bradwagon

Staying in Del Mar and looking to do a big day out to Palomar and back.

Currently thinking:

Via de la Valle / Del Dios Hwy out of Del Mar
Should I avoid Via de la Valle at the expense of extra mileage over to San Dieguito?

Via Rancho / Bear Valley around Escondido
Is downtown Escondio bad enough and this route nice enough to warrant the mileage?

Lake Walhford / Valley Center to Rincon

Climb Palomar and descend E Grade to 76
Weather... will Palomar be significantly colder up top this time of year? Planning on a vest, maybe arm warmers too for the descent?

Maybe do Mesa Grande or just 79 to Julian/Old Julian
Mesa Grande would be a pretty small Elevation Blip considering, should 79 be avoided?

Hwy 67 from Ramona back towards Poway
Kind of a necessary Evil here...

Scripps Poway to the 56 Bike Path back to Del Mar
SP looks like a better shoulder but busy is Poway Rd not as busy as I imagine and a better option?

Currently I'm at 125-130 miles depending on route specifics and plan on doing this Monday 3/19, getting a pretty early start and stopping every 30-40 miles as needed. Last spring I did 120miles in the Arizona Desert in 95degree heat and nearly cooked. Figure the mid 60's in the forecast should be ideal for a big day... I am being a lunatic? Anyway want to join?... I'm planning on this taking 8 maybe 9 hours not including stops given the 11k+ feet of elevation.

TrojanHorse

I'm sure some of the more local locals will pipe up like @jsigone but until then, feel free to peruse the routes in this thread here: https://www.bikeforums.net/southern-...epository.html

Lots of ideas for that particular area in that thread.

jsigone

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27030097

Do able route, I'd start sunrise and finish whenever. At a decent clip, it will take 2.5-3hours moving time to get to base of Palomar (Taco shop when you turn on 76). Re-fiill at the 711 next to Harrahs before getting there. There is also a store next to the taco shop. From there the Pros take 50-55 mins to the top, I'm a 90min guy on a great day. At the stop sign make a left and 50ft there is another store there. East grade had a up rise about 1/4 way down, this side isn't as steep as south but the 2nd half is torn up so line section is key. Mesa Grande is a NICE road, make a right on the 79 and 1mile is Julian Apple Pie, stop and get a treat but don't over eat. You will have head wind ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BEACH 50 some miles. Follow 78 for about 6 miles and make a left on Old Julian HWY, two lane road with bit less traffic compared to the 78 until you get to Ramona, especailly on the weekend with lots of motorhomes on the 78. There is a Dunkin Donuts in the ctr of town on Main St. Stop there for a coke, coffee and Baskin Robins if you dare. Follow Main Street a bit more but DO make a right on Highland Valley Road. At 99% all cost, do not ride your bike on the 67 past there to Scripps. Skinny roads at high speeds, trucks are often in the shoulder cuz they are speeding, Lots of accidents on this section of 67. Stick to Highland Valley, nice road with some punchy climbs after you already have 10k ft of climbing in. Cut thru Rancho Bernardo back to Del Mar.

diphthong

a couple of things...

your route up to and ascending palomar mountain is doable and good. if it falls on a weekend or national holiday,
expect plenty of fellow wheels of the motorized and noisy variety alongside you up the south grade of palomar.
weekdays are pretty chill tho.

mesa grande is one of the premier roads in san diego country. and i actually prefer the riding it north to south/southeast direction. that north end, tho, has a very stiff, one mile + grade that will def test your legs post palomar. that said, the 79 heading north to south from lake henshaw to santa ysabel is a definite crusher. never
steep but even with a smallish shoulder, seemingly never ending and with plenty of fast traffic alongside.
my choice? hit mesa grande with the harsh grade and enjoy the solitude and almost zero traffic.

previous poster recommends highland valley (to avoid some of highway 67) which is a fun road with some ups and downs wiggles and giggles. deposits you in rancho bernardo which complicates your route finding a little. haven't personally had any problems riding highway 67 (speed limit mostly 55 mph) and the shoulder is generally wide in many places with good sightlines. route finding using highway 67 to scripps-poway parkway to the 56 freeway bikepath/corridor back to del mar is a little easier, arguably as safe and arguably as scenic. highland valley rd is much lower traffic, narrower, lower speeds, minimized sightlines and a few more connecting roads to the 56 fwy bikepath. it's a personal choice at the end of a long day in the saddle. 67 to scripps-poway parkway will have more support once into poway. highland valley no support until the 15 freeway corridor. poway road is also along the hwy 67 corridor and is a fast descent into poway with plenty of support at the bottom of the descent but has less shoulder and plenty of traffic. would rather take scripps poway parkway vs poway rd to descend into poway and continue to the 15 fwy corridor and then to the 56 fwy corridor because of the road quality and width of shoulder/bike lane to the 15 freeway between the two options.

