Southern California - OC to SD (Rancho Bernardo) Route Help

san diego peeps, where are you at?

trying to plan a route for my friend to tackle his first century from OC to rancho bernardo. going to take the obvious path to get to oceanside, but from there, which roads/ hwys are the best in terms of road quality, minimal traffic and stop lights, in order to get to rancho bernardo? should i cut across from PCH at oceanside and go through escondido or go further down to the solana beach/ del mar area and cut across?

i checked the new google maps bike lane function but i just don't trust it yet. some of the highways and roads look pretty beat up and a thin strip of lane is what counts as a bike lane. i'd rather rely on a little BF local intel instead. thanks!

I live in San Marcos. If you want to come through north county, take the San Luis Rey river bike path, that now goes to the intersection of 76 and S Santa Fe. Take S Santa Fe through Oceanside & Vista, into San Marcos where it becomes Mission. 80% of this route has a bike lane, the parts that don't are fairly wide. There are a couple spots where I take my time and check traffic around me, but nothing crazy.

When you get into San Marcos, continue on Mission. You can jump on the bike path if you want, but Mission has a bike lane. When you get into Escondido close to the 15, turn right on Washington. When you get to the Hale/Washington intersection, cross the road straight, and pick up the bike path that goes along the train yard. This path will get you to the Escondido Transit station.

From the transit station, take Quince St south to 13th. Left on 13th, then R on Center City Pkwy. Center City is busy, but it is 4 lane divided with a wide bike lane. South on Center City then take a left at the light onto Citracado. Take the immediate right onto Escondido Blvd. Follow that until it becomes El Ku Ave. Follow it to the end. At the end of the street, look to your left. Enter the bike path, and follow the path towards the mall.

Go through the mall parking lot, I go around on the east end by Penny's and On The Border. Your target is Sunset Dr on the other side of the mall. Take Sunset to the end, take the path under the freeway and over to the bike/pedestrian bridge. Cross the bridge and you are in Rancho Bernardo. You can go left to get on Pomerado, or right is West Bernardo Dr.

Good luck. When are you doing it? Maybe I'll meet you in Oceanside and tag along for a while if I can keep up.

There are a ton of route options depending on your desired mileage and amount of climbing. The route above would be a "commuter friendly" type route.

If you want the least lights possible (and nice roads), take PCH south to La Costa Ave then follow the Swami's route through Elfin Forest. When you get to Escondido take Via Rancho Pkwy east to I-15 then cross the bridge to RB.

Take this route through Elfin Forest (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=carlsbad&daddr=Poinsettia+Ln+to:33.118863,-117.243862+to:Elfin+Forest+Rd+to:Avenida+Del+Diablo+to:Via+Rancho+Pkwy+to:E+Via+Rancho+Pkwy+to:Alveo +Way+to:rancho+bernardo,+ca&hl=en&geocode=Fc3z-QEdPl8B-SlZ7js_RXPcgDEvXfb8klXLpA%3BFe4h-QEdsQ4C-Q%3B%3BFTGp-AEdNTIE-Q%3BFSQd-QEd4BwF-Q%3BFRKv-AEd6mEF-Q%3BFX6W-AEdnLAF-Q%3BFZgT-AEdxoEF-Q%3BFR_T9wEd_8oF-SnpfzzYLPHbgDFgeqFRZ9e09g&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=2&sz=13&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7&dirflg=b&sll=33.113543,-117.240601&sspn=0.103235,0.217323&ie=UTF8&ll=33.079172,-117.194595&spn=0.206551,0.434647&t=h&z=12&lci=bike), if you want to do some climbing and avoid the traffic of La Costa & El Camino Real, or


