Escondido

Today I rode from Pasadena to Escondido, 142 miles, averaging 19.5 mph— faster than my typical pace. My route was very flat— no climbs over 1/2-mile, and nothing steep. The majority was pancake flat. The weather was much cooler and cloudier than it has been the past few weeks, still humid, though, and I had a slight tailwind for most of my ride. There were lots of cyclists out today. I saw way more cyclists headed the other way (North) than the way I was headed (South).

I added the Back Bay loop— one of my favorite places to ride in Orange County. There’s a great bike path, it’s scenic, and only one car (I believe cars are prohibited but I’ve seen them all three times I’ve ridden this loop). Back Bay typically has lots of dogwalkers, kids on bikes, and e-bikes, all of which have the capacity to be annoying, but not today. I remembered when Brook and I rode this loop as part of the Beach City Double Century a few years ago, and his taillight lost power. I loaned him one of mine, and he put it in his jersey pocket. You could still see it blinking through his jersey, but since no one does that, it looked funny.

I was a little anxious about riding on the I-5 freeway, but it was fine. I was faster than the motor vehicle traffic alongside me, and the shoulder was recently swept, so it was almost completely free of debris. All cyclists  are supposed to exit into the rest area, then renter so they don’t have to cross over merging car and truck traffic who are getting up to speed, but the exit was all jammed up with traffic, so I just kept going—no issue merging and merging back onto the shoulder.

Once I arrived in Oceanside I turned inland and air temps warmed up to 80 or 85. I rode on some unfamiliar roads (Santa Fe, Mission) and a weird “Inland Bike Path” that I should’ve avoided, because it criss crosses some railroad tracks quite a few times. Now I know.

The ride took me 8 hours total time, I stopped three times to refill and once for a nature break. My legs felt excellent. Today would’ve been a great day for a Double Century.