Dolly's Bike Blog

Musings about fun between my legs

Laguna Beach to Oceanside 10/24/17

I rode away from Jan & Ken’s home this morning, meeting everyone in Laguna Beach for breakfast, before continuing south.

Started first along CA 1 and quickly decided too much traffic and no bike lane.  So I followed the alternate route which had some climbing but very little traffic.  Once in South Laguna, I could ride CA 1 and continued doing so until Dana Point.

The  cues took me through the village downtown, and I wandered to the beach, Doheny Beach of Beach Boys fame.

Transitioning to a bike path along the coast, using state beach parking lots, was an easy route – and during the week virtually no traffic.  In San Clemente, the alternate route kept me off CA 1 wandering through residential neighborhoods.  I took a “detour” down to the beach, then had to climb back up the bluffs to reconnect with the alternate route and ultimately CA 1.

Next bike path was into San Onofre State Park, where I noted signs for Camp Pendleton Beach Access.  The route seemed different than the one on the Adventure Cycling map, so I continued through the parking lots heading south, past the nuclear facility.  At a rest area I met a fellow cyclist who recommended riding on the interstate shoulder, rather than through the Camp.

Decided that was indeed a good idea when the separation toward Camp Pendleton was blocked by tanks.  First I had to get my bike over a locked fence, but a nice man in the Vista Point area helped me, both the bike and my climbing over the fence.  I rode the shoulder of the interstate for 9 miles, great surface, cooling ocean breezes, and a tailwind (the 4 lanes of traffic were noisy but not bothersome)!  I met Don in Oceanside around 12:30 pm, about 40 miles, and the temperature was at least 90 degrees!  We had lunch in San Juan Capistrano and toured the mission, before returning to Laguna Beach and an afternoon ocean swim.

Garmin:  38.57 miles, 11.52 mph, 1761.8 ascent.

Relive:  https://www.relive.cc/view/1245200773

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