The White Lightning on a Serene Mountain...

Having ridden through Crest a few times was enough to get me fixated on the tantalizing concrete white lightning etched onto the mountain side that serves as the town's landmark. Then my local adventure cycling guru told me it is called Montana Serena Rd, and is a 'must do' climb for aspiring adventure cyclists, which, of course, put the beast squarely on my hit list.

Montana Serena Rd: 0.9 mile, 12% average grade, max grade 43%.

The Beast, of course, is a 0.9 mile long gated road with the main entrance in the Gibson Highlands just off Rios Canyon Rd from Mountain View/Frances Dr. Being a Smorg comes with a liking for a 'different' approach, though, so off to Google Earth I went to scout out a non-routine way of getting on the ride's objective. As it turned out, there are a few different solutions to getting onto Serena Montana, two of them involving quite a bit of dirt-riding!

Looking back (ENE) down the initial ramp on Bullard Rd.

Most of Bullard Rd is firm and road-bike-able, some patches are loose, tho.

I caught the trolley to El Cajon Transit Center early one weekday morning and had a long warm up climb east on Old Hwy 80 past Flinn Springs toward Chocolate Summit. At the turn off where Old 80 turns into Alpine Blvd, though, I veered south to pick up a little lane between the houses. It's the slightly paved north terminus of Bullard Rd.

The friendly (and quite leashless) pitbull welcoming party.

After the fork, Bullard Rd does some gymnastics...

After an initial steep pitch the pavement abandoned me to my dirt-riding devise. Luckily the slope mellowed out soon after and was mostly firm and road-bike friendly. I had taken care to memorize how the route looks via Google Earth, which proved to be a good move as there is no sign at road junctions! I took the left fork at the first Y-intersection, which was well guarded by a lovely (and leash-free) pitbull and her mate before I was allowed to continue onto the deserted hillside. It was quite nice! There's a nice view of the mountains (El Cajon Mtn, Chocolate Summit, Cuyamaca) looking back north, and the road was completely deserted aside from a few mtb tire tracks and horse prints on the dirt.

At the 2nd Y-intersection I took the right fork and fish-tailed my way up the ladder-step-like zigzag until I came to a cattle gate surrounded by barb wire fence. There was no 'no trespassing' sign aside from a small sticker on the gate asking for it to remain shut to prevent the cattle from escaping into the brown inhospitable valley below. I guess that's because Bullard Rd is designated as the 2nd fire escape route for the Gibson Highlands community on the other side of the hill crest.

Bullard Rd gate.

After the gate...

Above the gate the road is much less road-bike-able; deep ruts and steep gradient made for quite a bit of hike-a-biking. A large house peeked up from the hillside about halfway up the climb, Shortly after that I hefted the bike over another gate and landed on a nice and smooth tarmac lane.

Looking back ENE from the 2nd gate.

The climbing continues on the tarmac Bullard Rd.

It's a lonely road and I didn't see any cow despite of multiple 'Cow in pasture' signs... I did see some nice orchards and a whole lot of solar panels, though. It's good policy to try to be self-sufficient when you live in a mountainous sort of isolation deep in the wild fire zone, I guess!

The scenic curve on the paved top of Bullard Rd.

Bottom of Bullard Rd, top of Montana Serena.

After a 1/4 mile or so I rounded a wide panoramic curve to find myself at the top of the white lightning. I have to admit... looking down the thing was a bit scary! It also doesn't help that the concrete surface is quite bumpy rather than smooth.

The White Lightning looks nice from the distance but is quite bumpy up close!

So... it's a 19-42% grade drop... on a hard and bumpy concrete!

After a very cautious (and slow) first descent I turned around when the concrete gives way to tarmac at the bottom, shifted into the lowest gear I had (30x26), and moaned my way back up the hill. After the first curve there is a clear view for miles and miles on the right side of the road, but I didn't see any of it. I was too busy zig-zagging and trying to not tip over and die of exhaustion.

Already zig-zagging not far up from the base... hence the photo angle. Bwahaha.

Half-way up and already ran out of my cursing repertoire... The thing is a beast!

Surviving a hideously steep and rather long climb requires something of a myopic mindset. Your whole world is confined to only a few meters at a time, and you can't look too far up the slope lest the futility of your efforts becomes too apparent and quitting too soundly reasonable. It hurts like hell, but all you can do is to keep hurting just shy of 'too much'. There is no way the pain will go away and you don't want to think of how long you still have to go. It is enough to keep it from getting worse... just for this second. It is a second that has no ending until suddenly it does. You are at the top, with your legs still attached and your head had miraculously failed to explode. Montana Serena Rd had been eliminated from your hit list.... and you don't ever have to climb it anymore.

Yeyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Heading out of Montana Serena complex. The gate has a metal sensor and opens automatically outward.

Montana Serena Rd from Gibson Highlands Rd.

 There are still plenty of monsters on my local hit list, mind you. But it is quite a comfort to me to know that the next time somebody mentions Montana Serena to me as a 'have you done that yet?', my answer would be; 'Been there, done that, and am cured of the sickness!'

