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! 

De Luz and the Painful Plateau

The many surges of the COVID19 pandemic had taken the shine out of group riding since the first major shut down in spring of 2020. So, I have been getting back into the old solo riding out in the wild mode. It's one of the perks of living in San Diego's North County (rather than the old dig in Uptown) that it doesn't take much riding from home before 'the wild' starts. 

A favorite car-less riding ground for yours truly is, of course, the magical low hills of De Luz and the lovely big sky country that is the Santa Rosa Plateau. Both less-accessible by heat-phobic me during the summer months. 

Santa Margarita Preserve lot has nice port-a-toilets, water spigot, and picnic tables.

After the ride in on the main motorways of E Vista Way, Hwy 76, and S Mission Rd (so early in the morning that the drivers hadn't made it into their car, yet), the awesomeness began with the wiggly drop off down De Luz Rd from Fallbrook's quint Downtown district. I opted left at the Y-intersection this time to take the meandering De Luz Rd climb instead of the more abrupt Sandia Creek Rd (besides, the former was repaved earlier this year and was nice and smooth for a change). 

Oh, on the right just after the intersection with Sandia Creek Rd is the Santa Margarita Preserve with a set of nice port-a-toilets, water spigot, and picnic tables. This is the last restroom opportunity for the next 20 miles. So, whether you need to go or not, it's always a good idea to stop and do the loo business before heading up the hills.

The repaved first couple of miles on De Luz Rd, climbing NW from the creek bed.

De Luz Rd is a chain of curvy rolling hills.

After the first long-ish climb to Harris Rd, De Luz Rd becomes a series of curvy rolling hills through lush valleys and lovely little glens. A welcoming widespread ruralness away from the cities. Needless to say, being self-sufficient is the name of the game when out riding in places like this. Carry more than enough water, food, medical and repair supplies with you, and a printed out map (cellphone reception is spotty at best), especially if you are riding solo. 

A bit after the CDF Fire Station (water spigot available) the road split again at a Y-intersection. I veered left for a side excursion to inspect the base of Tenaja Truck Trail for future rides and found it quite sandy (both for my pudginess and for the 28mm road tires). Will have to wait for a good rain to firm it up a bit before attempting that scenic dirt route up to Fisherman Camp. 

So, I retraced back out to the Y-intersection and took De Luz - Murrieta Rd up to the oaky country from the dry creek bed, stopping by at the Old De Luz School and Post Office for a snack break while perusing the hiking map of the nearby trails. 

After De Luz School the road gently climbs back toward Camaron Rd in series of oaked-in curves. It's a lovely place, though the tree shade makes the many little dimples and groves on the pavement very difficult to see.

The fastest way back to civilization (and if you don't feel like much more steep climbing) is, of course, to continue on De Luz - Murrieta Rd into Murrieta (it becomes a nice curvy firm dirt downhill in the last couple of miles and runs into the Murrieta flat land as Guava St), or to endure the boring shadeless climb up the west side of Rancho California Rd before dropping into Temecula just north of Old Town. But the day was still young for me, and the air cool enough to entertain the thought... so I veered left up the steep climb on Camaron Rd, then veered left down and up and down the rarely level Carancho Rd instead. 

Of the many hideously steep monsters hiding in this part of the hills, Los Gatos between Carancho and Avocado Mesa is the only one that gets all the attention. In a way, it should... the gradient there is just ungodly... for a long long long time. Though, if you are a cycling hillbilly, the whole of Los Gatos (from Vista Del Mar and not just that one section that starts at Carancho) is like one of those irresistible Greek tragedies one has to try and cry on (if any breath can be spared for the latter). 

I did much slow-grind hiking on mtb shoes on that death march than I'd like, and had much less breath to cry than to reoxygenate all the screaming muscle and lung tissues. But... I survived and got to see a lot of view to boot. I don't ever want to do it again... but I probably will. Hills like that are something like a very addictive form of mental illness. It is a lucky thing that once you've made it to Via Volcano, then you can come down the Plateau via Clinton Keith Rd without having to climb any more hill for a long while. Gosh knows you legs won't even like a pedal push to clear a speed bump for a few miles after that ordeal. 

There aren't many 'big sky' space left in this part of Southern California, and the Santa Rosa Plateau is one worth lingering in after having earned your way up it. Traffic is next to nothing during the work week. It's a fabulous place to pedal very softly, bird watch, and drink in the view without rushing back into any of the towns below.

Rolling down the hill on Clinton Keith Rd is a blast with the caveat that much of the 'bike lane'/shoulder is actually not usable. It's steeply canted from the fog line to the pavement edge... so, avoid it and stay in the lane at least until the fire station. It's too fast a downhill to risk a stupid crash on. 

A quick pit stop at the Albertson's on Washington St, and then a quick bypass of Murrieta via Adams St (the most pleasant north-south road to ride on, really, all the way to Temecula, as it dead end for cars in two different spots) before merging my way thru Temecula traffic (I crossed I-15 via the 1st St bridge rather than staying on Jefferson in order to avoid the freeway interchange craziness). 

Then the curvy climb up Rainbow Valley Blvd earned me another long downhill/flat stretch back to Vista via Old Hwy 395 and Hwy 76 (busy fast road, but pretty flat with a wide shoulder to ride on). It's a long day on the bike (but it doesn't have to be that long if you have a car and just start/finish in Fallbrook)... just the way I like it, even if the quads doeth protest too much.  

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37975573 

2020 On The Bike

 Thanks to COVID19 pandemic, which hit San Diego in March, 2020 has been a rather bust year for venturing out for exotic adventure rides in the country. I did sneak a few good ones in before going into shut down (just riding solo locally) mode, and even made some new cycling friends... though we probably wouldn't recognize each other without the mask and the helmet on!

I'm grateful that my riding groups (Swami Cycling and Girlz Gone Riding - San Diego) are made of responsible people who value the good of the community over short-term gratification and haven't organized any group ride since the first stay-at-home order in March. It's a matter of perspectives. This pandemic, like many other national/global crises before it, will pass. It won't kill anyone to just ride solo for a while and to not take the risk of needing medical care just when our medical infrastructure is on the brink of breaking. 

The vaccines are rolling out, and there's summer on the other side of winter. Hang in there, and we'll all be out adventuring and cheering each other up and down the hills again soon!