Introductions - Hello from Oceanside

I am about to buy my first bicycle since I was in high school. I am now 51 and doing research I am amazed at how much bikes have changed since then.

Anyway, I have found online forums to be valuable sources of information and a great place to exchange ideas....I have been a member of Blade Forums (for knife collectors) for several years and it's been a great experience; but then I am fairly well versed in knives and knife collecting. I am virutally clueless about today's bicycles and hope to learn here.

Look forward to meeting a lot of you here on the Bike Forums!

Welcome to BikeForums.
What type of bike are you thinking about getting?

I'm 59 and love both of my road bikes. :love:

Don..Welcome.You and I live on opposite ends of a pretty nice bike trail, adjacent to the San Luis Rey River.. Good place to train. Just decide on what kind of riding you want to do before you buy your new bike. Ask yourself you like to travel great distances, between say Oceanside to say San Clemente, you like to ride off road out with the cayotes and mountain lions and nature , or race.. Then decide on the kind of bike. We have lots of great bike shops about with some pretty knowledgeable people to help you out... Find a sales rep who is really an avid cyclist..Hope to see you on the San Rey Trail... Careful, some bike sales people are not avid cyclists.
Also you have 2 or 3 bike clubs within about 15 miles to connect with..They have all levels of cyclists who will be glad to help you get going.

I am about to buy my first bicycle since I was in high school. I am now 51 and doing research I am amazed at how much bikes have changed since then.

Anyway, I have found online forums to be valuable sources of information and a great place to exchange ideas....I have been a member of Blade Forums (for knife collectors) for several years and it's been a great experience; but then I am fairly well versed in knives and knife collecting. I am virutally clueless about today's bicycles and hope to learn here.

Look forward to meeting a lot of you here on the Bike Forums!

I was on Bladeforums back in 1999 ~ 2000. Wow. Slowly sold off most of what I had. Welcome. If you ride fixed, let me know.

Hi! I am 64yo and started biking seriously when I was 58. Welcome to the forums.

What type of riding do you want to do? That makes a good deal of difference in what you buy.

We always spend a week or so in Carlsbad or Oceanside in the summer, and bring our bikes from Colorado, and ride along the beach trail from Torrey Pines to Oceanside. Also, along the dry river that goes out past the airport on the trail that seems to go nowhere!

Enjoy.

Hi! I am 64yo and started biking seriously when I was 58. Welcome to the forums.

What type of riding do you want to do? That makes a good deal of difference in what you buy.

We always spend a week or so in Carlsbad or Oceanside in the summer, and bring our bikes from Colorado, and ride along the beach trail from Torrey Pines to Oceanside. Also, along the dry river that goes out past the airport on the trail that seems to go nowhere!

Enjoy.
That trail does not go to nowhere.At least for me. It goes home.Can take you to the San Luis Rey Mission.Beyond, take River Road out past the Camp Pendleton Gate..Ends up in Bonsall...From Bonsall, you can branch off on a parallel road to Escondido or Temecula.
Off River road, east of the trails' end, make a left onto Sleeping Indian and you have one of the steepest climbs in San Diego County..I would rather climb Torrey Pines twice. From there into Fallbrook...
You Get the San Diego Bike Map stocked at the Tourism office on Mission Bay, put out by "Sandag," you will find many new cycling routes......

That trail does not go to nowhere.At least for me. It goes home.Can take you to the San Luis Rey Mission.Beyond, take River Road out past the Camp Pendleton Gate..Ends up in Bonsall...From Bonsall, you can branch off on a parallel road to Escondido or Temecula.
Off River road, east of the trails' end, make a left onto Sleeping Indian and you have one of the steepest climbs in San Diego County..I would rather climb Torrey Pines twice. From there into Fallbrook...
You Get the San Diego Bike Map stocked at the Tourism office on Mission Bay, put out by "Sandag," you will find many new cycling routes......

Well, the time we rode it, it stopped at a railroad track on Oceanside/Carlsbad area and did not connect with anything. You had to walk your bike from the road down across the track to the bike trail. I do not know about the other end! It was quite strange. I have heard that it now connects with a road near the beach.

Well, the time we rode it, it stopped at a railroad track on Oceanside/Carlsbad area and did not connect with anything. You had to walk your bike from the road down across the track to the bike trail. I do not know about the other end! It was quite strange. I have heard that it now connects with a road near the beach.
Denver..Sounds like we are talking different bike paths, then..This one takes off near the Oceanside Harbor and goes east adjacent the San Luis Rey River.. it ends on College Rd. just north of Ca 76..When you said 'dry creek bed' it sounded like mine...To out of staters, they think the San Luis Rey river dry..By California terms in is not..
I was not aware of another grade 4 ( I think they call them) Bike path south of Oceanside.? The one of which I speak, there are not train tracks any where near...

