Southern California - Cyclocross style century?

I'm planning to go for a ride on Saturday, November 21, that is a bit different. At least 30% of the ride will be on dirt trail or singletrack, the rest on roadways ranging from freeway to two lane, in San Diego County. I'll be leaving from San Diego between 7-8am. On a map, the ride looks like a rabbit. Basically, the route covers Mission Bay, UCSD, Los Penasquitos Canyon, Poway, Lake Hodges, Highland Valley Rd, Hwy 67, Poway (again), Sycamore Canyon, Hwy 52, Mission Trails, and the College area. There will also be a stop for lunch at the Cordiano Winery on Highland Valley Road (pizza and wine tasting). If anyone is interested, let me know. It looks like a fun ride, and will be close to, if not exceeding, 100 miles. The pace won't be mid range, it isn't a race.

Have fun! I would join you in a heartbeat as I will be doing a long ride on that day from SoCal but the bike I have in LA (I am in Boise) is a tarmac and unsuited for such.

On a related note, one of my favorite rides is a similar century with 40 miles off road and 60 miles on road through Idaho's climbing mecca (City of Rocks).

BTW, what bike/tires will you use? I am still trying to figure that out for these kinds of rides. I lean toward an inverted tread tire such as the 28c Michelin Transworld City on my cyclocross bike.

I ride a 2008 Fuji Cross Comp with the stock tires - Kenda Kwick (30c). I haven't really had any issues other than tire wear.

BTW, what bike/tires will you use? I am still trying to figure that out for these kinds of rides. I lean toward an inverted tread tire such as the 28c Michelin Transworld City on my cyclocross bike.


I have had good luck with ritchey speedmax pro tires for combo road and dirt.. when you are on the center groove on the road, they are fairly fast tires..

http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?id=48338&page=RITCHEY+SPEEDMAX+CROSS+PRO+ROAD+BIKE+TIRE

Well, the weather looks to be great for my ride. It is always fun messing with the mountain bikers with my cross bike. I'm sure I'll get a "hey, what is that guy doing here on a road bike?". To me, it just gives cyclocross bikes more visibility.

Sounds like an interesting route; I just hope that you don't run into any barbed wire.
(Barbed wire and Trespassers will be assailed with rocksalt-shot and then 7.62-calibre signs aren't always visible on the satellite-view of Googlemaps. (As I learned to much dismay several years ago.))

Sounds like an interesting route; I just hope that you don't run into any barbed wire.
(Barbed wire and Trespassers will be assailed with rocksalt-shot and then 7.62-calibre signs aren't always visible on the satellite-view of Googlemaps. (As I learned to much dismay several years ago.))

What, you've never been to a CX race? Those are called "obstacles". You're expected to "traverse" them at several points on the course. :P

Well, the ride I planned turned out to be one heck of an adventure. Made 100.3 miles out of it, rode through Penasquitos Canyon, Sycamore Canyon, Old Coach Road Trail (by yet another Sycamore Canyon), a portion of the Lake Hodges and San Pasqual Trail, a portion of Mission Trails Park, plus Highland Valley Road (up), Hwy 67, and many more. Lots of fun. The pizza and wine at Cordiano Winery was exactly what I needed. Quite a treat after the climb up Highland Valley. Saw lots of other riders out in the first half, not so many after that. I even saw someone I knew, didn't know they rode. I'll say it again, lots of fun! I kept thinking of one of the last lines in Back To The Future - Roads? Where we are going we don't need... roads! Truly, it was the epic adventure I was looking for.

And no barbed wire. I followed established trails for the most part, or was at least on public land. If I didn't make the time and energy based adjustments to the ride, it would have been my longest ever. But, that will be when the days are longer.

Right on! One of these days I will add a CX bike to the collection and engage in something adventurous like that. Actually, the SS can fit some fat tires if I pull off the fenders. Might work for something like that sort of route. But then again, the MTB has drops and a double up front, so now the gears are turning and I'm thinking some Schwalbe touring tires might do the trick :)

I'm planning to go on more rides like this, and would still be interested in having someone along. These types of rides are the most fun for me. I figure the only difference between my rides and cyclocross racing is the racing. I go at my own pace and don't run when carrying the bike. The rides to have every element of a cyclocross race course.

Haha, once I get up to snuff on my SS cross I'll hit you up for the long haul. Having a ton of fun riding the MTB trails here in San Fernando Valley in the meantime. Who needs roads when you can go really fast down a rocky, dusty singletrack slope!!!

There are some good trails around the SFV. One ride I've looked at involves Mulholland Dr and some of the canyons (the south facing ones) in the Santa Monica Mountains. I rode there about a month ago and had a lot of fun on the singletrack Backbone Trail (Rogers Rd section). Lots of climb to be had there.