Here's a less hilly route that I like a lot (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=carlsbad&daddr=Lomas+Santa+Fe+Dr+to:County+Hwy+S6%2FDel+Dios+Hwy+to:Via+Rancho+Pkwy+to:E+Via+Rancho+Pkwy+to:A lveo+Way+to:rancho+bernardo,+ca&hl=en&geocode=Fc3z-QEdPl8B-SlZ7js_RXPcgDEvXfb8klXLpA%3BFVt59wEdkNkC-Q%3BFYAX-AEd_CkE-Q%3BFRKv-AEd6mEF-Q%3BFX6W-AEdnLAF-Q%3BFZgT-AEdxoEF-Q%3BFR_T9wEd_8oF-SnpfzzYLPHbgDFgeqFRZ9e09g&mra=mr&mrcr=0&via=1,2,3,4,5&dirflg=b&sll=33.071117,-117.109966&sspn=0.103285,0.217323&ie=UTF8&ll=33.063924,-117.212448&spn=0.206587,0.434647&t=h&z=12&lci=bike), if you want to stay on PCH a little longer.

And here's a slightly longer route (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=carlsbad&daddr=Carmel+Valley+Rd+to:Azuaga+St+to:32.97022,-117.080956+to:rancho+bernardo,+ca&hl=en&geocode=Fc3z-QEdPl8B-SlZ7js_RXPcgDEvXfb8klXLpA%3BFSF79gEd1PwC-Q%3BFeDl9gEdygAF-Q%3B%3BFR_T9wEd_8oF-SnpfzzYLPHbgDFgeqFRZ9e09g&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=3&sz=13&via=1,2,3&dirflg=b&sll=32.974684,-117.082672&sspn=0.103398,0.217323&ie=UTF8&ll=33.024209,-117.179489&spn=0.20668,0.434647&t=h&z=12&lci=bike) that will take you on the slick new bike path that runs parallel to the 56 (Ted Williams Expwy)

As the previous posters mentioned there are numerous routes that are all nice rides. Check this thread by CalamariChris, he posted some fairly common rides that parts of would get you from Oceanside to RB.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?633191-SoCal-Route-Repository

If you want to go further down the coast, stay on Hwy 1 and head east on Carmel Valley Road, just south of Del Mar, go south on El Camino Real about 100 yards or so to pick up the Rte 56 bike trail. Take this east to Camino Del Sur, stay on Camino Del Sur, (direction correction), Rancho Bernardo Road intersects C. Del Sur which will get you into RB

Edit,
Just a little slow on the draw this morning.

awesome suggestions, thanks to all. i am especially curious about the elfin forest route... would love to get a little climbing in at the tail end of a long ride. i looked the road up on google maps and was intrigued by its potential remoteness... but the roads looked pretty narrow?? but i suppose if there really isn't too much traffic, it would be perfect and relatively safe. looking to hit the RB area in the late afternoon on a weekend. dunno if that is some sort of peak or off peak time for traffic through the elfin forest and surrounding areas.

Elfin Forest was recently widened and smoothed as part of the San Elijo Hills development, so it's a pretty nice ride for the first 5 miles. There's no dedicated bike lane, but there is a nice shoulder, good visibility, and usually relaxed drivers.
Elfin Forest is indeed narrow, but the traffic is usually light and relaxed since they built the new Twin Oaks Parkway immediately to the north, which is more direct and therefore bleeds off all the motorists who are looking for a time-saving shortcut.
The neat thing about Elfin Forest and the Del Dios route is they take you to the new, stressed-ribbon, bicycle-pedestrian bridge over Lake Hodges.
It's admittedly nothing spectacular, but it cost more than $10 million and is a nice alternative to riding on that stretch of I-15, which is concrete with rain grooves and therefore noisier than a cat stuck in a garbage disposal.
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nctimes.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/7/6f/9ca/76f9cac1-f26d-5793-9a42-251403fe689f.image.jpg?_dc=1252936794

It's admittedly nothing spectacular
Sorry Chris but I've go to disagree. The spectacular thing about the bridge is that it blends into the surroundings. Here's a few more views: http://safdierabines.com/#/project/48?page=1

settled... definitely going to take the elfin forest route, so i can check out that bridge. it really does look awesome. and there's something about riding to some kind of destination that keeps you going and pushing harder. this could be that thing.

Sorry Chris but I've go to disagree.
Apology accepted. But you're still wrong. :p
If it's that spectacular, why doesn't someone sweep the darn thing? (Or perhaps all the rocks & dirt on the bridge intended to help it blend into the surroundings in a more spectacular manner?)