We were on the road by 8:00. We were concerned about todays ride as we knew once again it could be difficult to navigate the 'urban jungle'.
It was a nice quiet ride out of Encinitas, through Cardiff By The Sea, and through Solana Beach. It was a Sunday so we were not really playing with a lot of traffic. The shoulder also had a dedicated bike lane. It was primarily us and the road cyclists out for their Sunday morning rides. We were able to watch hundreds of surfers carrying their surf boards to and from the ocean and riding the waves...or whatever it is that they do...actually they spend an awful lot of time on their stomachs on their boards and very little time standing on them...now remember this coming from a guy who has no idea about enjoying the water!
As we left Del Mar we plunged down into a large valley and as per usual when you go way down you have to go way back up! Sure enough we faced a long 2.5 kilometer climb up and over a headland to get to La Jolla. It was on this climb and as we entered La Jolla that numerous road bikers slowed to talk to us as we rode along genuinely interested in what we had experienced on the road for the past 7 weeks. We were led into La Jolla by two cyclists who gave us numerous suggestions of what we should try to see and do in San Diego. Eventually they had to leave us behind because they had tickets to the Chargers game later in the day. We had been warned that the ride through La Jolla could be a 'messy' one but although complicated was not too bad. We understand that we were lucky to be riding through the area on a Sunday as most cars were not out on the roads. It was through this area that we were passed by a cyclist who a few minutes later we realized was taking our picture while on the fly. She again slowed and wanted our blog address so she could send the pictures to us. They are posted on her Flicker Account. Now I just have to figure out how to access them...for me that could be a challenge!
As we entered the Mission Beach area the riding got 'ugly' on a bike path along the ocean. There were way too many people walking and unwilling to share their space with tour cyclists. Now I know that the pedestrians have the right away on these shared paths...but but but...whatever happened to 'common courtesy' I will never know. People would look at us and just continue walking 3 and 4 abreast. We managed to slowly weave our way through he 'people Jungle' until we got to the harbour area of San Diego where we had had enough of playing 'dodgem' and walked our bikes the rest of the way to our hotel.
We are staying in the Historic Horton Grand Hotel in the Gas Lamp district of Old San Diego. It is an area of restored buildings that has an unbelievable number of restaurants as well as Petco Park where the Padres play.
We plan to spend a few days of 'downtime' in the city being 'travelers'...just 'taking in' what there is to 'take in'! Like when we finished our ride across Canada, we are a little tired. Tomorrow will be a day to figure out the 'logistics' of getting our gear, our bicycles, and ourselves back to Vancouver. Maybe we should just go throw all of it in the harbour...probably not...I know we are not finished with this touring thing yet!!!
Trip Distance = 58.50 km. Time on the Bikes = 4 hours 22 minutes. Average Speed = 13.38 km. Maximum Speed = 42.23 km. Wildlife Sightings = Steroid 'enhanced' muscles on 'wanabee' body builders all along the boardwalk areas.!!!
The blog will be back in a couple of days so please stay tuned.
Surfin USA
Surfin USA
The End Of The Biking Part Of Our Adventure
Hehehe, sorry I forgot to tell you how to download the pics from Flickr! :o) I'm afraid it doesn't let you download all of them at once, but if you left click on any photo it should load another page where there is a download icon on the right of it (it's the one with the arrow pointing downward). :o) Or it you shoot me an email at sdcmorg@yahoo.com I can send them that way, too.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Smorg
By the way, if you aren't fed up with cycling yet, there's a really nice and flat scenic (and relatively short at perhaps 27 miles) to be had from where you are in the Gaslamp Quarter.
ReplyDeleteYou can get on 5th Ave and go toward the bay and left (south) on Harbor Dr. You'll be on a bike lane pretty much all the way (it's in pretty ugly pavement condition just south of downtown, but it gets much better further south). Just past the naval base (be careful crossing the diagonal railroad track!) you'd turn right at Civic Center Dr/Tidelands Ave.
You'll probably see 'Bayshore Bikeway' bike route signs directing you onto Tidelands Ave and around the marina, but locals like me would make immediate left turn after the railroad track onto Cleveland Ave instead (if you stay on Tidelands you'll have to cross 3 more diagonal railroad tracks with hideous pavement cracks next to them). Then at the traffic light at the end of the road you'll turn right on Bay Marina Dr, and then make the very next left turn onto Marina Way. When Marina Way makes the 90 degree right turn you'll see the Bayshore Bikeway path on the left corner of it (it's a paved little tarmac lane leading south). Take that... it soon makes a left turn at Sweetwater River channel, look for an opening in the concrete embankment on the left just before the bridges. You'll have to take a left there to get onto the Gordy Shields Bridge south, across the river. From there on it's pretty easy following Bayshore Bikeway signs on path and on Bay Blvd until you get past the salt farm. Then you'll take the left onto fenced in bike path bordering the salt farm and stay on the path all the way into Coronado Island. It's a beautiful ride and not a hill in sight (tho there could be crosswind that would feel very much like a headwind no matter which direction you ride on that path... It's a weird thing). The path takes you to Coronado Ferry Landings where you can catch a ferry back across the bay (to Broadway Pier just a few blocks from your hotel). Ferry costs $4.75 a piece, and it has bike racks. :o)
Ooops, gave you one wrong turn, it's a 'right' turn onto bike path around the salt farm rather than left. Sorry! :o)
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