Extreme Biking

Anxious to find a more extreme adventure than October's sprint triathlon, a friend and I decided it would be interesting to bike to La Jolla Cove in San Diego.

75 miles and takes roughly 7 hours by Google Maps directions in bike mode. 

Not to be ditched, MacGyver and his dad and brother volunteered to offer van support while surfing at various spots along the route.  

The trip itself was pretty grueling, but satisfying in a "wow, we're stronger than we thought!" sort of way.  Some highlights--  

• Using a handicapped elevator to cross the metrorail train tracks via subterranean tunnel
• Missing checkpoint 1 at Doheny because of a flooded path detour (Doheny is shaping up to be the bike-camp destination of choice if it is dog friendly)
• Swapping leads with an intense granny bike + camper in a pink windbreaker and a caution triangle
• Fevered attempts to figure out what "the boobs" power plant's real name was (San Onofre) and how far away it was... only to see it on the horizon.  Kids these days and their tech dependency!
• Incredulous use of The 5 freeway shoulder for 2 exits because Camp Pendelton had been closed for... a bike race!  Still going faster than the Northbound traffic. 
• Compliments on my "kevlar" gator tires from a perplexed cyclist on a Felt (who was equally concerned about the weight of my friend's beach cruiser with hot pink milk crate basket)  
• Sherpa'ed off The 5 by a cyclist hippie whose "license plate" said John he also warned us about the coast to coast bike race we were about to enter (and complimented my Brooks saddle).
• Becoming convinced all inhabitants in Oceanside are Barbie + Ken lookalikes based on the jogger foot traffic along the beach.
• Major fog rolling in as we moved through Encinitas looking for an "Indian" looking building... little did we know van support meant dot Indian not headdress Indian.  
• Almost wiping out while lane splitting through traffic at a stop light in Del Mar.
• Cool cross walks that stop traffic in all directions and let pedestrians traverse the center instead of waiting at 2 cross walks.  How enlightened?
• The mega hill in Torrey Pines.  We were passed by what appeared to be a 10 year old on a mountain bike.  I may not have dropped to my first ring during this trip, but in fairness, we did dismount and walk the last quarter mile of this... and it was probably faster than biking with our current gearing.
• Helping MacGyver out of his wetsuit at the end (who knows how long he had been stuck in it)
• The general accuracy of google maps in bike mode for ETA (beyond failure to anticipate 2 trail closures)
• Scoping out a fleet of top shelf bikes and spandex riders who passed us as part of their race.
• Scenic views everywhere-- sunrise, beaches, rolling hills with pretty rock formations, riding stables.
• Mostly awesome smells-- greasy spoon diners cooking bacon, fires in the coastal camp grounds, beachy ocean breezes.  
• Slightly less awesome smells-- exhaust on the 5, hard core horse manure by some of the larger riding stables, sea lions at La Jolla, myself most of the time I'm sure.
• Awesome smokey Monkey's Paw beer and mushroom pasta at Stone Brewery and gardens afterward to celebrate.

Do it again?  Yeah, maybe when I'm in better bike shape.  Might be more fun to try PR'ing on a zippy road or tt bike.  If I had van support, at a minimum pull off my racks to make the whole rig a little lighter weight.