This was several years back. There may not have been train tracks, just a bumpy dirt road??

Anyway, I am sure it is the same trail. It follows out to the airport, and I am sure it goes beyond.

I have a friend on USENET who lived near the area, and he stated last year that the trail now does connect to a road, as he had been aware that it went "nowhere" on the Oceanside side, also. It had to do with some easement over private land or something like that. In any event, it is no big deal either way.

And it does take off south of the Oceanside Harbor. Ther is a road with a big curve, and it comes off of that as I vaguely remember.

And it does take off south of the Oceanside Harbor. Ther is a road with a big curve, and it comes off of that as I vaguely remember.[/QUOTE]
Thats right Denver..Thought Don might be able to use this as a great training road..
But one studies the map, from the coast it can get you inland.Many bike clubs use this route as a big circle to get in about a circle tour originating from the Elfin forest area and put in about a 90 mile day.

Thanks. We much prefer riding near the ocean!

LOL !! I've lived in North County my whole life and you guys know more about it than I do :)

Anyway, thank you for pointing out some interesting areas to explore on my new bike. I have been to bike shops all over San Diego county and found some folks at a shop in Lakeside (of all places!) that I really like. Am right now leaning towards what they call a "hybrid".

Thanks, again...
Don Adelfson, Oceanside CA

Thanks. We much prefer riding near the ocean!
Denver..I recall you once stating that California's climate is pretty good but you get more sunshine in Colorado and in Colorado winter does not last that long?
I live where it is not too diffiluct to get to the coast or turn east and do inland. Often we choose inland in the non-summer months to avoid the coastal fog which daily last much longer there, than compared to inland areas.
What I like about the ease of choosing either..In the winter to appreciate more hours of sunshine, I like to concentrate on the hills. Often we inland cyclists think of coastal people as flatlanders... Some of our inland races, those flatlanders come visit inland races and are unprepared.
Go futher east into San Diego's backcountry and you can find some great hills and much less traffic.
Don...I have a hybrid..I enjoy both..Hybrids with wider tires can be a good bike for urban commuting.It is heavier, and the downside could be when you are stronger, it will be somewhat less mobile..
I like having both. Both have their places...But, As I have commented elsewhere, for long rides-believe it or not, upon completing a long ride; personally, I feel much less achy riding in the drops of a touring bike...
Usually hybrids are considerable less costly and eventually if you do long rides, you might find a touring bike compliments your bike arsenal. Particularily should you find yourself doing any climbing.

Denver..I recall you once stating that California's climate is pretty good but you get more sunshine in Colorado and in Colorado winter does not last that long?
I live where it is not too diffiluct to get to the coast or turn east and do inland. Often we choose inland in the non-summer months to avoid the coastal fog which daily last much longer there, than compared to inland areas.
What I like about the ease of choosing either..In the winter to appreciate more hours of sunshine, I like to concentrate on the hills. Often we inland cyclists think of coastal people as flatlanders... Some of our inland races, those flatlanders come visit inland races and are unprepared.
Go futher east into San Diego's backcountry and you can find some great hills and much less traffic.


Thanks.

As you may recall, I was raised in San Diego County and am pretty familiar with most of it, as I lived in Descanso, Cuyamaca and Julian (all pretty much black by now!) and in San Diego.

Spent my summers in Cardiff and Solana Beach, and used to camp out on the beach for weeks at a time (before the advent of state parks, etc.).

When I bike there, it is with my wife, and generally we take our mtn bikes with slicks as they are good for traveling and you can ride them most anywhere. As you know, these are not the fastest bikes around! My wife has little interest in hills, nor in riding on highways. Plus, we both love the beach (even in May gray and June gloom) and like to take long walks down Torrey Pines, even through Black's Beach.

Last summer, we did the Torrey Pines grade inside the state park. I found it easy, but she found it hard, and had to walk a bit.

We discovered the trail up the San Luis Rey riverbed quite by accident. Looked to our left as we were driving from the motel (we stayed at Oceanside Harbor that year) and saw this path originating out of nowhere headed east. So we decided we would explore a bit.

Our biking while traveling is generally quite casual. We might stop someplace interesting and explore on bike for about 10 miles or so. We did this in the Painted Desert area, for example, and in Pine Valley, etc.

So that is how we bike when we travel. For some exercise and exploration.

Thanks for all your thoughts!