Genaro

Meeting my wife for lunch at the Spectrum on Sunday after my ride from Fontana to Huntington Beach. Anyone care to share a good route that will get me there from anywhere on the SART ?

haaseg

Anywhere on the SART? That could add 30 to 40 miles to the trip!

Closer to the 405: Take Sunflower to Main and then pick up Peter's Canyon from Main - then take the San Diego Creek Trail all the way to the end - a few blocks from the Spectrum.

Closer to the 91: Take Balll -> Taft -> Cannon -> E. Santiago -> Jamboree -> Portola -> Peter's Canyon Trail -> San Diego Creek Trail.

On the second route, you could also take Cannon and Chapman if you want some really hard climbs.

Of course a 3rd, longer, more difficult option would be to go Cannon -> Chapman -> Sandiago Canyon -> El Toro -> Portola -> Bake Pkwy -> Irvine Blvd -> Alton.

And then of course there's always the PCH option. You could come up Newport Backbay to Peters Canyon and San Diego Creek Trail. Or come up Newport Coast and through Shady Canyon. Or come up through Laguna Canyon.

The OC Gran Fondo 64 mile course ( https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51739354 ) runs along the SART for a spell and also passes within a few blocks of the Spectrum if you want more ideas.

Schwerelos

I would get off the SART at Sunflower (there is a side path of the North side of the 405 freeway bridge on the other side from the little park). Sunflower ends at Main, go right. Main to the Yale Loop, go right. Yale Loop to Alton, go right. Take Alton all the way to Irvine Center and voila.

Sunflower does take you next to South Coast Plaza for a block and I've only done this section before noon, so I don't know if that will be a turn off for you. I've never had an issue with that section but it can get busy and, while the lane is wide, there is no bike lane.

Genaro

Thanks a ton guys. Right now the PCH option and the Sunflower options sound good.
I'd like to make it about 100 miles. It's approximately 30 miles to the sart, 29 miles to PCH. That gives me 40 miles to play with. Iv'e never ridden Newport backbay or San Diego Creek Trail.

haaseg

If you have never ridden Newport Backbay then I would highly recommend you do this (I ride it like 3x a week). It's beautiful, and coming up you will have a nice stiff breeze at your back, and there are no lights and very little traffic. Also, you can pretty much stay off of the streets all the way from where BackBay starts to the Spectrum and that means there are no lights or stop signs.

Genaro

Thanks.. How many miles from PCH to spectrum ?

haaseg

https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54345236

Just over 18 miles.

[edit] That's 18 from PCH and the SART. It's more like 14 from where you get off of PCH in newport. [/edit]

haaseg

If you want to stretch it out and get some good climbing and some other views in, I can send you up San Jaoquin Hills Rd. and through Shady Canyon as well...

idoru2005

All the routes in post #2 are good. The Sunflower/Main route is the shortest and most direct. PCH to Spectrum mapped out in post #7 is probably the most scenic, but you need to be really careful passing through Newport Beach, particularly around mile 2 where PCH crosses under a bridge.

idoru2005

I ride this section almost every weekday (twice a day, since its a part of my bikemute). This area is the most problematic part of my ride. There's no bike lane, and cars are coming and going to the mall. I've had numerous close calls (both right hooks and left hooks). I've been buzzed so many times I've lost count. The drivers in Costa Mesa/Santa Ana are ignorant about sharing the road with road bikes.

Going towards Irvine through this section: You MUST bike this section assertively and acting like a real vehicle, meaning - take the lane when passing through the Bristol/Sunflower intersection. My preference is to ride the leftmost tire-track in the left-most "right/thru" lane (there are two right turn lanes onto Bristol). This puts you in the correct position to take the lane as you exit the intersection, and gives you a good view of cars that might potentially hit you. Even though I only ride through here on weekdays, I believe traffic during the weekends are heavier due to more mall traffic. So please stay vigilant.

haaseg

A derivation on the route from post #7 with a climb up San Jaoquin. Add 4 miles and close to 1000 feet

https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54347744/

idoru2005

Greg, that is a truly epic way for Genaro to end his century!!

haaseg

Err... well, it'd be about 15 miles short actually. Maybe we should send him back from Vista Drive down Newport Coast to PCH and then up Laguna Canyon -> El Toro -> Portola -> Bake -> Irvine Blvd -> Alton....

Thought oughta stretch it out a bit...

idoru2005

No, I wouldn't recommend it. Too crowded down in Laguna Beach on a Sunday afternoon.

haaseg

Agreed - although it's mid-October now and won't be near as hectic as mid-summer. When doing Laguna, the best thing to do is to go in the opposite direction - come down Laguna Canyon from Alton and then take Cliff Rd at the bottom so you bypass the main beach intersection there. This is the "inside" loop, so you don't have to cross any streets.

Another way to add miles would be to take San Diego Creek the opposite way to Harvard, take Peters Canyon all the way to Portola, take Portola to Hicks Canyon back down Peters Canyon and then take the Walnut trail to Sand Canyon and get to the spectrum from there. You'd hit just about every MUP in Irivine that way

[Edit]I was just curious what that mileage would be and it's just over 40: https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54357652/ [/Edit]

haaseg

I'd offer to join you and take you for a tour Genaro but I have an early flight to catch Sunday.

Genaro

I think I'll do this route. Tonight I'll go in and find out what my mielege is and I can always gain mielege by going back North on Sart and back to PCH.

haaseg

You could take the boardwalk along Huntington beach clear up to Long beach and back as well. PCH is a little busy there but I've ridden it on Saturday afternoons and truly all the other bicycle traffic in the bike lane is more troublesome than the car traffic in that area.

Genaro

Thanks guys. I'm off on my adventure!