Bike Scene in San Diego?

[Dustin]

I have a job interview next week in San Diego, and am wondering if anyone can comment on how good the local biking scene is (both road and MTB). I spent a few days there last year visiting my sister, but don't know the city or the area at all.

Obviously, the weather seems ideal for year-round biking, and I know there are some stunning places you can drive to and then bike, but I'm also curious about how robust the "bike culture" is in terms of people commuting to work, bike lanes and paths in the city, cool bike shops, etc. I'm more of an ibob than a racer boy and split my riding between a Kirk "Montana Road Bike", a fixie, and a Blacksheep monstercrosser.

The job is at the University of San Diego, and if I took it I'd most likely look for housing within 10 miles or so with the hope of commuting to work.

[Kevan]

A pal here loaned me his bike for p'rt near two weeks and I regularly commuted with an office colleague from the Hazard Center (Hotel) area down into downtown. My friend took me on a variety of routes and my report card is as follows:

Traffic: a lot.
Pavement: mostly cement slab and in many places in poor condition
Road Debris: No street sweepers. Never seen one out there. Expect to see nasties aiming for your treads.
Cycle Commuters: Cars win out big time, but the 2-wheeled commandos are out there. You won't be alone, especially with their gas prices.

Your experience might be different, but I didn't find anything casual about the experience. You have to keep your wits about you the whole time. I will say...the weather was very nice.

[Kervin]

I first started riding when I lived in San Diego, but the was pre-SIS. There is a track a few miles from USD near the building on the Eagles "Hotel California" album. Back then I lived in Lemon Grove and rode to the Naval Training Center daily. The weather was great, but I do remember a fair amount of winter rain, so a fendered bike would be cool. That's what I remember.

[sn69]

Mission Valley where you rode? Not so swell. Any of the beach bike paths and a good number of the inland paths? Streets are swept, pavement is good, bike lanes everywhere. Again, it's all in the location.

San Diego is filled with bike riders and is frequently cited as the number two city nation-wide for cycling (behind Portland). Bike lanes abound, and for the most part the drivers know they don't own the road. FWIW, I bike commute a couple days a week (40 miles each way), and the riding is great. Also, there are routes to the north that go through Camp Pendelton. Again, good riding. Mt Palomar? Swtichbacks and full of nutbag 20-sumthins on crotch rockets, but lots of cyclists.

All in all, I think it's a far better cycling town than any other place I've lived, including LA, Houston, St Pete, Pensacola and New Orleans.

A pal here loaned me his bike for p'rt near two weeks and I regularly commuted with an office colleague from the Hazard Center (Hotel) area down into downtown. My friend took me on a variety of routes and my report card is as follows:

Traffic: a lot.
Pavement: mostly cement slab and in many places in poor condition
Road Debris: No street sweepers. Never seen one out there. Expect to see nasties aiming for your treads.
Cycle Commuters: Cars win out big time, but the 2-wheeled commandos are out there. You won't be alone, especially with their gas prices.

Your experience might be different, but I didn't find anything casual about the experience. You have to keep your wits about you the whole time. I will say...the weather was very nice.

[MarcusPless]

I've been bike commuting in San Diego for years. Currently I live just south of Mission Valley and work at UCSD in La Jolla; it's about 15 miles each way. San Diego is certainly a good place to be a bike commuter, weather-wise, but if you do much road riding you're just going to have to get comfortable with high speed traffic. Due to the geography many parts of San Diego are separated by canyons, so depending on where you're going you may not have any choice but to ride on a surface street with 50+ MPH traffic, ie, there may not be a side street that goes through. It doesn't bother me, but it does put some people off.

They do run street sweepers, but they never seem to get the finely ground bits of glass picked up. Some of the road surfaces are decent and some are really bad; it just depends on where you're riding. Another option to consider is the trolley. The Linda Vista trolley stop is fairly close to USD. You might still want to ride from the trolley to USD; it would still be a bit of a hike.

Good luck!

[uno-speedo]

We have a huge cycling community here. With the warm weather brings an abundance of tri-athletes and cyclists. There are plenty of good road rides. Slow and fast, short and long. A lot of people ride the train north to LA and cycle down HWY 101 along the coast. A good 100 mile +.

For mountain biking the scene is a little different. Too many new houses taking up land for decent local trails. To get a good ride in you have to head about an hour east of downtown to the Laguna mountains or head north to the LA / Orange county area. That said there are some ok-ish trails to ride close by for a quick fix.

USD is on a nice little hill :cool:

I've lived here car free for about 12 months total on and off and have survived by cycling everywhere. You can map together bike lanes.

Helpful link for mtn biking:

http://www.mountainbikebill.com/index.htm

[chuckred]

I'm going through the humbling experience of house hunting out here as well... so far, other than the weather, I'm a bit discouraged about re-locating to CA - after leaving here in '74 and vowing never to move back, I may be eating my words. There do seem to be good bike lanes, probably good routes. But, housing is $$$ even with the soft market.

My impression is there is an excellent road riding scene, but it's just a different kind of riding than I'm used to, so I'm withholding judgement and trusting those who live here and say it's great!

As with anywhere, there are tradeoffs! The ocean and the weather are certainly worth $$$!