Airfehr

Hi all. I will be visiting family in the Carlsbad area in a couple months and would like to do some fat bike beach riding. Looking at google earth it looks like I could ride from Oceanside south to La Jolla. Minus a few detours and avoiding the tide. I will only be riding a fraction of that distance but what obstacles am I missing along this route. Are bikes even allowed on the beach? My google searches have only find info on getting to the beach or riding the strand.

TGT1

Well, for starters about half that distance will be Camp Pendleton and the beach is off limits.

Airfehr

That would be north of Oceanside.

diphthong

don't remember regular bikes (the whole e-bike thing who knows?) being disallowed riding along the beaches from carlsbad south to la jolla.

it's, roughly, a twenty-mile stretch one way. your biggest issue is the topography. through that stretch, there is a predominate canyon > mesa
> canyon > mesa topography. manifests itself at the beach where you have multiple lagoons/freshwater/saltwater conduits that are too deep
to negotiate by foot or bike w/o swimming. then there are the tides and the timing regarding those. el camino real/old coast highway/pch/101
faithfully hugs the coast south of carlsbad so if you can't ride the beach and have to bump out onto the highway, it's likely for a short third of a mile
or so. the coast highway has a solid bike path along the entire stretch south of carlsbad to la jolla. oodles of businesses along the coast highway
if you need to stop for a snack, beer, bottle of water, bike repair, lunch, whatever and it's definitely worth riding on its own. tons of cyclists along the route
speaks to its importance in the area.

if you strictly wanna stick on the beach, thinking you'll wanna do the bits from carlsbad south of the palomar airport/hwy 101 interface down to
the la costa area, then the la costa area down to encinitas, then the cardiff area down to del mar.

Airfehr

Thanks ooga-booga
Somewhere I read bikes were not allowed on the beach at one the the camping areas. Thought it was at south Carlsbad but not finding that today. I did expect detours for obstructions. Is it the number of obstructions north of palomar airport rd?

diphthong

^ there is a lagoon inlet/outlet channel across from the seaside power plant in carlsbad about a half mile north of the palomar airport rd/coast highway intersection.
if memory serves, you will be able to ride 1-4 mile chunks of the beach northbound or southbound before having to take the stairs/ramps up to the coast highway to divert around the various/multiple lagoon inlet/outlets on the beaches from oceanside south to la jolla.

unfamiliar with the state park/state beach rules/regs re: cycling on the beach. worst case scenario is cycling on the coast highway for those shortish stretches. the scenery is still pretty good along with all the grub and grog spots and bike lanes.

skidder

As ooga-booga states above, there are a lot of tidal inlets to lagoons in the North County area, so you'd have to pop up onto the streets to et around those. Also up-and-down on some of those streets where they go up onto cliffs IIRC, and that'll take more effort on a fat bike vs. breezing up them on a road bike. As for the beaches themselves, why not call a few of the cities and see if they allow bicycles on the sand? Maybe call the state park along the route (San Elijo, I think?) and see what they allow, too.

FWIW: I've ridden old cruiser bikes on the sand at low tide in Orange County, maybe for 30-45 minutes max and during the winter months when the beaches were empty, and no repercussions from the beach staff that saw us.

calamarichris

I've seen bicycles on nearly all of our beaches. It should be no problem at the State Park/Camp Ground in Carlsbad. If you're doing it in the winter, it shouldn't be a problem. I've never seen signs saying, "No bicycles."
I can't imagine a lifeguard jeep pulling you over on the beach at low tide, but if they do, they'll almost certainly give you a warning.
Hopefully you can catch it during a very low tide, as our beaches tend to lose sand during the winter. If you can't catch it during a really low tide, you may hit one or two places that require backtracking/taking PCH, but that's part of the adventure.
Yes, there are lagoon spillways, but they're easily rounded on PCH. Just look for the large stone jetties.
There is a beautiful hiking trail north of Batiquitos Lagoon, near where I live, but bikes are not permitted there.
Of all the towns, Del Mar is probably the most restrictive and has the most meter-maids/officials, probably because of their wonderful dog beach, which will probably be the most crowded portion of your ride during lowtide. There's a slim chance a lifeguard might ask you to walk your bike through that section. Slim.
Should be a good time. Have fun, post pics, and ping me if you'd like to borrow a surfboard, boogie board, or a kayak while you're here. calamarichris@yahoo.com

Here's a tide site I use.

johnnyace 

Watch out at Black's Beach.

calamarichris

Nude beaches in the US are the exclusive of obese gay men. You ain't gonna see any nude folks there, especially in the dead of winter.
Although I've never walked the full length from Torrey Pines to the Scripps Pier. You might hit a dead end there, even at a very low tide. La Jolla's deep canyon there and steep geography precludes a broad beach. Maybe I'll explore down there later this week and check it out for you.

diphthong

yah...it's pretty minimal however you wanna cover it or not. def not a deal breaker for riding along that stretch.

calamarichris

I walked from the Torrey Pines parking lot to the Scripps Pier and back today--8 or 9 miles. You might see some nude dudes (nyargh, I have seen wang, not of mine own!) but if you time it correctly there is only one point where you'll have to walk your bike about 150 meters over rocks (south of the "Mushroom Beach House".


If you don't feel like carrying your bike that ~150 meters over the rocks, there is an asphalt access road just north of there you can take up the hill.


I saw nearly two-dozen bikes on the sand today (and one electric monowheel dipstick going about 30mph--cant' believe that thing is legal on the beach). Lots of happy people & their dogs, and one lifeguard jeep around Black's Beach who didn't seem remotely interested in the bicyclists.


If you're riding a fatbike, this probably won't matter, but North Carlsbad and South Oceanside have pumped a lot of course sand from deep-sea locations, which has a different consistency from the naturally-occurring shore sand. If you sink into that stuff, don't get discouraged, just ride a few miles on PCH to Ponto by the old power station they're tearing down in Cbad. They usually pump it mid-Spring to replace the sand our beaches lost in Winter storms, so you probably won't see that.


Should be a fun adventure!

Airfehr

Rain, tsunami warning and dealing with my very aged relatives. Great day for a ride. Didn't have a lot of time but two hours worked good with the tide. Rode from the Cape Rey hotel to the Del Mar dog beach and back. Had two places I had to go up to the road and cross a bridge. Will be back for a longer ride if can get back during the right tide.

diphthong

awesome! you did a ton for a first ride. congrats and enjoy your visit!