Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.Madmallard
09-01-08, 05:07 PM
Hey, Madmallard here.
Here's a few of my rides that I like to do in North County.
Ride 1: Distance - 21 miles: Hills - 5 miles or so, ranging from 3% - 10%:
-Take Mission Ave eastbound to Auto Parkway.
-Take Auto Parkway south-eastern route to Valley Parkway.
-Take Valley Parkway southbound to Del Dios Highway.
-Take Del Dios Highway southbound until Via Rancho Parkway, turn left.
-Take Via Rancho Parkway eastbound until it turns into Bear Valley Rd.
-Take Bear Valley Rd northbound until Citrus Ave, turn left.
-Take Citrus Ave northbound until El Norte Parkway, turn left.
-Take El Norte Parkway western bound until the 4 way light at Bordon/Woodland Parkway.
-Take whatever else you need to get home 0_0.
I like this ride because the via rancho parkway gives me a fun and fast downhill for about a mile,
and bear valley is a decently strenuous stretched out uphill climb.
Ride 2: Distance - 32 miles: Hills - 12 miles+, ranging from 3% - 15% (?):
-Take Mission Ave eastbound to Auto Parkway.
-Take Auto Parkway south-eastern route to Valley Parkway.
-Take Valley parkway southbound to Del Dios Highway.
-Ride all the way through Del Dios highway until El Camino del Norte, turn right.
-Take El Camino Del Norte north/western bound until Rancho Santa Fe Road.
-Take Rancho Sante Fe Road north/eastern bound for about 10 miles until it enters San Marcos.
-Either turn right on San Marcos BLVD or keep going, whichever gets you home :).
This run offers some pretty fun downhills, but I like it because its on the more difficult end for
me for climbing. Rancho Santa Fe seems to be mostly uphill the whole way and Del Dios Highway has
some long ups and downs.
Ride 3: Distance - 40 miles: Hills - 6 miles+, ranging from 3% - 10% (?):
-Take Mission Ave western bound to South Santa Fe.
-Take South Santa Fe north/western bound to Santa Fe.
-Take Santa Fe north/western bound to North Santa Fe.
-Take North Santa Fe north, then western bound until it hits Highway 76.
-Take Highway 76 to Highway 101, Pacific Coast Highway.
-Take Coast Highway south until it hits Palomar Airport Road.
-Take Palomar Airport eastern bound until it turns into San Marcos BLVD.
-Either go straight or turn left, whichever gets you home!
I like this ride because going through vista is a blast on a road bike.
Highway 76 gets pretty tough at times because its quite windy and you have to watch for glass.
Palomar Airport Road is in need of road work on the bike lane section because its quite rigid, but it's still
a decent climb.
Ride 4: Pain - Not long: Hills - just 1, at least 25% grade <.<
-Take Mission Ave to Woodland Parkway.
-Take Woodland Parkway southbound until it hits Barham.
-Turn right on barham and head western bound until it hits La Moree Rd.
-Take La Moree south-eastern bound until it hits Coronado Hills Rd.
-Ride up Coronado Hills Rd. (or try to).
-Then Ride down! (Make sure your brakes are working perfectly fine before doing this <.<)
Let's be serious. Coronado Hills has got to be one of the steepest hills in San Diego County. It's
absolutely ridiculous how steep it is. I can ride up emerald Heights and other 15%-20% grades pretty easily as long as I stay on a low gear and pace myself but Coronado Hills is just plain scary.
I ride it on my lowest gear set or my second lowest and it's still extremely strenuous. It's just that steep.
Going down on it is pretty scary as well, with all the winding turns and sharp turns, but once you get in the straight away you can let the brakes go (until you get to La Moree) and really rack up some speed 0_0. At 150 lbs (rider + bike combined) I went from 22 (that's like the slowest you can go down it, even while holding down both brakes -_-) to 47 MPH in just a few seconds nearing the bottom.
I'm moving down to UCSD here in a few weeks.
It might be cool if anyone knows any nice long rides or steep climbs near UCSD. I know there's Mt. Soledad and Nautilus Rd. But what else?
