General Cycling Discussion - San Diego

Since I have some time to kill before my flight takes me back to rain central I thought I would write some of my impressions of San Diego bike riding. They have this great island in Mission Bay named Fiesta Island and it is a haven for roadies it has little if any traffic and pleanty of lane space for both. It provides many as many miles as you wnat of virtually unintereupted riding. The local clubes do time trails on it on Thursday nights I think next time I come down here I am going to check it out.

The reason I came down here was to join my brothers and his riding buddie son the Rosarito/Ensanada 50 mile ride. That was a blast though there were a lot more riders than I care for (12000). Its a Beautiful ride that takes you down the Baja coast about 20 miles then you wind through the inland away climbing a couple of ridges and then droping back down to the coast about 5 miles north of Ensanada. A front blew in while were were in the hills dumped a lot of rain and wind on us. Of course being from the Seattle area my partners made a point to blame that one on me :D My brother and his buddies have this tradition that the last person across the line buys everybody a shot of tequila. I came in second :D

An unsolicited plug for the LBS in the Pacific Beach area, Bicycle Discovery on Felspar I shipped the Softride down for the ride and BJ and his gang were great I had them do a pre ride tune up on it and they aren't charging me a thing to box it for shipping. Now thats customer service.

Sorry to William and Cyclezelot that I didn't have enough tiem to meet you all but I am a frequent visitor so we will try again. If either of you are in my area give me a call I will show you around.

It sounds like you had a great time down there. It wasn't raining all the time you were gone actually. We had a really nice weekend. I took Xythen to some bike shops to look at roadbikes and we did a short ride on the SRT. She really likes one of the bikes and has a couple of more under consideration. Looks like she be on dropbars come STP time. :)

This weekend looks like it will be rather nice too. Unfortunately, I'll be stuffed in a giant aluminum tube bound for India. There's the Tour de Lopez (http://www.sanjuanislander.com/events/lopez/one.shtml) ride you might want to check out. It's short of course but should be nice. Registration is pretty cheap and includes a BBQ but of course you have to make your way to the islands. I wish I could do it. Might consider camping overnight too.

ah ngateguy is invading my riding space! ;)

Fiesta island is a great place to ride. Its my top choice whenever Im riding with my younger siblings and/or cousins.

Did you just stick to the road or did you get on the mtb as well? There are some fun hills and trails to ride on. Next time you come down you should try riding Mt. Soledad. Not sure of the exact elevation but its pretty dang hard to ride up the north side.

There are some fun hills and trails to ride on. Next time you come down you should try riding Mt. Soledad. Not sure of the exact elevation but its pretty dang hard to ride up the north side.

That will probably prompt him to change out his 12-21 cassette for something with a little more hill-friendly gearing. ;)

The reason I came down here was to join my brothers and his riding buddie son the Rosarito/Ensanada 50 mile ride. That was a blast though there were a lot more riders than I care for (12000). Its a Beautiful ride that takes you down the Baja coast about 20 miles then you wind through the inland away climbing a couple of ridges and then droping back down to the coast about 5 miles north of Ensanada.
I did this ride twice in '90 and '91. The spring version both times had over 25K people and was one big party. I always wished it was a bit longer or easier to deal with as far as coordinating transportation and whatnot. The best picture of me ever on a bike was taken by a roadside photographer and mailed to me months later. I was surprised it was so good. And the party at the end is fabulous.

Definitely something to do if you haven't done it.

55/Rad

ah ngateguy is invading my riding space! ;)

Fiesta island is a great place to ride. Its my top choice whenever Im riding with my younger siblings and/or cousins.

Did you just stick to the road or did you get on the mtb as well? There are some fun hills and trails to ride on. Next time you come down you should try riding Mt. Soledad. Not sure of the exact elevation but its pretty dang hard to ride up the north side.

I have done Fiesta on the MTB the last time I was down there this was the first for the road bike. My brother and his buds like to do Mt Soledad so I will probably be doing that sometime but I will definitely ship the Bianchi down instead of the soft ride.