I used to train out there a lot back in the day, some good rural roads close by to get in some long rides, and lots of trails for running. You say swimming not a problem, I dont remember any swimming out there at all. Perhaps they have built a pool, but otherwise you will be driving to Carlsbad for proper swim training. Probably some in Escondido too, not sure what there programs are these days either.

It has been built up a lot from when I used to ride there, so probably a lot more traffic to get out of town, but not far from those really classic and tough rides. The famous DeLuz ride was a favorite 100 miler for us back in the day, imagine it is still mostly rural, and tough...

temecula is great for riding, especially during the time you're going. you can ride good rides in 3 directions. ping me when you get closer and i'll clue you in. floyd landis - regardless of whatever else you think of him - specifically chose temecula because of its road cycling, back in the day.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I second on lack of swimming in the area, good running and biking

Think there are two good pools available: One is the REC Center, where is also a masters training group in the morning and the other would be LA Fitness in Menifee (about 20min drive).

Do you know these pools?

Thank you showman!

My friends live in the south end of the city. Is this a good point to start running and cycling?

i might BE a showman, but i'm slowman according to this forum ;-)

go to ridewithgps and to the route planner. click global heatmaps and you'll see where people are riding.

- to the northeast, toward and through sage.
- south, through rainbow and then rice canyon, couser canyon, lilac.
- west, up to the santa rosa plateau and for a real treat see if you can find the road that goes from there over to the top of ortega highway. make a loop out of that back through elsinore. (you'll ride 25 or 30 miles and never see 1 car on that 1-lane paved road that nobody knows is there except a few cyclists. it's variously called cleveland forest road and south main divide road. i was up there maybe 25 years ago and happened on it and just kept riding and riding and waiting for that little 1 paved lane to poop out and turn to dirt and it never did. it's also good as an out and back, if you just don't want to ever see a car (unless it's been improved/discovered since i used to ride it).
- southwest into de luz canyon. i used to wear out de luz canyon. you ride up rancho california rd., get yourself into de luz canyon, many ways to go when you're in there, exit back out at fallbrook, then over to rainbow and back to temecula.

the only problem with temecula and de luz canyon is it gets hot. but you're not going there during the heat months. you should have a great time.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

>>- west, up to the santa rosa plateau and for a real treat see if you can find the road that goes from there over to the top of ortega highway. make a loop out of that back through elsinore. (you'll ride 25 or 30 miles and never see 1 car on that 1-lane paved road that nobody knows is there except a few cyclists. it's variously called cleveland forest road and south main divide road. i was up there maybe 25 years ago and happened on it and just kept riding and riding and waiting for that little 1 paved lane to poop out and turn to dirt and it never did. it's also good as an out and back, if you just don't want to ever see a car (unless it's been improved/discovered since i used to ride it). >>

boy that brings back memories! Here is a link to a map of that ride-https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44889867
when you turn off Ortega Hwy make sure your bottles are full, there are no water stops until you exit S Main Divide back into civilization, used to be a hand pumped well that always kicked out cold water on your right.
The Deluz loop is also a classic north county ride and mapped from Temecula -https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44889911 This is just the loop but if you take any of the roads that cross the loop be prepared for some 18% grades.
About 20+ years ago Slowman wrote an article in here about riding in Deluz and how it can get "Africa hot" there and hills so steep that they have concrete poop on them from the concrete trucks trying to go up them and spilling concrete in the road.

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

One thing about Temecula is that they are marketing themselves as a wine country, so you will have a sizeable number of drunks driving around on the weekend. I'd do my long riding during the week.
In terms of riding routes, you can potentially go all the way up to Big Bear if you want to do lots of climbing. By April it should be snow free.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Hi Chris,
I live in Temecula and do a lot of training. Will likely be training for Oceanside. Lake Perris is a great place for an open water swim/run or bike and isn’t too far. Wine country riding or heading south towards fallbrook will provide you with lots of hills. For flatter rides routing to Tom’s farm is a popular route. Old Town Bicycles is a great place to get your bike tuned if you need that while in town.
The only thing that is less than optimal is the pool situation. I would honestly consider joining LA Fitness (I do a fit and active membership through AAA) to have better swim hour options without reservations.