This is a collection of experience and incidents such as I can remember some of my misspent youth and thrash through my later years.
The beatings will continue until moral improves.
Southern California is traffic, though famous due to the freeways is myth. Side streets are no different from anywhere else I’ve ridden in the country. Loads wider roads than France though. And unlike most of the US, there are bike lanes. Whether cars stay out of the bike lane is dependent on what’s popular on the phone I as far as I can tell. Not a scientific study, entirely anecdotal data from a single biased observer.
For safety, my first two rules in picking appropriate routes is to avoid high traffic roads and left turns. There are basically three routes inland from here. Two involve pretty busy, higher speed roads and one, up the coast gets me to a higher speed inland road with. a bike lane and wide traffic lanes and only a couple of pinch points. I like right turns over left turns because there. is less exposure and no worry over the light sensing a bicycle. Since I’m of a certain age, my routes include parks where I can find good water fill stations, restrooms and shade. I don’t like depending on fast food shops or 7-11 for water, food, shade and toilets.
I prefer wider bike lane routes with wider traffic lanes. These can be pretty high speed traffic areas, but around here the bike lane/gutter area tends to be clearer. A popular century route runs south along the interstate shoulder. I rode down to Oceanside and back, once and it was not enjoyable at all. The shoulder of the interstate is riddled with garbage and debris and. the traffic lanes are hitting the ton at points, usually the lane next to the the s shoulder is full of large trucks whistling along above 65mph, closer to 80. And generally there is wind. Chopping up a couple hundred dollars in tires and tubes isn’t my idea of a good time. I stay off it now. I was told the Marine base has stopped allowing access by cyclists. I don’t know that for a fact, but it is a pain to get a pass and you have to wear a reflective vest. I’ve ridden it on motorcycle a few years in support of a triathlon where the base wanted to enforce a speed limit on the descent. I understood the logic behind the decision, back then a CYA liability thing. But, a race with a speed limit? Hmm, George Carlin’s “military Intelligence” comes to mind.
So, my routes all begin with the ride to Dana Point Harbor road. Then either inland to the right or take the left that requires pushing the crossing light button and heading into hills real quick. This is a fun route that can get inland a bit less than the right turn at the harbor road. And eventually loop back to the harbor backtracking that right turn.
Riding PCH north of Monarch bay is legal, but congested with tourists, construction and the road goes from four lanes and a bike lane to four lanes, then two lanes and back again. Tourists are all looking for parking and lost. Visitors are just looking for parking and in summer everybody is looking at women walking from parked cars. I’ve ridden it enough on the bicycle to know it isn’t fun, it’s work. And dangerous work at that. But, can be mitigated by riding mid-morning during the winter weeks. Summer there is no down time or lull. Rush hours, morning and evening are not terrible and don’t last long, but weekends year round are a good reason to be elsewhere after 10am.
There are two local canyons, both semi-famous from motorcycle magazines from back in the glory days days. Live Oak and Cook’s Corner is really a short, tight little, dirty bit of road that claims a lot of bodywork and Cook’s is a pirate lick’n stick weekend chopper crew, near mandatory stop. Terrible food, smells like burned grease, stale beer and urine from the road, so how one would think to eat or drink there is beyond me, but then mode of transport may play a role. Live Oak has been a sports car and sport bike run for ages. It is fun, but not on a weekend. CHP usually have at least a handful of cars, SUV’s and a few motor officers on hand. Mid-week in the winter it works to late morning for a relatively quiet bicycle climb that is hard enough to get your attention with a couple of sharp little kickers. One can encounter the odd hero binning his cruiser, car, sport bike here even in a lull.
What is referred to as an “Attractive nuisance” in liability parlance.
Then there is Ortega highway and canyon. I don’t ride that. I’ve ridden it on a motorcycle and that can be treacherous. Weekends are filled with warriors. I’ve lost a few friends there and way too many near misses there to count. Popular with sports bikes, cars and cruisers so traffic is ridicules. During the week it is perpetual construction that in my lifetime has not really ever ended. No shoulder or little and mostly two lane it is no place to be on a bicycle.
Access is at the Sendero Fields park from Antonio. I either go north or south, but mostly north. South is a long hot climb along a shoulder on a 60 mph road which means 80 and it is on the way to a landfill so trash trucks and plenty of crap on the shoulder. This is a shorter route home and there is a good park along the way, but not a relaxing route. Very high traffic even with the bike lanes.
I have adopted riding through the neighborhood then under Antonio to gain Cow Camp and ride the low traffic roads of the new development out east. That has big wide lanes and wide bike lanes along Cow Camp and bike lanes on the long climbs north. This makes a nice low traffic ride to north Antonio and heads to Rancho Santa Margarita. This route affords multiple options for length and climbing. These are all suburban neighborhood rides up here. A bit of light industrial park riding is sprinkled in along with some fancy shopping and big apartment complexes or mixed use piles of people places. Works pretty well.
There are plenty of places where the bike lanes end in stupid places, routing me onto freeways, or ending in narrowed high speed dense traffic lanes. But, mostly I can avoid those once identified.
The most traffic drama with cars and trucks I find is usually where the cars and trucks have multiple options to sitting behind me honking at me in a designated bike lane. Yeah, no idea why people do stupid stuff.
Visibility? I ride with Blinky lights front and rear in daylight. I don’t ride at night and really try to be off the roads by dusk. I wear brighter colors.
And when it’s cold or wet high viz Yellow,
When it is bright out I will wear my mostly black jersey,
I do feel more vulnerable wearing darker colors than bright. I have been surprised by oncoming riders without lights and dressed in drab colors that blend into the background far too well. I’ve seen people standing in the shade of a trees at a corner and not seen them until nearly at the corner. They were dressed in all black in bright daylight. I think in terms of fishing lures. Bright colors that stand out from the background are what I figure works better than colors that blend in. I’m not trying to hide.
So, there is my morning musings for bicycle routing and safety. My favorite 100km ride is up the coast from North Beach to Dana Point Harbor then inland to Sendero Fields Park where I make my first rest stop for water and restroom. Then through the neighborhood to Cow Camp east to the new homes, loop back north along the toll road bike path to Oso where I jog north on Antonio to Rancho Santa Margarita. From there I head west/north along Margarita parkway to Alton Parkway. Alton all the way southwest to Irvine Center Drive which becomes Moulton Parkway and leads back to Aliso Creek trail where I can catch a rest stop and the best water fill station anywhere at Aliso and Woods Canyon visitor center. Then back on Alicia Parkway south where I’d normally take Crown Valley Parkway west to PCH, but of late has been detoured over the very sharp climb at Niguel Road over to PCH. PCH south back to Golden lantern, but I’ve taken to climbing up to the overlook at Dana Point and through. the. lantern district homes to Golden Lantern down to the harbor road. Sometimes I take the right there to grab a photo at the breakwater at the Ocean Observatory then back along some favorite courses of the harbor road to Doheny Beach and south along the Coast highway path to North beach and through the neighborhood home. A few left turns but, not bad even by 3:30pm.
My morning musings regarding how I figure out riding in a busy place, finding relaxing yet challenging places to ride.
Along The Way 