jsigone and i may not agree on riding hwy 67 vs highland valley rd at the (near) end of a long day but i think we'll both agree on not to descent highway 78 into the escondido area on this particular route.

and yah, i would take via de la valle as it climbs/turns into del dios highway vs san dieguito. slightly both more scenic and direct to palomar. traffic and shoulder roughly comparable.

bear valley to lake wohlford rd bypasses dtown esco(ndido) but palomar and mesa grande rd are the jewels on this particular ride. dtown escondido has a few charms but not nearly enuff to route you through it. lake wohlford rd recently had some construction along its last 1.5 mile or so southern end and may be ongoing/continuing when you ride. climb up it from escondido is about 2 miles. toughest at the start but never super-steep and has a challenging/consistent grade to test the legs to the lake. afterwards, the road undulates for a few miles till the junction with woods valley rd, then it flattens out to the junction with valley center rd.

Gallo

Thats a big ride

Via de la Valle can be busy but the route I would take. San Deiguito dumps you into Via del Valle to go over at Hodges. The route through Ranch Bernardo is more Urban and less bike friendly in my opinion

Escondido is not worth a side trip

The rest of the route looks fine to Palomar

That route as a there and back seems like enough to me

If you want to add Mesa Grande the 79 is no worry. The 78 into Ramona is a different story. Normally I would suggest Black Canyon from Mesa Grande which is a dirt fire road and a route used on the Dirty Double but with recent rains I would not suggest that route this weekend What Jsigone suggest is best

Or you could double back after Mesa Grande and climb south grade if you are a true glutton and double back

If you add Mesa Grande and go into Ramona I would suggest going south on 10th which turns into San Vicente and then west on Warnock which turns into Ramona Rd to Dye Road North to get off the Main St. Dye Road goes into Main St and if you go straight you are on Highland Valley Rd left is to the 67 and Scripps Poway Main St Ramona traffic is always bad and there are storm drains it seems like every 10 feet that are in the middle of the bike lane. I dont like it myself and work around it

Poway Road is not an option really and the most dangerous road on every level going west

I differ from jsigone on the highland valley down.

I ride the 67 from Ramona to Scripps Poway Parkway and think its fine. Highland Valley is more fun but I am not sure that is actually safer. I have had close calls on that road with sport driver types myself. I prefer to climb Highland Valley and descend to Scripps Poway Parkway on a route that I ride on occasion. I agree the shoulder is small on the 67 and traffic whizzes by but descending the 67 it is quick Scripps Poway Parkway has a wide shoulder and is a good road. You add three climbs by doing so and more elevation than going Highland Valley

Where Scripps Poway Parkway meets Black Mountain Road there is a mean little climb to get to the 56 bike path. An alternate route from there would be to stay on Black Mountain Road ride it until it tees into Carmel Valley Rd and head west and the North on Camino del Sur and west to San Dieguetio Rd to Via Del Valle

Good luck

bradwagon

Thanks for intel all!

I am comfortable riding around traffic when needed so in light of just getting home towards the end of the ride I will likely go 67 to Scripps Poway. I am doing this Monday so maybe that means the rural stuff is calmer but the hwy's a bit busier in the afternoon... win some, lose some. Sounds like I'll be drooling my way to some Pie after the bulk of the big stuff is done and a headwind looming.

MikeEckhaus

What's a good route to do Palomar but have the total ride be maybe 50 miles or so? Thinking of Tues or Wed this week coming up.

diphthong

^figure 8 ride starting either near harrah's casino or the santa ysabel julian pie shop. incorporate hwys 76 and 79 along with mesa grande road and the south and east grades of palomar mtn. challenging no matter which way. personally? i'd start/finish at the santa ysabel julian pie shop, ascend hwy 79, left on hwy 76, right on south grade rd (sd county s6) and a right at the intersection/summit to (mostly) descend s7 east grade back to hwy 76. left on 76. right on mesa grande rd (steep 1.5 mile start). right on hwy 79 back to the pie shop in santa ysabel. because well pie(s).

