Day 0: Touring San Diego, CALIFORNIA

February 25, 2012

The remainder of my tour will be solo, but today I had a guided bicycle tour of San Diego thanks to Internet acquaintance Neil Schneider. Also along for the tour was Neil's friend Carl Umland who I met at the Red's Meadow hiker/biker campground during my 2009 California J bike tour.

Our first destination was Balboa Park in the hills above downtown. We pedaled past several museums, including the new aerospace museum. Sadly the original museum burned, destroying priceless artifacts.

Lockheed A-12 spy plane at the San Diego Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park. Built for the CIA in the early 1960's, it had a top speed of Mach 3.2. It had no defenses because it was faster than any missile.

After pedaling through Balboa Park we continued past charming craftsman-style homes in the Mission Hills neighborhood, then descended to Old Town State Historic Park. We stopped for a while to look at the buildings and exhibits.

Then we rode the Ocean Beach bike path along the San Diego river to Ocean Beach where I had my first up-close view of the Pacific ocean.

I didn't plan to go coast-to-coast, so I didn't think to get a picture of me and the bike at Ocean Beach dog park.

We continued south along the coast to Sunset Cliffs boulevard which has excellent ocean views. Surely the most expensive real estate in San Diego.

At the south end of Sunset Cliffs boulevard we turned inland, climbing steeply to the spine of Point Loma. The last 3 miles to the end of the road is through a navy base and a national cemetery. We stopped to look at the old Point Loma lighthouse and took a longer stop at Cabrillo National Monument which has a panoramic view of the San Diego area, 400+ feet above the ocean. The name is Portuguese, so it's pronounced Ka BREE Lo.

The monument has a great view of the mouth of San Diego bay. The channel was filled with sailboats on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The monument has a more distant view of downtown San Diego and Coronado Island. San Diego is the home of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet. Navy bases occupy most of Point Loma, Coronado Island, and the waterfront south of downtown.

The weather was breezy and about 60F. A little cooler than normal but still very pleasant.

Telephoto view across Coronado island to downtown San Diego.

Then we had to backtrack several scenic miles along the spine of Point Loma.

Rosecrans National Cemetery. The wall is a repository for ashes of cremated veterans.

Leaving Point Loma we descended to water level and rode out onto Harbor Island which is actually a causeway, not an island.

View from Harbor island. Note the cruise ship docked on the right.

We stopped for a late lunch at the popular and very crowded Point Loma Seafoods restaurant, then continued clockwise around the bay on a bike trail with excellent views of downtown and Coronado island.

In the downtown area our final stop was at the park adjacent to the USS Midway aircraft carrier which is now a museum.

Bob Hope sculpture exhibit next to the *USS Midway* aircraft carrier museum.

At 4 PM we got back to my hotel, where I bid farewell to Neil and Carl. Later I had take out pizza slices for dinner on the main street of Little Italy, one block from my hotel.

It was a great day. Perhaps a bit cool for the San Diego natives, but perfectly fine for a guy who just flew in from Oregon.

Distance: 36.7 mi. (58.7 km)

Climbing: 1349 ft. (409 m)

Average Speed: 9.1 mph (14.6 km/h)

Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 37 miles (60 km)

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