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.

Believe it or not, N Harbor Dr just got more dangerous for bicycles, thanks to new bike lane

I had only ridden east (from Pt Loma toward downtown) on N Harbor Dr through the airport once before, I think it was around December 2012. I was still quite green to road cycling then and this group ride I joined took us through there. It was a horrible nightmare and I still don't know how all 8 or 9 of us survived that airport off-ramp merge just east of Harbor Island Dr. Navigating that merge across two fast moving lanes of traffic made Russian roulette seemed a safe and sane game by comparison.

Overhead view of the area. Bikes would be traveling on the dotted line... only to suddenly find ourselves in the middle of 4.5 lanes of fast traveling cars, with the 1.5 off-ramp lanes on the right trying to merge to our left.

Overhead shot of N Harbor Dr at Harbor Island Dr before bike lane (screenshot from Google Earth).

The merging area where the airport off-ramp merges to N Harbor Dr, before the new bike lane was put in.

After that episode I avoided riding through there on the way home from my Pt Loma rides, and when I do have to go to Downtown from Pt Loma I'd hop onto the sidewalk MUP (multi-use path) at the Harbor Island Dr intersection just to avoid that merge (and, yes, there are always some jerk cyclists riding way too fast and too close to pedestrians and runners on that stretch of the MUP. I guess when they get off their bike and into their car they turn into those drivers that pass other cyclists too fast and too close, too!).

Anyhow, last week a friend took me riding home from Pt Loma through N Harbor Dr again. We got to the Harbor Island Dr intersection and noticed there was now a buffered bike lane leading east on the road... and we got wondering if some new bike infrastructure had been put in to make it safe(r) to stay on the road through the dangerous merge... Naturally we made the mistake of, you know, getting on that buffered bike lane to check it out.

Heading east on N Harbor Dr approaching Harbor Island Dr. We would normally be hopping onto the MUP on the right sidewalk at this intersection.

But last weekend we spotted this... a new buffered bike lane telling us to stay on the road.

Heading east on N Harbor Dr buffered bike lane... Not seeing any warning sign for bikes or cars...

I took a few pics from the airport off-ramp underpass heading toward the merge, and I was looking out for some signs telling cyclists on the bike lane what was coming up ahead or telling the cars coming down the off-ramp to slow or to look for bikes on their left and to yield... or even a traffic light or stop sign that would be controlling the merging lanes' traffic flow. I didn't see anything...

Nope, not a single 'yield' or 'stop' or 'watch for bikes crossing from left' sign. Nothing...

And then there it was! The merge... No warning or caution or yield or stop sign for anyone. Nothing. The thin strip of traffic island that divided the buffered bike lane from the two lanes of airport off-ramp just ends, and the bike lane does this elbow turn to the right and just disappears into the crossing traffic lanes (the right one of which is merging left, so the cars are already preoccupied with making room for each other at that point. Who the heck would be expecting to have to look for any bicycle's sudden appearance on his LEFT??). I could see the buffered bike lane emerging again by the curb on the far side of traffic, but there isn't even a dotted set of line connecting one side to another.

My friend was somehow convinced that the airport off-ramp traffic had a 'yield' sign that they need to obey (if there is one, it must be way back up toward the top of the overpass 'cause I'm sure I didn't notice any in the last 100 yds or so) and just turned with the disappearing bike lane and went right across traffic. I don't know how, but he somehow made it across without getting hit. I had much less faith in drivers' ability to obey any yield sign (especially ones that I myself hadn't seen), so I slowed and the yellow car in the lane closest to me just blew by. The red car in the far right merging lane hesitated a bit before also blowing by... but there was a good little gap behind him that I could thread through if only the next car in the lane next to me would just go, but he didn't! He slowed to try to help me cross, which made it even more awkward 'cause the last thing I wanted was for him to slow and block me from view of the not-yielding car in the far right lane. People gets killed that way all the time! Luckily for me, tho, the car in far right lane had a sensible driver and he also slowed when he saw this other car slowed, and I managed it across. I was grateful for those drivers, but I couldn't be more mad at the traffic engineer who came up with this scenario if I had tried. Felt like I had just survived an assassination attempt!

I'm afraid I didn't taking any photo as I tried to survive the merge and right after it. I was far too busy cursing and wishing all sorts of ill stuff on whoever it was that designed that interchange for bikes. As a local I knew about this dangerous interchange and only ventured onto it last week because I was LURED into by the new bike lane. Otherwise I would have just gotten onto the sidewalk MUP and not be in conflict with any car at all. What are the chances for the tourists trying to get around town by bicycle who aren't familiar with the area at all?

