eugenek

If I start in Temecula and head north, what is the shortest route that will get me to Orange County, using a road bike? Would that be the "Santa Ana River Trail" along the 91? My understanding is that 74 is still too unsafe for cyclists. Are there any other paved roads or trails all the way through the hills south of the 91?

rooftest

Depending on where you're going in Orange County, taking surface streets up to the SART in Corona could be your shortest route. The only other paved option is Ortega Hwy. I've never ridden it (aside from the last 2 miles in SJC), so I don't have an opinion to share on it.

calamarichris

Ortega is no place for a bicycle IMO.
Gmaps seems to agree on that one (click).
Good luck and let us know how it goes!

eugenek

Actually Google does send me on Ortega, if I move the finish point further south. If I switch from "cycling" to "walking", it offers me four other roads. One of them (Verdugo Track Trail / Forest Road 7S06) seems to be paved at least half of the way through.

I am starting in North County San Diego, and I was trying to construct a route through Temecula and OC that I could manage in one day. If I take the 74 and ride Sprinter on the way back from Oceanside to Escondido, that's 118 miles, on the high side for me, but I think I can pull it off. If I have to go all the way to 91, that gets me to 160 miles even with Sprinter.

toobspunk

Head north, turn left up towards the hills(sorry i don't know street names), look on a map, there are some roads that will take you through the southern side of corona. If you takethe right streets, you will end up at green river(where S(h)ART starts).

rooftest

Don't even think of riding that with a road bike. I've been up there on a mountain bike. Most of it is VERY rough fireroad. (a car won't cut it - you need a truck or a mountain bike.)

eugenek

Do you know if it is passable all the way through on a mountain bike? I did some more googling, turns out that there is a private community in the middle of 7S06, and it looks like there might be a gate blocking the way. https://binged.it/zmlcYZ

rooftest

I can only vouch for Main Divide trail between Holy Jim and Horse Thief. That's a pretty long section of trail, though - so it's a safe bet that the rest of Main Divide is like that.

If you're talking about that section of Verdugo that's south of Ortega; that's a LONG mtn bike ride.

calamarichris

It's your life, but you might want to click on that link I submitted before and drag the little yellow silhouette on the 74 in a few places. It's a very narrow, very winding, very high speed road with lots of traffic.
Here's one random example. Like you, I was thinking about making a bike ride through there, but I reconnoitered it on my motorcycle and decided it was just too dangerous for a bicycle. I'm a big fan of riding through Pendleton to get to OC--just did it yesterday in fact. You could take the San Luis Rey bike path west to Oside, then turn north and ride through Pendleton. You have to bring your ID and wear a helmet, but the traffic is light, the Marines are very courteous drivers, and there are about 2 stopsign-controlled (but deserted) intersections in about 18 miles of riding.
Let us know if you're doing it anyway, also afterward please so we know you weren't killed.

GP

https://www.sandiegorandonneurs.com/d..._Corona300.pdf

You might be able to use part of this route.

markg

Just checking back to see if anyone has ridden Main Divide through the mountains south. My coach sometimes rides the back roads up that way (says there is NO cell coverage up there if you have problems). And the RAAM SoCal qualifier (400 miles) is planning to send riders and support vehicles down that way:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/551620

Here is the route they are proposing from the top of Ortega Hwy to Fallbrook:

[TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD]Turn right onto S Main Divide[/TD]
[TD]29.3 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Slight left onto Wildomar Truck Trail[/TD]
[TD]36.4 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Continue onto Los Alamos Rd/Los Alamos Truck Trail[/TD]
[TD]37.7 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Slight left onto Tenaja Truck Trail[/TD]
[TD]45.4 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Continue onto Cleveland Forest Rd[/TD]
[TD]50.0 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turn left onto Tenaja Rd[/TD]
[TD]50.6 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turn left to stay on Tenaja Rd[/TD]
[TD]54.1 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turn right onto Vía Volcan/Vía Volcano[/TD]
[TD]54.8 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turn left onto Avocado Mesa Rd[/TD]
[TD]56.1 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Avocado Mesa Rd turns right and becomes Los Gatos Rd[/TD]
[TD]56.3 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turn left onto Carancho Rd[/TD]
[TD]57.4 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turn right onto De Luz Rd[/TD]
[TD]60.3 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #E7E7E7"]
[TD]Continue onto De Luz Murrieta Rd[/TD]
[TD]64.4 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Slight left onto De Luz Rd[/TD]
[TD]67.4 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turn right to stay on De Luz Rd[/TD]
[TD]75.5 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turn right onto W Kalmia St[/TD]
[TD]76.6 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turn left onto N Hill Ave[/TD]
[TD]76.7 mi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Slight right onto N Mission Rd[/TD]
[TD]76.7[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

agoodale

Our team does this ride quite often the opposite way. It's nickname around here is "fat lizard". The roads are narrow but in decent shape. There is frequently rocks/sand on the road (nothing serious) so care should be taken while descending.

I'm assuming you know that Los Gatos Rd is about 15% to 20% grade. The steepest part is at the bottom right before the intersection. Plenty of my teammates have wiped out there over the years.