Back-roading my way to Alpine

T'was a clear and cool winter morning... as winter mornings in San Diego often go. The Smorgmobile was pining for the mountains, and Alpine fits the bill just so!

La Cresta Rd climb to Crest.

Many roads we could choose to take up the mountain, but none as pretty as La Cresta, of that I was quite certain...

Up and up the gentle slope we crawled, until a chanced side-exploration called. We had reach Vista de Montemar's purple gate. It was open and I was in no haste...

The view west from Vista de Montemar: Mt Helix & Grossmont on left, Cowles & the Fortunas right center.

Back down Vista de Montemar to La Cresta.

A little climb with more than a little view. It pays to not go straight up scenic hills!

Traffic was light but it was speedy, and Crest itself was looking empty.

Skirting along South Lane Park in Crest.

Alta Pl's magical switchbacks.

We looped the town and its dead ends, and found its many crooks and glens.

But the morning got old and I needed coffee, but up in Crest there's no cafe! So off we went down Mountain View Dr, which turns to Frances as it takes a curvy dive...

Down Mountain View/Frances Dr into Harbison Canyon.

Turning off Harbison Canyon Rd at Galloway Valley Rd.

No coffee on the offer at Canyon Market, so north we went up Harbison Canyon Rd.
Most folks would go on to Arnold Way, but Smorg's head was feeling fuzzy, so we took a long cut the Galloway Valley way.

Taking in the view from Alpine Trail Rd.

A wrong turn or two before we made the clue, and popped up on Alpine's new scenic patch of flues. The roads are new and most plots still un-housed, Alpine Trail is quite a cool hang about!

The second ramp on Alpine Trail Rd.

 

Riding such a view requires a bit of clout, before too long the engine was throwing me a pout... or two... or three. Steep roads can really wear you out!

Finally a bit of a descent on Alpine Heights Rd.

It's downhill most of the way to turn around, but Janet's coffee scent was on my snout. So I pushed on up the hill on South Grade Rd and turned west toward the roast on old Foss Rd. Janet really knows how to espresso, and a hot mug after the climb makes quite a tango!

                                              

Yes, yes, I know... climbing 3000 ft in just 23 miles for a cup of joe is really only for weirdos...

Cabrillo National Monument in Santa Ana Wind & Sun

We are on our third straight day of heavy duty Santa Ana condition here in San Diego. It's a bit of a bummer since I'm having an easy work week and had been eying a few delicious roads up in the mountains to the east, but there is no way I would head east of the city limit in this sort of weather (being crazy for adventure is one thing, being stupidly suicidal is another).

Having spent the whole work week inside was driving me silly, though, so I compromised and headed out for a short ride, with a friend, to Cabrillo National Monument instead. Cabrillo is at the south tip of the Pt Loma Peninsula just a few miles around the San Diego Bay. My $15 Cabrillo Pass had just expired at the end of April, so renewing it gave me quite a good extra excuse to stay on the coast. I'm afraid morning commitments meant that I couldn't start until 10am, so the morning was already quite warm and getting moderately windy when I rolled into Moment Cycle Sports' parking lot in Liberty Station to pick up Kim, my cycling co-conspirator for the day.

A rather bad bike lane on N Harbor Dr approaching Scott Rd. Naturally we rode in the 'buffer zone' rather than in the door-zone bike lane.

Taking Rosecrans south into La Playa.

We had planned to follow my Utterly & Horribly Unnecessarily Steep Pt Loma Tour route, but by the time we got to the Shelter Island turn off the wind was starting to get unfriendly. Luckily for me, Kim raised no objection to my skipping the packed dirt (and amazingly scenic) Bessemer Path and headed into La Playa on Rosecrans instead. We turned uphill on Owens and followed San Elijo Ave to the secret neighborhood path that connects to picturesque Armada Terrace, where we slow-rolled for a bit to shake the lactate off the legs before scaling La Playa's resident ogre, 23% grade first block of Lucinda St.

The secret passage to Armada Terrace.

Living on Armada Terrace in La Playa means you're never short of spectacular view!

Lucinda St's ouchy first block at Harbor View Dr.

Kim had spent a lot of her winter cycling miles on Palomar Mtn, and so it was Lucinda St that cried at their encounter! I haven't been riding much in the past 1 1/2 week (tho I ate as if I had been doing back-to-back brevets), so I was pretty surprised that I managed it up the hideous block without having to get out of the saddle. We stopped to enjoy the view from the leveled out intersection with Golden Park Ave, of course. As horrible for cycling the Santa Ana Wind is, it also produces really nice clear skyline all the way to the mountains!

View of the bay from half way up Lucinda St.

Kim rolling past Rosecroft House.

We took Golden Park to Charles and Gage Rds and weaved our way through The Wooded Area while goggling at the neighborhood's over-abundance of gorgeous houses. Rosecroft House is, of course, an attraction worth a little detouring to see. Eventually we made our way to the main road and headed south on Cabrillo Memorial Dr to Cabrillo National Park where the super nice ranger at the entrance booth sold me a new annual pass and wished both of us a good ride.

The view of the bay from Cabrillo visitor center on a clear Santa Ana day is worth getting off the bike for!

