not sure if you'll have access to a car which would come in really handy. if you do have access to a car,
my recomendation for a centralized training location is escondido, ca-about a 30 min drive north of downtown san diego.
unfortunately, i don't have any lodging or bike rental pointers for the area but it's large enough that there should be
more than a few options for both.
escondido is approx 15 miles inland with the coast highway being the better part of (or slightly more than ) an hour's ride to reach to the west.
to the south lies the rancho santa fe, rancho bernardo and poway areas which are mostly shortish climbs interspersed with an occasional flat.
to the north, the roads like lilac rd, courser canyon rd, rice canyon rd, cole grade, lake wolford rd and de luz rd beckon. better scenery, low traffic
and some challenging ascents/descents. the (in)famous palomar mtn is close enough to taunt you, with its' south grade rd packed with switchbacks and pain.
its' east grade rd is more sweeping and scenic and still challenging but not as demanding. any route incorporating one of more of these roads will be
at least a 30 mile ride with a combination of a certain several being a century ride.
to the east, there are two low mountain towns-santa ysabel and julian-that are worthy bases to explore from. santa ysabel/julian are a 25/30 min drive from escondido.
from either, you can ride the rolling and quiet mesa grande area and add the east grade rd ascent of palomar mtn and back. or drop down into the anza-borrego desert
state park and conquer montezuma grade or banner grade on the way back.
you can also head south from julian and hit cuyamaca rancho state park and/or the laguna mtns for rollers/climbs/decents.
nearly any ride from either santa ysabel or julian in any direction will be challenging and scenic. some support but not a ton so planning is key. this is where it comes in handy
to have a car as the to/from riding from escondido would add 40-50 miles.
i would recommend staying in julian for the riding but the support is not as good and the weather is not as predictable as in escondido. if the weather is not super favorable while
you're here, you should be able to roll out the door and tough it out heading north, west or south from escondido. from julian at 4,000 ft elevation, could be gorgeous or could be too
windy/cold to ride/enjoy/train properly. daily highs/lows in fahrenheit then could range from 75/58 degrees to 48/32 degrees. if in julian, drop it about 8 fahrenheit degrees on both the highs/lows.
all this said, my fave area to ride in san diego county is the north/south california highway 79 corridor which incorporates (within 15 miles on either side of hwy 79) cuyamaca rancho state park, the laguna mountains, julian, santa ysabel, anza-borrego state park (california's largest state park), mesa grande and palomar mountain. challenging. scenic. easy to construct a 30-mile or a 115 mile one
or something in between. can do the low desert and 6,000 ft. mountains in the same ride.
and as much as i love the desert, i don't feel there are enough roads in the san diego county portion to make it an exclusive destination for an entire week. a complete or portion of a day or two or three...definitely.
