Jan. 25.....30.58 in 2:26.....cruised some familiar trails from previous visit, and expanded my familiarity with a ride along the coast in La Jolla ( not up on the hill where Torrey Pines is located), then rode as much as I could along boardwalk of Pacific Beach and Mission Beach. It was a Saturday, which 75 degree temps in January, so the place was jam packed. I can't imagine a summer day, but I might or might not like how crowded it would be. The surf was 'going off,' with 8-12 ft. waves, and every surfer who could get here, was here. Those waves were CRAZY. I saw on TV that the Ventura Pier, and half of the Pacific Beach pier were closed because of the waves. Up in Northern California, at Half Moon Bay, where I spent an evening in a motel, at a place called Mavericks, there were 40 waves, and a pro surf completion playing out. I worked through the beach congestion, and discovered the Friars Road Bike Trail and lane. It took me away from Mission Bay Rd, through the Mission Valley, under I-8 and to Quaalcom Stadium, where either the Chargers or the Padres play, I'm not sure which. Traffic was building, and there were some major intersections, so I turned it around, even though I could have really gone off on some unfamiliar roads and gotten lost. In a good way!
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| The waves were rocking! |
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| See the tiny surfer on the left hand side?? |
Sunday, Jan. 26.... Pam and I took the day and went to La Jolla Cove. We packed our chairs and heavy clothes. The day was really overcast and cool, but we sat on the beach and read, and watched the surfers. There were a ton of them, but not many sun gathers. The waves were a little smaller, maybe 6-8 foot sets that were awesome surfing for the ones who didn't get blown up yesterday. We then walked for quite a while on the boardwalk. It was busy, but not crazy like yesterday. I then did a little 10 miler or so around Fiesta Island, and on the trails around the bay, and walked a few miles in the evening because it seemed to get warmer after the sunset, and it was too nice an evening to waste. I actually saw a rainbow on my ride, but it never rained.
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| Packing in the surfers! |
Monday Jan 27....42.5 in 3:50....I don't know who Soledad is, but he had a canyon named after him in Santa Clarita that I rode, and today I rode up Soledad Mtn. in San Diego. I went out in search of some climbing, and this was the biggest hill I could see. I climbed about 700 ft on a really nice, wide road with great shoulders, up into Mt. LaJolla. Beautiful homes were all around, and as I looked to my right I could see out into the mountains and desert that I will be riding through when we leave town and head for Quartzite, Arizona. When I got to the top, I had a choice of ways down, and I picked one that took me rapidly down to the beaches in LaJolla, where I rode a couple of days ago. I connected along the shoreline with the Pacific Beach/Mission Beach boardwalk. While riding there I hooked up with a sweet little thing on a bike that was heading the same direction as I was. Yea, I caught up to Pam, who was out in a ride of her own. We rode together for a while, then I took off for Ocean Beach. She rode about twenty miles on the trails around the bay. Good job Pam!
I went over to the other side of the San Diego River, to the beach where the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier ride map begins. I sat and enjoyed the ocean and the 65 degree day, ate an orange, then headed out on the bike trail and followed the ACA trail map for about 11 miles, until I hooked up with Friar Rd, near Qualcomm Stadium, where I rode two days ago. The route was tedious with roughly surfaced bike trails, long waits for crossings at big intersections, and some city riding in the hotel district near I-5 and I -8. I rode back along Friar Drive, the way I rode two days ago. That is the way I will leave, when I head east. There is a little more traffic on Friar Rd., but it hooks up better from the RV park. I need to get out of town easily because I have my biggest climb, peaking at 4500 ft within the first 30 miles out of town.
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