If any cyclist gets hit by a car there and dies, the traffic engineer that designed that interchange ought to be charged with premeditated murder. Before this buffered bike lane was put in, at least cyclists finding ourselves suddenly in the middle of the traffic could just stay in the lane and take a while to merge to the curb. Now the bike lane wants us to suddenly do a 90 degree turn across 1.5 lanes of traffic that hasn't been told to look out for us... and we aren't even told to stop where the divider ends either. We're just supposed to roll along, turn right with the vanishing bike lane and somehow all those cars speeding down the airport off-ramp that's trying to merge left to the main road are supposed to totally miss us.

And to think that I have been told fairly recently by some car-centric morons that "bikes should just stay in the city and ride only in bike lanes"...

Just a few favorite views from a few recent rides

It's still spring here in San Diego, CA, and I've been trying to get my adventure rides in before the weather gets inhospitably hot in the summer months... and so have been neglecting the blogs a bit. Sorry! Here are a few shots from a few recent bike rides around this scenic little big town.

Rose Creek Bike Path just south of Garnet Ave.

 Spring is a purple season here in San Diego. The jacarandas are blooming all over town and I can't seem to get enough of them! They really perk up the place.

A sweet female pitbull hurrying over to say hi on Bullard Rd.

I know many cyclists are afraid of being approached by dogs when they are out riding in the countryside, but I absolutely love it when local dogs come over to say hi! This lovely pitbull terrier was the sweetest pooch. She came running over from a property along Bullard Rd near Alpine and was petted silly by yours truly. It was a really good break for me, since there was another leash-less dog there that didn't look nearly as friendly as the pitbull was, but he let me be when he saw me getting on handsomely with the other dog.

The new Smorgmobile... a bit off the beaten (and paved) path!

 Oh, yeah, the Smorgmobile got a drastic make-over a couple of months ago. It turned out that the creak that the old Smorgmobile Giant Defy 5 had been indulging on on climbs came from a cracked fork, so Giant sent over a new fork (a composite one rather than aluminum!). The new fork wouldn't fit the old frame, tho, so Giant shipped over a new (lighter aluxx) frame as well. The new frame wouldn't fit the old crank, but cranks aren't included in the life-time warranty, so I had to buy a new one, but it was quite worth it to spend $200 and got an almost all new bike that is quite a bit lighter than the old one and that rides so much softer. Naturally, some trail-testing was in order... and that was how the new Smorgmobile found itself marooned on a rocky island in the middle of nowhere when the dirt road that branched east from Bullard Rd narrowed into a track and then a nothing... Oh well, it was a fun little off road excursion while it lasted!

Looking ENE down Cuyamaca Lookout Fire Rd toward Lake Cuyamaca and Garnet Peak.

On a clear day, it's hard to beat the view from almost any open spot along Cuyamaca Lookout Fire Rd to the top of the 2nd tallest peak in San Diego County. Mind you, you have to pay quite a physical fee to see the view. That road is some of the goriest sustained super-steep climbing I've ever had to put up with!

Treed-in section of Jeremy Ln in Pala.

There isn't much forest-riding to be had here in arid San Diego, so I found the treed in sections along Lemon Line Rd & Jeremy Lane between Rainbow and Pala quite enchanting... And the fact that it occupies only a short stretch of the road made it even more appreciated than the same sort of scene in De Luz or Fallbrook, where you can stay in the forest for miles on end.

Ha! Finally a clean shot of the Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)!

Roadrunners really live up to their name. They are always running! Well, at least when I run into them on rural roads around town. I've had many attempts to photograph these beautiful little spookadelic birds foiled by their speed and unfavorable lighting condition before, but last month I finally got lucky and caught a shot of one pausing in between his speedy dashes under bright sunlight while heading west on San Luis Rey River Trail. Now if only I can get a clean shot of a coyote to go with him...

Looking down the steep couple of blocks on Santa Monica Ave in Pt Loma.

 When people ask me why I keep riding up hideously steep streets around town, all I can say is that you have to have labored up a few blocks of them, park at the top and look back down on a clear day to know the answer. Some views just can't be gotten from the bottom of the hills!

National Bike To Work Day This Friday

Feel like trying out bicycling to work for a day but also a bit scared of riding in traffic? This Friday (May 16th) is National Bike to Work Day and there will be lots (more) of other people on bike out and about. A good time for a try out if you are bike-commute curious!

Get on your bike for a day and join a happy commuting crowd this Friday!

Aside from there being more cyclists around (there is more safety in number! Drivers see more bikes on the road and look for us more), many local business and bike advocates are putting up free pit stops on cycling routes around town to make your bike commute even more pleasant! Check out the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition page for map of pit stops in San Diego area. Some pit stops even offer bike repair & tune up to make sure your machine runs properly!

UPDATE: 15 May 2014: Due to conditions of the local State of Emergency and the wildfire situation, all official Bike to Work Day events are POSTPONED to May 30th.

