I live in Encinitas (www.ci.encinitas.ca.us), a coastal suburb about 40km north of downtown San Diego. The weather is perfect for cycling year-round, and there are many good roads with wide shoulders, appropriately low speed limits, or marked bike lanes. There are excellent Class I bikeways, as well, along the San Luis Rey River (Oceanside) and the San Diego River (Mission Bay). For the most part, San Diego motorists tolerate cyclists well; they certainly see alot of us out there, which I think enhances our safety considerably. The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition is very active, very vocal, widely respected, and very effective.

The downsides of San Diego cycling are: 1) road construction crews often block off shoulders and/or bike lanes; 2) some roads have very narrow outer lanes; 3) we have more than our share of cell-phoning pilots of "full-size"* SUVs; 4) the salty air promotes surface rusting; and 5) [a problem only for those with an inferiority complex] you cannot ride anywhere along the coast without being passed by a faster cyclist on a more expensive bike.

*e.g.: Ford Excursion