MikeEckhaus

That looks like a fun route. Does that get all the way to the top of Palomar? What is the approx total elevation gain?

Never mind, I mapped it out. Looks like about 5500 feet. Perfect weekday ride. Thanks.

diphthong

does not get all the way to the top of palomar but i find the stretch from mothers/s6/s7 junction to the observatory and back boring. maybe it's just me. i get 55-56 miles that route.

Gallo

no doubt that you feel done at mothers but i think you have to loop the observatory at least once just to say you did

diphthong

once is enuff. can't wait to descend either east or south grade once up to the junction/mother's.
to the observatory and back is only filled with regret...like that extra slice/piece/glass of *insert bad choice here*
at thanxgiving. usually all about the top of the pops but it's so anticlimactic that it's not worth the time. view is better from east grade.
there are some nice ferns at/near the observatory so there's that. palomar mtn is the wettest spot in sd county.

diphthong

so did this ride happen? i was feeling frisky and contemplating a south county climbfest until the tacos el gordo lunch settled.
opted to do 45 vs 70 miles today. it was pretty nice from mission valley west to the bay south to the border east to spring valley tho.

McBTC

Via de la Valle to Pomerado Rd, through Poway, up to Ramona (old Julian Hwy) and on to Julian (via the backdoor up Wynola Rd) and back is a good ride.

MikeEckhaus

Today I did the figure 8 loop that oogabooga suggested. Fantastic route, thanks for the suggestion. And there was pie at the end. The 10 percent fun for the first mile and a half of Mesa Grande was tough after already climbing Palomar, but a tom turkey kept us company for a few hundred yards, so that was fun. Also saw an eagle in one of the cow pastures along Mesa Grande. He flew off before I could get my phone out. Either a young bald eagle not yet white on his head or maybe a golden eagle? Really friggin' big bird either way.

Love to hear if bradwagon made the ride, especially since I didn't a partial hijack of the thread. Sorry, but at least it was on topic.

diphthong

awesome. glad you hit it. windy? it was fairly nice near the lagunas today. palomar does have some bald eagles near the barker valley part of palomar mtn but i've only seen them once in 30 years. the occasional golden eagle is only slightly more seen but always a wtf massive raptor.

jsigone

I’ve seen baldy eagles down in the bottom and middle of black canyon dirt road. Never seen one at the top along Mesa grande. But yes very big birds and tripped out the first time I saw one there. Sounds like you had a solid pie ride

MikeEckhaus

Not very windy at all. Slight headwind on the way out became a nice tailwind on the way back.

diphthong

april and october (and occasionally first two weeks of november) fave times of the year to do this ride. april has
the postcard greenery but cooler temps and october has both less humidity and wind. apples or oranges. both!

bradwagon

Did the big Del Mar round trip on Monday 3/19

Quick Recap:
127 Miles
11k feet
7hr 40mins ride time

Climb up Del Dios was nice, left Del Mar about 7:30 so nice and cool still.
Via Rancho/Bear Valley was fine, effective detour around the city.
Lake Wohlford was much steeper than I anticipated but pretty low traffic, awesome climb.
Stopped at Harrah's to peel off warmers and top off the bottles. Was glad to have that rough descent over.
Climb up Palomar was perfect, cool breeze but not too windy. Low traffic. Taco Shop to Mothers in 1:28.
Ate a Giant Brownie at Mothers and chatted with what looked like a junior devo team at the top.
Descent down East Grade was a bit gusty but was happy to get on smooth pavement earlier than I thought I would.
Mesa Grande climb was nice although I was still saving just a bit anticipating wind. Gnarly wind crossing Mesa Grande.
No Pie in Santa Ysabel... I was still working off that Brownie. Then it got fun... turning back west found a bit a tailwind and the rip down old Julian Hwy was one of the highlights of the day, amazing road.
Ramona to Poway was slightly sucky but only a couple tight/busy spots.
Cruise down Scripps Poway was a nice break although the rollers through Poway and Del Mar got quite old haha.
Avoided any bonk and was able to keep power to the pedals till the end. Rolled up to my wife as she was walking the sidewalk down by the beach about 4:30 for just under a 9 Hour adventure.

Couldn't ask for a better long day over all. Rode Soledad and around Mission Bay/Fiesta Island the following day too. No flats all trip and route finding was spot on.

diphthong

big bad ride. kudos.

Nachoman

Big numbers. Nice job.