Part II of SoCal rides

With the foot of snow that just got dumped on us, this is either going to lift your spirits or get you more depressed.

On Friday, I decided I wanted to venture out a bit farther up the coast and get a long ride in. I decided to hit the Coast highway (hwy 101) and go as for a long ride. It was a beautiful day but a bit on the cool side by San Diego standards. So, I had to layer up a bit.

To sum it up, this was the most spectacular ride I have ever done in terms of scenery! Picture a highway with a bike lane on each side and bordered by the ocean on one side. The asphalt was in good to perfect condition, the terrain was flat for the most part with some rolling hills. Perfect for a start of season ride. There was only one short section of the route, in Encinitas (I think), that did not have bike lane but as I mentioned in my earlier posts, drivers were respectful of cyclists. I could go about about this but here are some photos and video to give you a better idea.

This is not a shoulder; it is a bike lane, signs warn drivers not to stop there.

Heading South with the ocean right at your side

Del Mar

The bus is not as close at it appears!

I rode to Oceanside before turning around to head back south. As I started out, I noticed a bike shop, Pacific Coast Cycles, that had a Surley fixie with bring orange rims in the window. As I was taking a picture of it the owner stepped out and invited me in. It was quite a small shop about the size of Phat Moose. It had really old school gear, mainly steel framed bikes, fixies and SS. It carried Surley, Masi, LeMond and a few KHS 29ers. The owner owner told me he was also getting the Surley's Karate Monkey 29er. I chatted the owner up for bit. He was a really nice guy.

A few things I noticed about roadies in Southern Cal: a lot of people carried camel packs and roadies do say hi!, even when they were on the other side of the highway... unlike the posers we often come across in the Gats.

By the way, the following day I took Melissa out for a drive down the same highway and we came across the boys from Big Ring Racing. As you know, that team is based in San Diego.

Aaahhh, if only I could be there today...