RCMoeur 

I'm going to be in San Diego in very early February for a conference & trade show at the convention center. They're putting me up at the Embassy Suites, which is about 3/4 mile northwest of the convention center, so I thought I'd bring a bike to make the trip back & forth a bit faster. But I thought I'd inquire as to whether the convention center has secure or covered bike parking, or something better than locking it up to a nearby rail and hoping it's still there when I need it. Web searches haven't really come up with anything so far. Anyone out there have additional information?

SoSmellyAir

I do not recall any bike parking on the side of the convention center facing downtown San Diego. Even if there are, I am not sure you would want to leave your bike there for any duration; lots of homeless people in downtown SD.

diphthong

not aware of any dedicated bike parking at the convention center. yes, there are plenty of places to lock up a bike in plain view. seem to remember there being a bike valet option at comicon in july but that is, by far, the largest yearly event at the convention center.

the walk to/from embassy suites and the convention center is flat and pretty pleasant.
walking out of the embassy suites, i’d cross directly over harbor drive at that point to avoid potentially longer crosswalk waits dictated by the adjacent trolley. the walk goes by quickly and you won’t have to worry about your bike/bike parts being stolen. there is a small convenience store on the ne corner of the embassy suites property and a decent coffee shop just east of that. there are a host of restaurants/shops just across harbor drive and a dynamite, upscale pub-the lion’s share-midblock on nearby kettner street. closest large grocery store is the ralph’s on the corner of 1st/market…about 6 blocks away from the hotel/3 blocks way from the west end of the convention center. the bay side of the convention center has a wonderful ped walkway with great views (tough to beat the views from the top of the cc tho). plenty of accessible, outdoors stairways on the cc property if you want a compact workout. always a ton of pedestrians in the area. closest bike shop is on c street between 6th and 7th st.

if you do have some downtime daylight hours and do bring the bike, simple matter to hop on the bike path that goes along the bay’s edge towards/past the airport. riding over to the liberty station area is roughly a 8 mile rt. mixing in a side, loop visit to harbor (not an) island directly across from the airport would bump it up to 11-12 miles. 400 foot climb to the top of point loma and a (recommended) ride to cabrillo national monument has fantastic views and would be approx a 23-24 mile ride rt.

RCMoeur 

Thanks for the replies.

I contacted the convention center security office, and they said "There are bike racks by some of the entrances, but... (uncomfortable pause)."

So I might not be bringing a bike - even a less thefteresting bike like my beat-up Nishiki "Uglybike Mk. 2". We'll see, though.

SoSmellyAir

RCMoeur : As diphthong pointed out, San Diego has some great waterfront cycling; I was not trying to discourage you from that, just from leaving your bike outside in downtown San Diego.

diphthong

any time saved riding that short distance will be spent in finding an adequate "safe spot," deploying/undoing bike locks/chains, removing various bike parts and packing said stuff to ride with. all that plus the dread that your beastie

will be double live gonzo upon your return. best to save the bike for a spin along the bay on a short day or during a few hours if you can carve them out.

nearby balboa park is always beautiful to ride thru and is about two miles away from your hotel. pm me if you're interested since (depending on time of day and freeway on/offramps) things can get interesting.

there's a safer way around but involves three blocks of 8-10% climbing to minimize traffic. also, dunno if you've visited dtown sd area before but dtown has a ton of one way streets.

RCMoeur 

Thanks for the replies.

I didn't end up bringing a bike based on feedback and weather forecasts - not even an expendable "beater" bike. Turned out the weather Friday-Sunday was mostly OK, and the bike would have been useful for getting from where I parked my car affordably to & from the hotel (well over a mile across downtown). Never saw a rack, but did see many riders on Harbor and other streets. The meeting / expo schedule wouldn't have left much time for recreational riding. Monday and Tuesday were wet. Ended up walking many miles instead, but muddled through OK.

calamarichris

Sorry we didn't have our usual weather for you during your visit. It's been a rainy coupla weeks. Downtown SD isn't the most recreational riding place anyway. A few miles north (North Park, University Heights, Normal Heights, and our gayborhood Hillcrest) are catching on and becoming more bike-friendly, but the Gaslamp and Convention Center are a better strolling than cycling environment.
Did you have a good time? Find any good restaurants? Bars? I live up in Carlsbad, but every time I go downtown, it's like finding a 20-dollar bill in the couch cushions: "Why don't I come down here more often?"