Escondido, CA

[sspielman]

I will have occasion to be in Escondido late next month. Any leads or advice on good bike rides/routes in the area would be appreciated...as well as info on any great bike shops....any "must do" big climbs? Thanks in advance

[Lanternrouge]

Mount Palomar is the big climb there and Wohlford (sp?) is another good one. I've never done Palomar, but on the Wohlford ride, I've used every gear on a 12-27 cassette. Ranchos is the Escondido-based club, http://www.ranchoscycling.org. Swami's rides are based out of Carlsbad/Encinitas, so you would have to ride a little to join us. I haven't ridden with the Ranchos folks, so I don't know what their rides are like. If you want routes with lots of pain in store, contact George at Nytro for all the masochist's routes.

[Dan Le foot]

http://northcountycycleclub.com/

Check us out here. Join us on one of the three Saturday morning rides.
Our ride leader has about a million routes including directions, maps and elevation gains.
You must do Couser and Rice Canyons while you're here.
From Escondido its about 45-50 miles with 3500' of climbing.
Dan

[Lanternrouge]

http://northcountycycleclub.com/

Check us out here. Join us on one of the three Saturday morning rides.
Our ride leader has about a million routes including directions, maps and elevation gains.
You must do Couser and Rice Canyons while you're here.
From Escondido its about 45-50 miles with 3500' of climbing.
Dan

Good recommendation and the routes they have planned are some really nice rides. :banana:

[Dan Le foot]

Here is a map of the Rice/Couser ride from Escondido.
Best ride in the area I think.
Dan
http://www.fullcommitment.com/Nav.aspx/Page=/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID=1356173

[dave thompson]

As others have said, Escondido and the surrounding area are replete with great rides of all challenges. The Mt Palomar ride I think is the toughest of all, particularly this time of year. The whole area is fantastic just to ride in; all kinds of topography, urban or very rural or wild, rugged scenery.

Dang, this makes me nostalgic for my old days there.