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!

What a bloody week of San Diego Cycling!

This week has been pretty horrendous for San Diego cyclists in terms of 'accidents'.

Last Saturday, Aug 9th, the Southern California randonneur community lost a great friend and rider when Matthew O'Neill (formerly of Chula Vista, but has been living in Carpinteria while completing is PhD study at UC- Santa Barbara) was hit and killed by a car driven by a teenager while cycling on Foxen Canyon Rd in Santa Maria. Like other randos he was lit up like a Christmas tree and obeying traffic laws, but there isn't much a cyclist can do when drivers decide to not give him the safe space of at least 3 feet... Why is that so much to ask when the consequence is the loss of an upstanding and kind human being just a year shy of a doctorate degree with so much to live for?

On Tuesday morning one of my riding partners was riding at the tail end of a group through Valley Center when he was clipped by a close-passing car (that didn't even have the decency to stop) and ended up with two fractured vertebrae, a concussion and a slew of road rashes on his face and limps. He was lucky to not be more seriously injured and that there were other cyclists around to help, and is now home after spending two nights at Palomar Medical Center.

On the same day a bunch of cyclists from the San Diego Bicycle Club riding laps around Fiesta Island was hit by a drugged out driver speeding her car the wrong way on the one-way road. Eight were injured, one, Juan Carlos Vinolo, remains in critical condition. The driver appears to live in her car and is un-insured... so it isn't likely that she will be covering the medical bills of all the folks she injured. (You can help Vinolo pay for his likely to be astronomical medical bills at Gofundme, though!).

ALL taxpayers own the roads no matter if they are driving or cycling or even just walking. The road belongs to everyone. The driver's license and car-related fees just allow you to operate a car on the public road, because your car can easily cause damage or even kill other people... along with causing most of the pavement damages. Giving cyclists AT LEAST 3 feet of space when passing is not only common sensical and a decent thing to do, it is also the law (especially after September 16th).

A last word on the issue... Cyclists do not cease to be human beings when they get on the roads (that they help pay for and use and damage a lot less of it than drivers do), but some drivers cease to be human beings when they get behind the wheel of a car and instantly lose the sense of responsibility for the well being of others around them.

Hillbillies Steepies Ride: Dictionary Hill, Mt Helix & Grossmont

A few friends and I have been going on a ride or two during the work weeks this year. We are a loose cycling group called 'Hillbillies', which ought to tell you something about the nature of the rides. We like hills... a lot! (Though we go at pretty mellow pace and don't drop anyone)

Cosmos Coffee in La Mesa is a favorite fueling spot for local cyclists.

This week we revisited a little riding loop that has become something of a group favorite, a 19-25 miler (depending on which variation we opt for. Hillbillies are a bit attention deficit when it comes to riding routes and we like to shuffle the deck/climbs a bit to keep things fresh) up and down Dictionary Hill and Mt Helix. Three of us - DD, Dark Horse, and me - showed up right on time this morning at Cosmos Coffee in Old Town La Mesa, the day's meetup spot.

DD & Dark Horse making light of the Kenwood Dr climb.

Kenwood Dr is a pleasant little curvester.

The last two times we rode the exact same route heading east on Lemon St to begin the first climb up Garfield and Panorama, so today I tried to spice things up a bit and took us down Palm Ave... and then promptly missed the Fresno Ave turn off (I was thinking of looping up to Garfield St and Alpine Ave and keep climbing all the way around on Panorama Dr), and so we just took Spring St down to Campo Rd instead and didn't begin climbing until we made the right turn onto Kenwood Dr in Spring Valley.

The Dark Horse showing his KoM form on Crest Dr.

It's a stingy little warm up hill with little traffic and nice curves to keep you guessing what may lie up ahead. We then made a careful descent down across Bancroft Dr to hook up with Helix St and then left onto Lamar Dr for our second climb of the day. Lamar Dr itself is a nice climb, but the less well driven Vista & Crest Drs variation is even better for steepie-fettish like us! Short-ish ramps of up to 20% grade are followed by short mellow rest stretches, and our legs were feeling the burn by the time we turned right onto Montemar and crested the north side of Dictionary Hill.

