Day 38 – 41

I acknowledge that my ride in San Diego County was on land belonging to La Jolla, Rincon, San Pasquale, Palma, and Pala Bands of Mission Indians on or near the San Luis Rey River in San Diego and further acknowledge the travesty Indigenous people have suffered here since European contact. 

I lost a day or two somewhere along the line, so I updated this post date to indicate the actual last day of the trip: day 41, May 21, 2024.

Total miles: 1675

Vertical feet: 86,000

Length of trip: 41 days

Days of travel: 36

Average miles per day: 46

Flat tires: 3 (same tube)

By now you are accustomed to me mentioning other riders I’ve met on this trip. If you remember back a week, I met Karson, the young man who moved in the last year from Minnesota to Alpine, California, east of San Diego. We kept in touch, so I knew his next stop after Orange County would be San Elijo State Park in Encinitas which is where I planned to camp after Crystal Cove. I was very happy knowing I would have company on the last day of the trip!

Before meeting up, however, I needed to get through the bicycle hell that is Laguna Beach. Believe me, it may be a smoke-free town, but they did it at the expense of pissing off all of the bicyclists who regularly ride through their trendy little town. Even though downtown seems attractive from the inside of a car, the view is much different from the seat of a bicycle. The chances of getting “doored”, squeezed, and exposed were way higher than anywhere else on the trip. Fortunately for all, the town isn’t vey long and because the PCH is a conveyor belt, delivering vehicles from one town to the next, I only needed to be on extra high alert for 10 minutes. At least San Clemente keeps you off of the PCH with a serpentine route through many neighborhoods before reconnecting you to the highway. My takeaway was … each of these OC towns has its own way of communicating to the bicycling hoi polloi that unless they join the petroleum economy, they are a secondary consideration. If you like “Tuscan” style homes, plush gardens, and expensive restaurants, the PCH between Newport Beach and San Clemente is for you.  

It’s quite a jolt when you realize this strip of the PCH strip is punctuated on the south with its own nuclear power plant, San Onofre. Approaching SoCal Edison’s decommissioned plant, I found myself facing the largest sculpture art installation on the west coast: two monstrous boobs perched above the ocean cliffs. It reminded me of the abandoned Satsop Nuclear Power Plant’s nickname “Whoops.” Why do these mega projects set themselves up for mocking decades after they close?

The closer I got to Camp Pendleton, I found myself becoming a bit more contemplative and respectful. In my older adult years I’ve met many Marine Corps veterans and, since Memorial Day is this weekend, I made sure I acknowledged their service. Kathy’s cousin is married to a Vietnam veteran who served in the Marines as did his two sons. While that’s not entire true — one of them was a Jack Marine, Navy Seal—I want to thank them and all of our service men and women for their service.

Normally, the Marines allow you to ride though Camp Pendleton on a road parallel to I-5. However, you need a government-issued pass to do this. Typically it’s as easy as stopping at the Visitor Center and obtaining one, except the VC is undergoing a renovation, so passes are not being issued at this time. Instead, you get to ride on the shoulder of I-5 for about nine miles. It’s loud, yes, and there are vehicles clearly traveling over the speed limit (sometimes twice as fast?). With a 15 MPH wind on your back, you can scoot through the incongruous situation before you have time to fully process the madness of it all. Next thing you know, you’ve taken exit 54C in Oceanside and you’re riding on “Historic 101”! It all seemed quite natural, until I realized I was not driving a vehicle with four wheels.

If I awarded a prize to a beach city for its civic dedication to bicycle safety, the winner would be Carlsbad. I even purchased and drank a 1L bottle of Carlsbad Alkaline Water to celebrate their award. Their dedication to building a Main Street featuring a bicycle corridor was inspiring. If you want people to travel from their hotels to the beach without getting in their cars, you have to make it easy for them. Hear that, Laguna Beach?!  

