Irvine to San Diego

Bill Bushnell — Friday, April 9, 1993

I am staying with Frank at his new townhouse in Irvine over the weekend. On my first day, we have decided to ride to San Diego. Frank’s friend, Jon, has agreed to drive us back to Irvine afterward. But he wants to do as much driving as possible in daylight, so we set an arrival time of sometime between 5:00 and 5:30.

The early springtime air in Orange County feels more like mid-summer air up north in the Bay Area. The hills are green, and creeks still flow from the heavy rains earlier in the season.

We start off down University riding at a moderate pace toward the coast. A couple of bicyclists pass us. One of them wears a Specialized Sub-6 helmet, which I still think looks more like a headless goose than head protection.

“Hi. Where’re you riding?”, I ask one of them.

“We’re just going down to the water and back. Where are you guys going?”, he asks.

“We’re off to San Diego.”, I reply enthusiastically.

“That’s great. You’ll get a couple of rollers and then it’s pretty flat the rest of the way. You should have tailwinds most of the time, too.”, the other biker adds before riding out of earshot.

Upon reaching the coast we start riding south on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). There were no tailwinds, and we never got any tailwinds on this ride until our brief journey inland to Mira Mesa.

Southern Californians like their cars, and they like to drive. Most of the boulevards in southern Orange County are four, six, sometimes eight-lanes wide, and with speed limits a brisk 50 mph, drivers are encouraged to accelerate quickly. Traffic is heavy along the coast, and the road conditions vary from fair to poor. Once south of Newport Beach, the surface improves, and an adequate, though debris-strewn, shoulder appears.

In Laguna Beach, the highway insists on carrying four lanes of traffic even though the shoulder is now non-existent. Even at the relatively early hour, traffic is heavy enough to be irritating. To make matters worse, the road surface, a mixture of asphalt and broken concrete, is full of large cracks and potholes.

We make our first rest stop at Jahraus Park, the main drag, in Laguna Beach. Only a few people are out and about, but the fog licking the roofs of the surrounding houses perched on the hills and cliffs to either side make for a picturesque setting.

After eating a snack and adjusting the indexing on Frank’s derailleur we continue. (Frank recently switched his rear derailleur and cogs from SunTour to Shimano Hyperglide. He hasn’t yet switched from his SunTour shifters, but we managed to get them to index O.K. with some adjustment.)

The highway continues south of Laguna Beach on much the same surface as before. But after passing Crown Valley Parkway, the highway broadens and becomes less confining. At Green Lantern, we turn right and ride down the very steep Cove Rd. to the Dana Point Harbor. At the bottom of the hill, we eat, rest, and use the facilities.

We continue on Harbor Drive, and after rejoining PCH we turn off on Coast Hwy. Visibility is only about 1/4-mile as fog clings low to the ground.

At Palisade Drive, the Coast Hwy is closed and fenced off. A sign tells us that all forms of transportation along the closed section are prohibited. A police car waits near the fence. Just as we arrive, he roars off on some errand. We joke that after having seen us look disappointingly at the sign, maybe he’s going to rush around and catch us all coming out the other side.

We decide to take the risk. Some other bicyclists follow us around the fence and onto the closed roadway. We’re finally away from traffic noise. I can see why the road is closed. The cliffs above to our left look like they’re about to crumble down. In places we can hear rockfall.

Shortly before arriving at Camino Capistrano, we come upon a huge rock and mudslide covering the roadway. More signs warn us away. We lift our bikes over the guardrail on the right and walk along the railroad tracks in violation of yet more signs and warnings of penalties and consequences. After about 1/4-mile, we reach a path that crosses the tracks and cross back onto legal turf.

We are now in San Clemente, and rather than take the quick and direct El Camino Real, we decide to detour on the well-marked but circuitous Bikecentennial route on the side streets.

Once back on Ave Presidente, we continue south past the two great teats of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant and into San Onofre State Beach. Here we take another rest,and refill our bottles. From here to the south end of USMC Camp Pendelton some 20 miles later, there is no convenient opportunity for water or other supplies.

