A while back, somebody here was nice enough to post the basic bike-friendly directions from the San Diego beach towns up into Orange County. I searched but couldn’t find the post.
Can anybody point me to or describe the best way to get from Encinitas to Irvine coast?
Thanks!
I’m not sure it’s possible anymore because the roads through Camp Pendleton are closed to the public. You used to be able to access San Onofre from CP, and I know of no other routes around or through CP.
It is do-able.
Here is the post you need.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=75442;search_string=search_string;guest=2027459#75442
My directions end in Dana Point - just take PCH north thru Dana Point, Monarch Beach, Laguna Beach towards Corona Del Mar. Turn right onto Newport Coast Drive (if you hit Corona Del Mar you have gone too far). Newport Coast Drive is a pretty good hill (1± mile long.). Take this road up the hill over the top and down the other side. Turn right when Newport Coast Drive ends (at a T intersection). I am pretty sure this is either Culver or University. This will take you into the heart of Irvine.
Be careful riding thru Laguna Beach - crazy drivers.
Have fun
It is do-able.
Here is the post you need.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=75442;search_string=search_string;guest=2027459#75442
My directions end in Dana Point - just take PCH north thru Dana Point, Monarch Beach, Laguna Beach towards Corona Del Mar. Turn right onto Newport Coast Drive (if you hit Corona Del Mar you have gone too far). Newport Coast Drive is a pretty good hill (1± mile long.). Take this road up the hill over the top and down the other side. Turn right when Newport Coast Drive ends (at a T intersection). I am pretty sure this is either Culver or University. This will take you into the heart of Irvine.
Be careful riding thru Laguna Beach - crazy drivers.
Have fun
That’s the one I was looking for! Thanks a bunch.
If you want to do it the other way, where do you turn off El Camino Real?
(I always gave up in San Clemente)
Thanks!
Pardon my ignorance but where do you jump onto the 5 heading north? Tak ethe PCH north to whatever that last exit is ( where the 76 starts?) and head up the on ramp? Just asking so I don’t get myself killed =)
Pardon my ignorance but where do you jump onto the 5 heading north? Tak ethe PCH north to whatever that last exit is ( where the 76 starts?) and head up the on ramp? Just asking so I don’t get myself killed =)
I was figgering on riding PCH to the north end of Oceanside and getting on I5 via the ramp uphill from the harbor.
that’s what I was thinking but I want to be sure before I try it =)
.
that’s the correct ramp. You go as if you are heading to the main gate at Camp Pendleton, then make the left hand turn onto the ramp at the light about 300 yards in front of the gate.
I have done the ride in reverse a couple of times, taking the train up to Anahiem then riding back and it is a good ride. I haven’t done it enough to remember the way though for the first 30 miles or so. I just remember that we got off the train in the parking lot of the baseball stadium and rode along the canals for a while, then surface streets, around back bay in Newport then finally onto coast highway just north of San Clemente.
"If you want to do it the other way, where do you turn off El Camino Real?
(I always gave up in San Clemente) "
Going South - If you gave up in San Clemente you missed the best part.
Go south on El Camino Real (PCH) thru San Clemente til you can’t go anymore. When this road ends you can go left to the back of Camp Pendleton or right back over the fwy. After you go over the fwy there is a sidewalk going parallel to the south 5 going down to Trestles Beach. Follow the surfers down this paved hill, but be careful, the surfers with their boards will swing at will! After this just follow the road south. You will go past the San Onofre power plant and into the San Onofre camp ground. This road goes down to the Las Pulgas freeway entrance. This is where you would jump onto the 5 fwy for 7-8 miles to get to oceanside.
From San Clemente to this point is great head down riding - very few cars - flat and fast! It is part of the Ralphs CA 1/2 IM race course.
Have fun!
Find a friend that’s in the military (active or reserve) and you can ride on base as long as your escorted by them. The Camp Pendleton Tri Team rides up to San Clemente from Carlsbad on most Saturday rides and you can always go along with this group.
How many near death experiences have you had on the 5 portion of this ride?
Thanks a bunch. Going to try it for a long leisurely base ride later this fall (I need the miles).
But Laguna Hills really scares me. Got knocked into a parked vehicle there when being “nudged” by a passing car. Luckily I had liability insurance, since they never caught the guy (Thanks to the miniature license plates around here).
Having to choose between cars and “swinging” surfers I take the surfers any time…
I’ve ridden the I5 shoulder through there a number of times and it’s loud, but surely safer than, say, riding on PCH. The shoulder is relatively smooth. There is debris from time to time but the shoulder is quite wide so you do have some room to maneuver. The cars are going fast enough that they don’t want to lose control or crash into anything (bike or otherwise) lest they injure their own fine selves. It makes for some good time trial practice. Cars pulled off on the shoulder can be problematic (in that you might need to slow down to safely get around them on one side or the other). One note - I was driving south today and it appears the rest area on the southbound side is being resurfaced - the offramp is completely torn up. Normally, you must exit and reenter at the rest areas in both directions (you can’t/don’t want to be crossing those off and on ramps), but it would be a very rough ride at the southbound rest area at this time, and I’m not even sure the shoulder is intact through there. Speaking of the rest areas, that’s probably the sketchiest part of the whole mission - cars aren’t necessarily expecting to see you in there, so you need to be a little careful as you pass through the parking areas. Sort of like riding through downtown Encinitas.
I’d agree w/ the other posters…I’ve ridden I-5 (both north and south) several times and no incidents to speak of (other than loud trucks).
I’ve ridden on Coast Hwy in Sandy Eggo a bunch of times and can 100% say that I-5 seems safer to me. The I-5 “bike lane” (shoulder) is at least 5 feet wide from Pendleton to Las Pulgas Rd.
Good luck!