2019 San Diego Bike Guide

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the San Diego

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In partnership with the San Diego County Bike Coalition

2019

CHULA VISTA BMX PHOTO BY TIM INGERSOLL.

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San Diego

2019

San Diego

2019

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A RIDE IN THE PARK LOCAL PUMP TRACKS AND BIKE PARKS BUILD BIKING SKILLS FOR EVERYONE

by Tim Ingersoll

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPOHNRANCH.COM

On a recent Saturday morning, near a quiet middle school, an empty soccer field and amid the fresh mulch-covered landscaping of a new park, dozens of kids–and a few local mountain bikers–were rolling around the region’s latest cycling attraction: The new pump track for bikes at Pacific Highlands Ranch.

Formed from undulating concrete in a small field overlooking Highway 56 in Carmel Valley, it’s the first official pump track in a City of San Diego park, but one of many built in vacant dirt lots around the region that have long been part of the biking community.

“Pump tracks are awesome because they are good for every skill level, whether you are just learning how to ride a bike or a world champion,” says legendary professional mountain biker Kyle Strait of Alpine. Strait regularly travels around the world to dominate competitions, and is known to practice at local pump tracks. “It’s fun to ride, it’s great for learning and it’s also a safe place for kids to hang out.”

Why pump tracks?

Like a cross between a bike path and a skate park, pump tracks feature a smooth, wide-riding surface with rolling short hills, berms and banked turns that form a loop. Anyone can make their way around them at their own speed, but the trick is to use track to generate your own momentum.

Riders “pump” their legs and push into the downslope and create speed for the next one, building up momentum without pedaling and whipping through the corners. Experts can “double” the humps–getting up enough speed to clear one and drop directly into the next one. The pros race pump tracks chainless, using only the track to generate speed.

Riding a pump track smooth and fast is an exhausting art that will in very short time have riders’ quads encouraging them to pull over and watch others. If the rider is lucky, a stop at one of these spots may include a local BMX or mountain bike-racing pro practicing for their next competition–and showing others how it’s done right.

Still, riders won’t need a fancy-new full-suspension mountain bike to make the most out of a pump track. Both BMX bikes and old, rigid mountain bikes will make the most of the track. Just bring a helmet and kids, as they’ll have a blast, too.

Pacific Highlands Ranch Bicycle Pump Track

The new kid on the block, this concrete pump track just opened in April to much fanfare and eager anticipation. Located near Carmel Valley Road and Highway 56, this free track features two loops accessible to anyone, but it can get crowded with kids of all ages on the weekends.

Kearny and Lakeside BMX

The Kearny Moto Park and Cactus Park BMX are two kid-friendly, sister facilities in Kearny Mesa and Lakeside, respectively.

They offer commercial, BMX-style dirt race tracks with practice and race options during the season. Check websites for details on weekly races, hours and pricing ($10-$20), with options for kids birthday parties and even summer camps.

Chula Vista BMX

The big dog of the bunch, Chula Vista BMX is a world-class riding facility at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. The features here are bigger than the others, with a steep banked entrance to pick up speed and a smaller practice track around the corner. With racing and skills clinics weekly, anyone can do practice runs for $10 from 5:30- 7 p.m. Tuesday, and Friday before the 7 p.m. races start at the dirt practice track around the corner.

Skypark at Santa’s Village

Getting a little further out of town, Skypark at Santa’s Village is a charming Santa-themed bike park near Lake Arrowhead that is a worthy destination for any Southern California mountain biker. It’s also a great place to put those pump track skills to work. Originally opened as a Christmas-themed park in 1955 with whimsical rides and restaurants, Santa’s closed in the late 1990s and fell into disrepair. After an extensive rehabilitation, it reopened in 2016 with human-powered rides and a pedal-up bike park that has become a go-to cycling destination. Santa’s has two pump tracks and miles of mountain bike trails with intense, hand-built jumps and features, making the two-hour drive and $45 entry fee worth it for many local mountain bikers. ●

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San Diego

2019

A ROAD TRIP, ON TWO WHEELS

TIPS ON BIKE TOURING, BIKE PACKING AND TWO-WHEELED STAYCATIONS

by Jamie Hampton, Mixte Communications Inc. I first caught the biking bug by riding to work everyday. Now, all my weekends consist of bike touring around our region. I started pedaling toward all the San Diego scenes I love: our beaches, hiking grounds and, yes, even the Gaslamp.

That’s the best way to ease into bike touring—and anyone can do it. If riders incorporate what makes them happy, they’ll make bike touring what they want. The more fun they have, the more likely they are to figure out how to own touring and make it their own. Here is some inspiration to experience the joys of bike touring.

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Pacific Coast Route is the most popular bicycle touring route in the U.S., according to the Adventure Cycling Association. State campgrounds have hiker/biker sites the entire way, so riders can just roll into camp and stay the night for a nominal fee. San Elijo State Beach is the only one in San Diego County, and it’s beautiful.

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Speaking of San Elijo, it’s the perfect overnighter since it’s supplemented by a Coaster ride to and from Solana Beach or Encinitas if cyclists don’t want to bike both ways Ready to bike pack? Stagecoach 400 is a mountain biking tour with lots to explore. Riders have to give this one five days to complete, but it’s worth it for the mountain landscapes and ocean views.

It’s easy to plan a weekend trip to Julian or Otay to bike camp, depending on the type of riding. The rides are fairly similar, but Julian is a bit more hilly and more difficult.

Consider a hotel-based tour. I love to book an overnight hotel in Gaslamp, ride there, explore, enjoy my morning with my loved one and then ride home. Conversely, I’ve also done a three-day tour riding from one friend’s house to another at places across the county.

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Take the train to Santa Barbara and ride back to San Diego. This route has lots of pretty paths along the way and riders will get to know Southern California like a true local.