The primary reason for the existence of the towns from Oceanside to San Diego is surfing. (This is not an overstatement.) The state parks, the beaches, and the roads were inundated with people (mostly men) in wetsuits carrying surfboards. Many of them rode bicycles with custom racks to which their surfboards could be strapped. The growth of e-assist bicycles means more and more surf riders can easily jump from one self-propelled means of transportation to another on the water. Our evening stop, San Elijo State Park hosted its share of surf riders, including the twilight surfers who used every bit of daylight available, returning home happy. I’m not a water person, so thoughts of getting into cold water as I prepared to take a hot shower were short-lived.

Leaving the shower house, I finally saw Karson resting at the hiker/biker picnic table. He arrived from Huntington Beach and logged about 82 miles getting to that bench. Because there are no convenient, inexpensive places to stay when crossing LA/OC, Karson took advantage of the Warm Showers web site to find hosts (many are cyclists) where he could stay for low-to-no cost. I was impressed with the folks who hosted him and what they provided including LA tours! These hosts aren’t always on the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route, so Karson had to pedal a bit further to make it to his host for the evening.

Tuesday morning we awoke excited, anticipating the last day of the trip. On the way, Karson planned to spend some time at UCSD and La Jolla, so we agreed to meet at the Coronado Ferry around lunch time. I wanted to drop off my panniers at my hotel anyway because I didn’t need them for the round trip ride to the Mexico border. This would be my longest day of riding, but it would be my last of the trip, too.

Leaving the campground we immediately picked up another rider, Calvin, who was commuting into work at a bike shop. In fact, he shared that his shop is the largest seller of Schwabe tires on Amazon. (Love these factoids you pick up on the go.) Karson has Schwabe tires. I had never heard of them. Before we headed up the Torrey Pines Road hill, Calvin wished us luck, turned at an intersection, and left us with the 400-foot climb, our final of the trip. 

I knew UCSD was located near the top of Torrey Pines Road, but I didn’t expect the range of research institutes we passed by: Scripts Green Hospital and Scripps Institute, Stein Clinical Research, West Health Institute, Salk Institute, and the J. Craig Venter Institute, to name but a few. It was an impressive show of cutting edge science research. Once past the miracle mile of institutes, Karson headed into La Jolla and I departed for Mission Bay and my hotel in downtown San Diego. 

After his self-guided tour of La Jolla, Karson met me at the Convention Center ferry terminal for the five-minute crossing to Coronado. I previously visited Coronado a few times, so it didn’t feel totally new. Karson knew the route to San Ysidro and I just followed, first on a meandering path we shared with tourists, and then onto the Bayshore/Silver Strand Bikeway that would eventually deliver us to Chula Vista. While we could not see much of the ocean due to a wall of dunes, at times we were able to see the Bay, especially the further south we rode. Karson mentioned that two flamingos have made their home in this marshy part of the Bay and we looked for something, anything, pink, but didn’t find them.  Too bad, too, since my unofficial life list doesn’t have “flamingo” checked. After skirting the South Bay Salt Works, the bike path delivered us onto surface streets and not long after, the Mexico border!  We arrived to the border about 2:45, not really sure what to do with ourselves. A congratulatory hug, photos, and exchanges of a few stories preceded our second parting. Karson arranged to have his father come and get him, but not before he had a beer at the Taco Bell Cantina across the street! It is important to revel in simple pleasures.

Me? I still had to return to San Diego, and definitely took my time. While on the way, Tom called me from LAX and wanted to know if I made it. We recalled portions of our trip, but mostly congratulated one another on completing our long rides. When I said that we experienced a relatively disaster-free trip, he took exception. Then I remembered every adversity he experienced and overcame. My trip was a cake walk in comparison. I think he’s finally ready for a new bike so he can explore Scotland, and maybe even ride to his classes. He definitely earned it.  

I plan a final trip entry so come back in a few days. I’m on the northbound Coast Starlight right now, arriving to Seattle this evening. In a few minutes we’ll travel over the Cascades into the Williamette Valley and more familiar environs. I’m feeling pretty good right now!