Here's a few of my rides that I like to do in North County.
Ride 1: Distance - 21 miles: Hills - 5 miles or so, ranging from 3% - 10%:
-Take Mission Ave eastbound to Auto Parkway.
-Take Auto Parkway south-eastern route to Valley Parkway.
-Take Valley Parkway southbound to Del Dios Highway.
-Take Del Dios Highway southbound until Via Rancho Parkway, turn left.
-Take Via Rancho Parkway eastbound until it turns into Bear Valley Rd.
-Take Bear Valley Rd northbound until Citrus Ave, turn left.
-Take Citrus Ave northbound until El Norte Parkway, turn left.
-Take El Norte Parkway western bound until the 4 way light at Bordon/Woodland Parkway.
-Take whatever else you need to get home 0_0.
I like this ride because the via rancho parkway gives me a fun and fast downhill for about a mile,
and bear valley is a decently strenuous stretched out uphill climb.
Ride 2: Distance - 32 miles: Hills - 12 miles+, ranging from 3% - 15% (?):
-Take Mission Ave eastbound to Auto Parkway.
-Take Auto Parkway south-eastern route to Valley Parkway.
-Take Valley parkway southbound to Del Dios Highway.
-Ride all the way through Del Dios highway until El Camino del Norte, turn right.
-Take El Camino Del Norte north/western bound until Rancho Santa Fe Road.
-Take Rancho Sante Fe Road north/eastern bound for about 10 miles until it enters San Marcos.
-Either turn right on San Marcos BLVD or keep going, whichever gets you home :).
This run offers some pretty fun downhills, but I like it because its on the more difficult end for
me for climbing. Rancho Santa Fe seems to be mostly uphill the whole way and Del Dios Highway has
some long ups and downs.
Ride 3: Distance - 40 miles: Hills - 6 miles+, ranging from 3% - 10% (?):
-Take Mission Ave western bound to South Santa Fe.
-Take South Santa Fe north/western bound to Santa Fe.
-Take Santa Fe north/western bound to North Santa Fe.
-Take North Santa Fe north, then western bound until it hits Highway 76.
-Take Highway 76 to Highway 101, Pacific Coast Highway.
-Take Coast Highway south until it hits Palomar Airport Road.
-Take Palomar Airport eastern bound until it turns into San Marcos BLVD.
-Either go straight or turn left, whichever gets you home!
I like this ride because going through vista is a blast on a road bike.
Highway 76 gets pretty tough at times because its quite windy and you have to watch for glass.
Palomar Airport Road is in need of road work on the bike lane section because its quite rigid, but it's still
a decent climb.
Ride 4: Pain - Not long: Hills - just 1, at least 25% grade <.<
-Take Mission Ave to Woodland Parkway.
-Take Woodland Parkway southbound until it hits Barham.
-Turn right on barham and head western bound until it hits La Moree Rd.
-Take La Moree south-eastern bound until it hits Coronado Hills Rd.
-Ride up Coronado Hills Rd. (or try to).
-Then Ride down! (Make sure your brakes are working perfectly fine before doing this <.<)
Let's be serious. Coronado Hills has got to be one of the steepest hills in San Diego County. It's
absolutely ridiculous how steep it is. I can ride up emerald Heights and other 15%-20% grades pretty easily as long as I stay on a low gear and pace myself but Coronado Hills is just plain scary.
I ride it on my lowest gear set or my second lowest and it's still extremely strenuous. It's just that steep.
Going down on it is pretty scary as well, with all the winding turns and sharp turns, but once you get in the straight away you can let the brakes go (until you get to La Moree) and really rack up some speed 0_0. At 150 lbs (rider + bike combined) I went from 22 (that's like the slowest you can go down it, even while holding down both brakes -_-) to 47 MPH in just a few seconds nearing the bottom.
I'm moving down to UCSD here in a few weeks.
It might be cool if anyone knows any nice long rides or steep climbs near UCSD. I know there's Mt. Soledad and Nautilus Rd. But what else?