Ride the train and ride the Coast
Taking the Coaster up to Anaheim and then riding my bike back down the coast. This was my second time doing this ride on my own, so it's still a new adventure as I dial in the route getting us through areas like Corona Del Mar and Dana Point. I've done this before with other groups but it's different on your own. This is still somewhat of a Scout Mission, but every time I do this ride the route gets just a little better. So here are the details for the rides that I've done.
763 Pacific Surfliner:
(check the
schedule)
Departs 6:10 AM from Downtown, cost $27.00
Departs 6:45 AM from Solana Beach, cost $19.00
Make sure you bring your ID and a helmet to get through Camp Pendleton
The trip takes about 2 hours from Downtown and gets to Anaheim just around 8:00 am, we will travel with our bikes on the train, get off the train, hit the bathroom and start the ride. From past experience, this is a great ride, not too difficult other than the distance and the rolling hills through Laguna Beach area. This time, I took my Garmin to get a better distance for the ride. From Anaheim to Solana Beach it's just at 80 miles, and if you want to ride all the way back Downtown San Diego, you're looking at 100 miles. Parking is good in both locations, but downtown, Sunday's the meters are free and it's a first come first serve. I personally will be getting on the train from Downtown if anyone else cares to join me. And for anyone in the Anaheim area that would like to ride down the coast and then take the train home, you're more than welcome. We should be rolling out from Anaheim Station around 8:15 AM.
RECAP of the ride
I have to start by saying, if you've only been riding 50-60 miles
a week, it's probably not the best idea to just jump on your bike
and ride 100 miles. With that being said, you can kind of guess the
direction of this ride for me. It started off good, right on
schedule with the train, and was on my bike at 8:16 AM and rolling on
home. As soon as I got on the bike path, I met up with three other
riders so it was a nice casual pace to the coast. Heading South and
meet up with someone else just before Corona Del Mar and he showed me a
much nicer, more scenic, and safer way to get through the town. One
little short steep of maybe 10% grade, but only one block long.
Worth the climb for the view. I think the big difference this time
was the wind was more of a good strong crosswind so not be too aware of
that, I think I spent more energy than I should have for the first 50
miles. As soon as I got to Oceanside at mile 65, I was pretty shot
but still had to get back Downtown. Nutrition was good, but I think
I just didn't have enough miles in the legs to do this. Live and
Learn. As I sat there, all I could think of was how was I going to
get back to San Diego. My average speed to this point was 18.1 mph,
but by the time I was done with the ride, it had dropped to 16.6 mph.
But enough about that and how bad I felt this time, this ride is really getting to be something that I think will turn into something of a good group ride. I know with the train, we're limited to 6 riders MAX, but with my doing Bike Transport, we can have many more. So if you think you'd like to join in, just let us know. We look forward to having more of you show up and enjoy this great trip down the coast.
Hope to see some others out there with me, please RSVP if you think you'll make it so we know to look for you. dplummer@wheelsonwheels.com or call 619-985-1076