Why drivers should tell cyclists to NOT ride to the far right of the lane

The next time you drive down the street and see someone cycling up ahead in the lane and you start to get annoyed at the prospect of having to slow down a bit and change lane to pass a bicycle (even though you wouldn't be half as annoyed if you have to do the same thing for another car), and the voice in your head goes; 'look at that inconsiderate biker! There are 3 feet between him and the parked cars. Why can't he scoot a foot or two closer to the car so that I can just squeeze by without losing any speed?' Watch the videos below and be glad that the bike rider is riding outside of the 'door zone' rather than in one, and tell the next cyclists you see on the road who do ride close to parked cars on the right side of the lane that they SHOULD BE riding closer to the middle of the lane instead. The cyclists you can easily see near the middle of the lane are the ones you can easily avoid getting into a collision with. It's the cyclists riding nearly invisibly (obscured by parked cars) to the far right of the lane that have the potential to suddenly get bumped into your path with little or no notice at all.



Do you see what happens when a cyclist is hit by an opening car door? Here is another look...



What happens to the cyclist when she is hit by an opening car door? She gets deflected into the next traffic lane, doesn't she? Now... imagine yourselves the driver of the car just innocently passing by in the lane to the left... Do you see what I'm talking about now? It isn't the idiot that opens the car door without first checking traffic that will end up delivering the fatal blow to the hit cyclist. It's YOU!

You will be the one that ends up with recurring nightmare of a helpless cyclist suddenly landing on the pavement right in front of you with no reaction time at all. You will be the one that feels the thump of the impact (and probably also the sickening sensation of the wheel rolling over a human body). Your car will be the car with almost all the damages and all the blood splattered on it. Yes, you... all because another person opened his car door when traffic isn't clear, and because another person was riding his bike close enough to the parked car to be hit by its opening door.



Also, to my fellow cyclists, you actually need to ride a bit further away from the cars than the length of their doors. You need to be far enough away to not instinctively swerve away from the opening door because there's no time to check for passing traffic! It's much better to get honked at by impatient people than to end up dead and making a manslaughter out of another innocent road user. Don't ride in the door zone where you can end up a human ping pong ball or be screened (by parked cars) from view of any car coming out of the side roads! This is especially important when you are riding in a group (where if you get hit by a car door you could end up sending the cyclist to your left flying helplessly into the next traffic lane... not to mention causing many others behind you to crash into the wreckage, of course)!

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

Guest post: Wheel Women San Diego (formerly LUNA Chix San Diego Cycle) inaugural ride 2014

Hello riders,

We are excited to announce that the San Diego LUNA Chix Cycling Team is now the WHEEL WOMEN OF SAN DIEGO. Our cycling season will start next weekend. We will continue to focus on the beginner women riders, but are also offering longer rides for the intermediate participants. As always, our beginner rides are "no drop,” which means that even the slowest rider does not get left behind. However, we require any rider to have previously ridden at least one 15-mile ride. Team members will lead and sweep the intermediate rides as well, but these are NOT “no drop” rides. We will still be fundraising for the Breast Cancer Fund throughout the season.

Cabrillo Tidepool climb

Here are our offerings for April:

April 13   Inaugural Ride from Moment Cycle/Liberty Station  8:00am. Enjoy the beautiful San Diego Bay on this mostly flat 20-mile, no drop ride out to Shelter Island and Cabrillo Monument. This ride includes some gentle rollers, a climb up to Catalina, and optional hill repeats from the tide pools. **Be sure to bring your "National Parks" card if you have one.

April 19   Ride in the Ranch 8:00am. Ride with us through beautiful Rancho Santa Fe. Two distances will be offered: a 20-mile no drop ride and a 35-mile ride.
 
April 26   Alpine Challenge Ride start times depend on the distance. Distances are 25, 50, 62, or 100 miles.  You can register at www.alpinechallenge.com

May 10   North County Ride from Del Mar Pearl Izumi: 8:00am.

May 25   Chula Vista Road Ride from REI: 8:00am.

Hope to see you next weekend.

WHEEL WOMEN OF SAN DIEGO

__~O
  -\ <,
(*)/ (*)   

Creating a Cycling Community for Women in San Diego

 

Support Wheel Women of San Diego the Breast Cancer Foundation. Learn More and Donate.

Car-free Pacific Beach: CicloSDias 2014

I meant to post this earlier, but it's been a busy work week. Sorry! Anyhow, if you are in San Diego this weekend and would like to experience Pacific Beach without having to deal with cars, come to CicloSDias on Sunday March 30th from 10am - 3pm.

Ride your bike, roll your skateboard or just walk along Cass Ave & Garnet Ave while enjoying the neighborhood and its many cool shops and watering places for an afternoon the way people were able to do before the world went mad with cars. Please check out the event website for more info!

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).