). The Lookout Rd up Cuyamaca Peak, though, is very gnarly. Once it starts kicking in earnest about a mile up it averages around 17% in endless series of very steep ramps, some in the high 20's grade. The last 2 turns had to be walked due to the very unfair combination of very steep gradient and very gravelly chopped up pavement. Unlike Mt Woodson Rd, however, you can carefully ride down most of Lookout Rd (you can't let the bike run, but the turns aren't as tight as Mt Woodson Rd and there's a bit more room for error if you skid off the pavement).

Pre-riding the hilly bit of the 2012 Giro di San Diego gran fondo (Lake Wohlford, Palomar South Grade, Cole Grade Rd) II

Part 1.

That's the same road I'm on now, South Grade Rd (S6). The wiggly thing kept doubling back on itself!

So there I was, leaning against the Palomar Artesian Springs rock basin in the shade on the hillside of South Grade Rd considering my options: I had never ridden this way before and didn't know how far I still had to the top. It was now past one in the mid-summer afternoon and I only had 2 gulps of water left in my bottles. I knew that if I turn around before the top, I would be coasting downhill all the way to the Oak Knoll Campground (and its little shop with cold drinks and even ice-cream)... so perhaps it wouldn't be that foolish to keep going up until I really ran out of all water - something I wouldn't do in other circumstances. I should have paid more attention to the roadside mile posts at the start of the climb, but the road was supposed to be only 6 miles long and I had passed 47.2 (and remembered 41.something on my way up), so I had to be quite close!

OMG! This road wasn't endless after all!

Sometimes you just have to risk it a little bit (especially when it is well calculated). This time it paid to resolve to go on since the bend that houses the artesian springs turned out to be the next to last bend from the top of the South Grade Rd climb. The S6 junction with S7 (East Grade Rd) marked the official top of the road, and the mere sight of the sign from 150 or so yards away was enough to adrenaline-rushed me up the last bit of the slope.

Smokey the bear is always looking to beat wildfires up with his shovel.

Cresting the top to pay a visit to Smokey bear and his fire danger level sign I gained a new appreciation for the eternal plight of the boulder-hauling Sisyphus. Not only did I get to reach and stay at the top (well, not the real top of the mountain per se, but the top of the official South Grade Rd climb), I would also get to rest up and refuel at the famed Mother's Kitchen Restaurant, too!

I think the place is famous for chilli, but it was 88F outside so I went with cheese quesadilla and fountain soda instead.

The dining room was very nice and clean in a charming mountain rustic sort of way. There was even an outdoor patio dining area out the back of the place. The hostess was really nice. My lunch costs $10 (including tips). Not bad at all. I loved that they have fountain drinks, so I could put fill my bottles with ice and Sprite, and they would stay cold for a while into my descent.

Palomar Mtn General Store, Mother's Kitchen Restaurant, Post Office

Next door were the Palomar Mtn General Store and the post office (and also the public restrooms in a separate building. Very nice and clean). I dropped in at the post office to send off a postcard, then wandered into the general store in search of energy bars and an extra bottle of Gatorade for the road

Not feeling very local just now...

..and sure wasn't expecting to find a bunch of Russian Orthodox icons, matryoshka dolls and even Buddha icons and statuettes on the retail shelves! They do have candy & energy bars for sale along with coolers of cold drinks, though (no fountain drink, unfortunately). 


It had been a while since I got to ride down a winding 7% grade highway that was longer than a couple of miles, so I was more interested in memorizing this technical descent than I was at living out one of my all time favorite youtube sport clips in real life. This was more so when I had a near miss and only avoided hitting a pothole that was laying in ambush just behind a right-turning switchback by less than 2 inches. After which I sat up and ate the wind the rest of the way back to Hwy 76... which was pleasant enough above 3500 or so feet. Below that the air turned so hot that it felt much like having my face stuck in front of a blow-dryer for 5 miles in a row. 

A cow crossing on South Grade Rd.

I might let it rip coming down this hill during the Giro di San Diego, but it was a good thing that I didn't my first time around. The descend is very technical, and there are the 4 cow crossings that took some getting used to (I never saw any cow on that mountain, but it was unsettling screeching down the road on two skinny wheels doing 35 mph to see the pavement ahead interrupted by iron cross bars... It's best to get out of the drop onto the hood and keep the grips light as you flow over the thing... Do not apply the break! It's less jarring going over them at speed).

Cow pasture on the faux flat section of Hwy76 west of South Grade Rd

Alas, my camera batteries died shortly after I got back down on Hwy 76, so no more photo from the ride. It was just as well... I had heard about Cole Grade Rd before, but nothing prepared me for the sight of the base of that monster a mile or so wsw of Hwy 76 turn out. The climb was only 3 miles long (whereas Palomar Mtn climb was 12; 6 miles on 76 and 6 miles on South Grade Rd), but at 9% grade in 90+ F on a midsummer day, after completing an HC category climb... this was something quite inhumane! There was no rest stop/water hole along the route either... I must have stopped 4 or 5 times before the top, my legs felt like bombed out noodles and my brain cooking inside out.

There was no fun descent to be had after the apex of the climb either. The road was considerably less steep on the south side, and there were two or three rollers to go over before the legs had had enough time to recover. By the time I reached Valley Pkwy on my way back to Del Lago bus station I was quite convinced that I wouldn't be able to complete the Giro di San Diego gran fondo route. It wasn't Palomar that was going to kill me, but Cole Grade Rd!  

I was only doing a portion of the ride (68 miles rather than 106) and I could hardly get back up the Bear Ridges, the mild hump on Bear Valley Rd coming back south. On the real ride next week I'll be starting at near sea level in Solana Beach and would have plenty of icky rollers (San Elijo Hills included) on my way back west after mile 70.

But, hey dudes, I'm not a professional cyclist and I'm not entering a race. I only signed up for the gran fondo because I wanted to climb Palomar South Grade Rd in a group... (a bit ironic there. I wanted to ride up that thing in an organized group for safety reason, but here I was, going up it solo the weekend before because I don't like to ride any route blind! Bwahaha). So now I know I can climb Palomar from the steepest side along with Wohlford and Cole Grade. Hopefully this takes a lot of the sting off when I do get swept up by the broom bus next weekend... 

Update: I did survive the Giro di San Diego gran fondo... though not a little fast pace group ride the weekend after (crashed out and will be off the bike for a while).

- 2012 Giro di San Diego Gran Fondo.