"Places I go with my bike" by DesertDarlene

When I want a real long and flat bike ride, I ride down to Mission Bay or Pacific Beach. Occasionally I ride to La Jolla and Del Mar.

Here is a picture of Mission Bay taken early on a spring morning. Every spring, we get what's called a "marine layer" in the morning. These clouds extend inland about ten or so miles. It will usually remain cloudy anywhere from dawn to noon.

I often haul my bike out to the desert where I can ride for several hours. This time I took it to S-2 in the desert of San Diego County.

Here is a picture of the Vallecito Mountain areas where I was riding my bike from the Carrizo Gorge overlook.

While I was riding, I noticed someone flying his small, black plane around in loops. I stopped and watched him for a while. This area has a small, uncontrolled airstrip not too far from the Agua Caliente Hot Springs area, but this plane was further to the north.

The ride was mainly flat or slightly uphill. There was a couple of long, narrow climbs and descents in this ride.

This is a beautiful area in the east part of San Diego. There are groves of eucalyptus trees there as well as a lake and a pond. The area also has a few horse corrals and a country feel to it in places.

UPDATE:

This photo was taken before the cedar fire of 2003, which burned through this very spot. I believe all the trees survived, but they were all burned and some had to be cut down. Many of the houses near this very spot were burned to the ground.

But, the good news is that many have been or are being rebuilt and hopefully things will get back to normal.

This is the Chargers headquarters in the Murphy Canyon part of San Diego. I ride my bike through here to get to work.

This is Rose Creek which is just off of Mission Bay. There is a bike path there that heads up to Rose Canyon. You can access the Pacific Beach/La Jolla area via this path.

This picture was taken on a Sunday morning. This area is usually packed with traffic.

This is a picture of Miramar Road which is north of MCAS Miramar.

This area is dead in the center of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It's really not ideal bike riding area because the sand is a little difficult to push through if you are not accostumed to riding in it. I was able to push through quite a bit. I went past the wind caves into the Carrizo Gorge area near the Carrizo Impact area, deep inside the park.