Road rides around San Diego
 

Hi all,

I'm looking for riders in SD who can suggest decent rides near mid city. I live in City Heights, and on days when I work from home I'm looking to put in maybe 15 miles in the afternoons. Problem is that the neighborhoods don't really allow for uninterrupted stretches of riding. I'm basically just looking to work on my fitness and not have to drive with my bike out of the city in rush hour traffic.

Days I commute are covered, as I either do it via a combination of train/bike or just drive my bike to work in Carlsbad and take advantage of the non-grid layout near my work.

Anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Matt

Are you kidding me?

You are in then heart of some of the nations finest cycling, and you cant find a ride?

My old stomping grounds. You have four super easy choices.

First, go run Point Loma by the cliffs. Go south, climb Hill street and loop it back home.

Next, drop into Mission Valley and run west to OB, MB, PB. Take a run up
Goshen if you are motivated.

Third, from Mission Valley run Mission Gorge around to Lake Murray.

Last close loop is to head East and do the Mt. Helix ride.

You are in the city, so it will take a few miles to get into the open roads. But it's really not that far.

Cheers from retired SDSU cycling team from the '90s

^
You didn't really address his problem. He said he wants to "put in maybe 15 miles in the afternoons."

OP: Unfortunately, as you have already discovered, there aren't really any open roads within a couple miles of City Heights. You live in a very busy area.

i live fairly close by and frequently do a variation of this ride:

Bike Ride Profile | Well If You Ride It Got To Ride It Like You Find It near San Diego | Times and Records | Strava

n. mountain view/e. mountain view in between the 805 & 15 fwys just north of adams ave is approx 3 flattish miles long with low traffic, one stop sign and no stop lights.
it's the longest stretch i've found in the normal heights/city heights area with minimal traffic controls. i usually incorporate that stretch into a ride that goes (mostly)
north of adams ave and south of the mission valley canyon rim. you're on adams ave. for very short stretches. on your end in city heights, head north to talmadge
and ride west on the roads that hug the mission valley canyon rim. you can link up kensington, normal heights and university heights with the whole ride being approx 15 miles one way.
the talmadge area north of el cajon blvd is relatively quiet with no stop lights and fewer stop signs along the canyon rim roads.

Yeah. I'll find something that works for me. Thanks for the suggestions.

This sounds promising. Thanks!

here is the exact entire ride. most of talmadge is freshly repaved. doing all the dead ends/no outlets along the way is a fun ride too.

Bike Ride Profile | And Assessing Points To Nowhere Leading Every Single One near San Diego | Times and Records | Strava

Thanks so much! That looks like exactly what I'm looking for. I'll give it a shot the next time I work from home and let you know how I find it. Yeah, I tend to do a bunch of the dead ends when I ride in C'bad (when not commuting). Easy way to add distance to a ride for me.

Take a look at these guys?

North Coast Velo - Home

I did a portion of this ride yesterday. I rode up 35th to Mountain View and started there and rode east-ish until I kind of got lost. Next time I'll take a hint sheet or something, but it seemed good. I think I made about 12.5 miles. I also think that next time I'll start at your start point, since I didn't realize I was missing the longest un-interrupted portion. I guess maybe if I start using Strava I can just have the route in my phone. Also, my impression of at least the portion that I did was that it might be well suited to riding my single speed.

Also, to DinoShepherd, thanks for the tips. I did actually get out of the "heights" portion of SD today and down to the beach for about 23 miles round trip, and if I can set aside a bit more time than the hour I usually do, those rides sound great.

Matt

cool. glad you got a taste. yah, i find it easier to start the ride just east of the 805/adams ave. because you can pick up the start of mountain view rd. there.
either there or on the eastern end nearish the sdsu area at collwood/monroe. dunno which end is closer to you in city heights.
it'll take a while to get the entire ride down because of all the "no outlet" and "dead end" signs (there is an incorrect "no outlet" sign in the talmadge area
near norma/constance/49th st) but once you do, it's a blast.
you can refer to a route sheet or your phone/garmin while on the ride, but it'll slow you down and take away from the fun.
just keep bearing right when heading west and bearing left when heading east and you'll stick close to the route.
it's definitely single speed friendly. see you out there.