I feel a mixture of humor and sadness upon seeing a sign warning motorists on I-5 that people may be running across the roadway. Similar to signs warning motorists of animals crossing the road, this sign has a Gary Larson-esque look to it. I look in vain for a sign depicting elephants driving cars. It is here that illegal aliens from Mexico cross the roadway in an attempt to find work in Los Angeles and places north. On our drive back up I-5 later in the evening, I saw one immigrant thumbing for a ride along the dark roadway.

Soon we reach the end of the beach. The bike path continues on an old overgrown roadway. After crossing under I-5 through a dark, narrow tunnel, the bike path continues down what looks like one half of an old four-lane highway. This must have been the old Coast Highway before I-5 was built.

After a couple of miles we reach the entrance to Camp Pendelton. The guard waves us through. When the Camp is closed to through traffic, bicyclists must ride on I-5, though I don’t imagine it would be much fun.

After an uneventful ride through the marine base, we finally we arrive at the south entrance and after crossing under I-5, we stop at the nearby Chevron station for a long-awaited rest break. We refill our bottles, and Frank awards himself a Frank award for buying and swiftly washing down a large Hershey’s chocolate bar with a can of Coke.

We continue south on Hill Street through Oceanside. This is no fun. The roadway is four lanes of narrow traffic. Parked cars stand on either side, their doors ready to swing open in front of unwary bicyclists. The road is again a mixture of broken concrete and asphalt. As soon as we leave Oceanside and enter Carlsbad, the roadway improves. Again we stop at a nearby mall where Frank buys a frozen yogurt with a thick dollop of chocolate syrup on top. Meanwhile, I eat a sunflower nut-butter and jelly sandwich.

We continue south on Carlsbad Blvd. (SD-S21) past beaches covered by throngs of sunbathers, surfers, and other beach-goers.

In Leucadia, we manage to keep pace with a North San Diego County bus. First we pass the bus stopped at a stop, then it roars past and stops at the next stop. Again we pass the bus. This continues five or six more times until the bus manages to go two stops without stopping and finally outdistances us.

When we get to Solana Beach, we stop at Nisus Software where we meet Victor. The three of us cross over to the local frozen yogurt emporium where again Frank enjoys the smooth creamy taste. By this time, I’m tempted to join him, but since I do not perform well after I’ve eaten dairy products, I eat my last sandwich instead.

After saying goodbye to Victor, we continue south through Del Mar. At Torrey Pines Park Preserve, we take the steep Torrey Pines Park Rd. up past the visitor’s center and rejoin North Torrey Pines Rd. at the top. Our plan to end the coastal portion of the ride on the beach in La Jolla is cut short by my flatting in front of the Muir College tennis courts at UC San Diego. The flat is a snakebite due to my running over a rock while allowing myself to be distracted.

I patch my flat, and we reluctantly make a U-turn at La Jolla Shores Drive to begin the ride to Mira Mesa. While riding down Genesee, I reach my maximum speed, and Frank reaches 45mph. It’s rush hour, and most of the drivers think we’re nuts when we move over into the left lane to turn onto the freeway. For the next 3/4-mile we take I-5 to Sorrento Valley Rd., the next exit. Shortly before the I-805 underpass Frank flats, and we struggle with Frank’s brand new tires on his new Campy Ypsilon rims.

The ride up Mira Mesa Blvd. is uneventful. We manage to move quickly, but the token bike lane is narrow and full of debris. Since there’s no other way to get around this part of San Diego, everyone drives, leaving the air thick with fumes. Finally we reach Jon’s house. After Frank takes a quick shower, we head off to Soup Plantation for a Calorie-replenishing feast.

Ride stats:

distance: 84.8 miles

climbing: 3030 feet

total time: 9:11

riding time: 5:34

average Speed: 15.2 mph

maximum speed: 43.0 mph

index: 98

irp: 11

mirp: 18

climbing density: 36

climbing ratio: 0.0068

An article on indexing can be found here.

©2004, Bill Bushnell

Please do not publish or distribute for profit without permission.