Southern California - San Diego: Good places to spin?

Hey Southern Californians, I'm in San Diego and am curious as to where some of you go for a good long ride, more specifically, somewhere to go and spin and spin and spin. I want like a good 2-3 hour ride. I'm riding fixed as well, but i'm not above walking if I need to, although, I try my damndest ( <never tried to spell that one before!) to stay on the bike. I can drive to a good starting spot if necessary, so let me in on your spots, routes, maps, or whatever.

The coastal route is always popular. Pick whatever reasonable starting point, and just go up or down the coast until you feel like turning around. There are some hills, though, with grades up to about 7% (instantaneous) and a sustained 6% grade at Torrey Pines grade (between La Jolla and Del Mar).

Taking a loop around Miramar MCAS (about 17 miles) is pretty flat except for two short grades on the west side. On a map (or Mapquest or Google Maps), this route is marked out by Genessee, La Jolla Village Dr/Miramar Way, Kearney Villa, and Clairemont Mesa. My preference is to loop clockwise.

There's a flat bike path on Coronado. Never rode it myself. Coastal route aside, none of these routes gives you 2-3 hours, though. Sorry... I'm not too sure where all the flat ground is other than along the coastal route and circling Miramar.

Perhaps you can join us for the Burrito Century Ride (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=231633) on 12/10 from Irvine to San Diego. It's a very fixed gear friendly route.

I ride that flat Coronado bike path Jschen mentioned all the time. The path itself is 8.5 miles. If you start at Tidelands Park in Coronado and ride the path to the 13th street entrance in Imperial Beach is is 11 miles. If you explore around in Coronado (I would highly recommend visiting Coronado Beach) it'll be a few more miles. Bring a camera as it is very scenic on the bike path and at Coronado Beach. (I have a bunch of pics if you want to see what it's like). Just be warned, late morning into mid-afternoon it gets pretty windy.

One bike path that is very non-scenic but almost human-free is the SR-56 bike path. Rolling hills, ~8 miles one way and 16 for an out an back. I normally park at the Penesquito end on the road. Free parking for 3 hours; and it allows you to do 3 loops if you don't find it boring.

For the Torrey Pines, there are 2 ways you can go up that hill. The inner one (shorter but steeper) and the outer one (longer but not as steep). If you are looping this many times, you can switch back and forth between the inner and outer loops. If you are ridinig the inner loop, just remember that the road section near the top is quite bumpy with many large gaps between concrete blocks.