San Diego

2019

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GEORGETTE GÓMEZ:

AN ADVOCATE FOR ALL FORMS OF MOBILITY

by Jamie Hampton, Mixte Communications Inc. We caught up with San Diego City Council President Georgette Gómez about her recent bicycle tour, which was also her first.

We also dug into her bicycling vision for our region. See what this better-biking champion thinks about how San Diego gets around.

When did you start bicycling and what’s your earliest bicycling memory?

I’ve been biking since very, very early in my years. I would say since maybe before first grade. My first memory of biking, I would say, is learning to bike in Logan Heights on Julian Avenue. I think I was 4 years old and falling into the bushes.

How often and how do you ride your bicycle to work? Do you combine with transit? Ride one way?

It depends. Obviously, I wish I could do it more; but I do it as often as my calendar allows it. I try to do it at least twice a week. I tend to combine it with riding the rapid bus transit (the 235) and if I don’t have evening meetings, I’ll bike home from downtown San Diego.

What is your favorite bike ride in San Diego?

My favorite bike ride is any bike ride that lets me bike. I don’t have a favorite one, just any opportunity I get to bike is my happy moment.

You recently went on your first bike tour with your partner. Can you tell us about your inspiration for the trip, where you went, how you prepared and what you thought of the experience?

What’s the number one tip you have for people who want to try bicycle commuting?

Just try it and you’ll learn that it’s not as difficult as one thinks it is. There’s something unique about being on the bike and experiencing our surroundings that you don’t get when being in a vehicle. Give yourself enough time and enjoy it— enjoy the air.

What is your role as Council President to bring more cycling infrastructure to San Diego and how will your role as chair of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) support that goal?

My commitment is to ensure we’re actually implementing our “Complete Streets” strategy, which incorporates making room for bicyclists and improving the walking experience at the same time that we’re accommodating vehicles. I want to make sure I become an advocate for all forms of mobility. I am mindful that we have not done enough to really facilitate the infrastructure for biking. I want to raise more of its importance. When we design our communities in a holistic way, it benefits everybody. Related to MTS, I want to make sure we’re promoting the connectivity of bicycles to transit. Do we have safe paths that are leading to transit? Once there, if you want to leave your bike at the station, are there secure lockers? If you want to bring bikes on the bus and it limits us to two bicycles–I’ve experienced that in the past and you have to wait for the next one–there’s better racks that hold three so we should think about expanding racks. In trolleys, I’ve seen rail systems that have better bike infrastructure in them, such as hooks to put your bike on.

As a rider, you don’t have to stand and hold your bike awkwardly or be blocking people’s path to their seat or be an impediment to our disabled community. I want to be mindful in ensuring that our transit is accommodating to everyone.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGETTE GÓMEZ It was last-minute planning at the end of the year to welcome Anything else you want to share with people read2019. Doing overnight camping or long-period biking has always been in my to-dos, so I asked a friend of mine if she had ing the San Diego CityBeat Bicycling Guide? plans. She had invited me before to do overnight camping biking trips. She thought I was a better biker than I am–that I’d I truly want to push a stronger agenda to ensure we’re creating infrastructure for biking. It does not have to compete with done this before. She didn’t realize that Raquel and I had never done it before, but we were good champs. We played along other forms of getting around. We just have to do it because it’s the right thing to do, and it’s a fun thing to do for everyone. and we enjoyed it. It was an amazing, challenging trip, but it was great.

I’m excited for that and just want to ride. ●

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San Diego

2019

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO STREETS GET SAFER FOR BICYCLISTS PROTECTED BIKEWAYS ARE HERE! by

Andy Henshaw

At the end of 2018, the City of San Diego installed the very first “protected bikeway”, aka “cycletrack” in downtown San Diego along J Street from 1st Avenue to 11th Avenue. As everyday cyclists, we couldn’t be happier. This is the first segment of an eventual 9-mile network of these modern bike lanes that are part of the city’s Downtown Mobility Plan. Adopted in 2017, the Mobility Plan features cycletracks, as well as pedestrian greenways and transit ways that connect people to places in safer walking and transit corridors.

In an effort to comply with the city’s groundbreaking Climate Action Plan–which calls for more San Diegans to bike, walk or take transit on their commutes to/from work–the City developed the Downtown Mobility Plan. This plan recognizes that the downtown population is projected to triple its current level from 30,000 to 90,000 residents and double its employment population from 90,000 to 180,000 by 2035. Smart thinking, as we simply cannot expect that many people to drive and park in an already congested downtown. Cycletracks are an important piece of the success of the Mobility Plan, as they provide actual physical separation between drivers and cyclists on our streets. In the case of J Street, there are both vertical bollards and, in some locations, cars will have to be parked away from the curbside to create a safe space for bike riders.

Pedaling along J Street in the heart of the East Village is a completely different experience now, thanks to these bikeways. It just feels better and the hope is that it will encourage more people to ride bikes (and scooters) in a space dedicated just for them.

Recently, the San Diego City Council passed new regulations for the popular “dockless” scooters and bikes that have sprung up everywhere over the past year. These regulations are intended to improve the safety of riders and pedestrians without discouraging more people to use these alternative mobility options. Scooters and dockless bikes cannot be legally ridden on sidewalks downtown, according to city code so the new cycletracks will accomodate them as well.

It’s an exciting time for mobility in San Diego. We can’t wait to see the downtown network of bike lanes built out, along with all of the regional bike lanes that span some 77 miles across San Diego County and are funded and planned to be in place over the next decade. Frankly, it can’t happen soon enough given our climate crisis and car dependency habits. Things must change and this is a great plan for all of us who ride. ●

San Diego

2019

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#sdbikeguide

San Diego

2019

San Diego

2019

#sdbikeguide