The Dark Horse was built for the steep stuff, however, and he sprung very admirably lightly up the double digit ramps and soon disappeared from view as DD and I crept our way to the crest of the hill... where a family of peacocks is always crossing the road. Don't ask me why, but they always seem to wait around the side of the road until we came along huffing and puffing, and then they'd herd their chicks across to the other side of the street while shooting stinger looks as if we were causing them inconvenience!

DD soldiering her way up the 16% grade ramp on Lamar St.

The family of peacocks at the crest of Lamar Dr climb.

Helix St's curvy descent into La Presa on the south side of the mountain is a fine reward for all the suffering... especially since school is out and there is hardly any traffic on the road. Turning left onto Jamacha Rd we made a quick stopto adjust DD's squeaky rear brake before tackling Dictionary Hill's resident bad apple. I first climbed Apple St last year and, five ascents later, the thing doesn't seem any easier! The proper climb is 3 blocks long and averages 16%, though the final long block is solidly over 20% until very close to the top (max grade 28%). With the 30x26 granny gear I still have to put in 4 zigzags in order to make it without stopping. My partners were straighter shooters, though (having a bit smaller low gear helps!), and went straight up.

Sweetwater Reservoir... looking as depressingly low as all the other reservoirs in San Diego County!

Apple St just about does me in... every time!

We hung around the top for a bit enjoying the view west to Downtown San Diego and the depressing sight of the very dry-looking Sweetwater Reservoir before descending down the east side to Jamacha Blvd and back north up the mild slope of Sweetwater Springs Blvd - our only 'rest' bit of the ride before another shift down to the small gear ring as we take Casa de Oro Blvd/Challenge Blvd up the lower south slope of Mt Helix.

What is life without a little suffering, ay?

We meandered through the neighborhoods a bit and made liar out of one 'Not A Through Road' sign before popping up on Grand View at Resmar. In previous rides I had opted for the 'easy' climb of Mt Helix; turning right and going up Mt Helix Dr from Fuerte Dr. Since we had missed our first climb of today, however, we went left and got up La Mesa's resident beast by the beastliest route (Lavelle - Beaumont - Alto) instead.

Another turn up another steep ramp on Lavelle St on Mt Helix.

The Dark Horse enjoying the view from Mt Helix Dr's 2nd ring.

By the time we spun up to the top the clouds that had provided respite from the summer sun had all but burnt off and we were treated with a beautifully clear view of the San Diego Coastal Range. The Christian Youth Theater is putting on a run of Les Miserables at Mt Helix Nature Theater this month (July 17 - Aug 2). The stone amphitheater is quite transformed! I regret I can't attend the show this weekend, but I'm hoping to catch one next week.

It was miserable at the top, I tell you!

On the way down I looked at my watch and saw that it was still quite early, so I asked my partners in climb if they felt like adding another hill before rolling back to Cosmos. Like true Hillbillies, they said yes! And so we enjoyed the full descent of Alto Dr before abusing our small ring some more to climb up Mt Helix's sister peak, Grossmont.

Grossmont is quite overshadowed by Mt Helix, but it is quite a gem! Narrow lanes lined by boulders and old growths, with gorgeous houses blending into the landscape. The local folks are really nice, too. It's a close knit neighborhood up there where folks walk around knowing all the neighbors' names... along with their (usually off-leash) dogs. One local pooch came out to say hello as we crested the hill, though we weren't nearly as attention-commanding to him as his master's tennis ball. Once he spotted that bouncy little green thing we no longer even registered at all!

Top of Grossmont

From the top of Grossmont it was coasting almost all the way back to Cosmos Coffee. We gained 3390 ft of elevation in about 23.5 miles. Not bad for a short weekday ride!