Hotel Del Coronado with Mt San Miguel in the background.

Kim was sort of caught between Juan Rodrigo Cabrillo and the Old Pt Loma Lighthouse...

The park was relatively busy! We made a beeline to the soft-drinks vending machine at the visitor center, though arrived to find it in the process of being resupplied (so the drinks weren't cold yet). Luckily I had taken the measure of half-filling my 2nd water bottle and freezing it overnight, so the slightly salted water in that bottle was still nice and cold as we walked around admiring Cabrillo's drop-dead gorgeous bay view.

San Diego Bay view from Ft Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Hot weather and I really don't get along!

1st block of Bandini St in Mission Hills.

We loitered around at Cabrillo for quite a while until the wind started to feel like we were stuck in front of a giant blow dryer with the cooling effect rivaling a blow torch, when we made our escape north on rolling Cabrillo Memorial Dr/Catalina Blvd to Chatsworth Blvd down to Liberty Station. Kim's ride was done there, and I had a nice and easy roll back up the Uptown mesa by way of Old Town and scenic Bandini St where I was once again cheered up the 25% first block by a nice local driver.

It was a nice little 30 mile ride! Yes, yes, I went up a few ouchy steepies unnecessarily, but streets like Lucinda and Bandini are so much more interesting and so less trafficky than things like Canon or Catalina or Juan or Washington Sts. Besides, I've got the granny gear... and why have the granny gear (and all its extra weight) if you aren't going to find a good steepie or two to put it to use?

Palm fronds are getting blown everywhere. If you can, move them away from handicap access ramps!

On another note, the Santa Ana wind has been blowing a lot of tree debris and palm fronds onto the roads and sidewalks. We able-bodied folks don't think about it much, but it would be great if my fellow cyclists and pedestrians would take the time to, when they come across debris & fronds that block the handicap access ramps on the sidewalk, stop and move the obstacles out of the way so our wheelchaired neighbors can get from place to place. It's just a few seconds of your time, and the fronds aren't heavy at all. A bit inconvenient, perhaps, but really good good karma building opportunity!

Today's riding route: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/405801850

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).

Friendly Christmas Ride to Mt Helix

It is supposedly winter but America's Finest City has been stuck in Indian Summer Mode for almost two weeks now. It's quite unreal considering all the wintry weather wreaking havoc in much of the country!

Rolling thru La Mesa on Allison Ave.

Anyhow, a few friends and I decided to try to make extra stomach room for our Christmas feast by going off on a morning ride from Cal Coast Bicycles in University Heights to the top of Mt Helix on the eastern edge of La Mesa. It's only a 23 miler, but with a good climb in the middle. We plotted a route of least traffic east on Meade & Orange Aves and eventually made our uneventful way to University Ave into La Mesa in relatively sparse traffic. One of our numbers was having a hard time keeping up, though. He had been riding on 9 consecutive days and his legs were tired of being told, Jen Voigt style, to 'shut up'. By the time we made the turn from La Mesa Blvd to Jackson St he had had enough and decided to turn back, leaving our group of five survivors to deal with the day's featured climb.

Out of the saddle on Alto Dr's 1st steep ramp.

No rest for the wicked...

What a difference a year makes! Around this time a year ago I would be on my 2nd lowest gear and still found the first ramp on Lemon St to the intersection with Alto Dr quite testy. This time around it was just a good little burn on the 4th lowest gear. We (really essentially me, since I was the ride's guide. Hahaha) opted for the steeper ascent up Alto Dr rather than continuing on Lemon to Fuerte and Mt Helix Dr... A decision I suspect my friends would try to pay me back at a later date since a couple of them were on the standard rather than compact gear rings, not quite the nicest thing to deploy on Alto Dr's two 14% grade ramps.

Alto Dr past the switchback.

The gang at the crest of Alto Dr on Mt Helix.

We all made it to the road's crest after a while, though. It was gorgeously clear out and a few locals were out hiking with their family up and down the mountain. One came across us enjoying the view and kindly took our group foto.

It sure wasn't lonely at the top of Mt Helix on Christmas Day!

What a spectacularly clear day to be riding up Mt Helix! Once we got onto the Mt Helix Dr rings there was plenty of mountain vista to feast our eyes on. Quite a few other hikers and cyclists had the same idea as ours and the stone Nature Theater on top was being quite well visited.

Mt Woodson (the left peak with antennae on top) & Iron Mtn (the distinctive pyramidal right center peak) from top of Mt Helix.

Rolling home through downtown La Mesa.

Alas, I was too lazy to go walk around the Yawkey Trail to peruse all the info boards identifying all the mountain peaks you can see from the various spots along the path. I did get a good look of Mt Woodson and Iron Mountain from an unfamiliar side, though. We loitered around for a while, enjoying the visual & atmospheric fruits of our labor before turning back to town, this time straight through the endlessly cute downtown La Mesa. It wasn't a very taxing ride, with the Mt Helix climb (Lemon St - Alto Dr - Mt Helix Dr) being only about 1.7 mile with 6% average gradient (max. grade 14% on two short-ish stretches). Definitely a good start to Christmas!