DutchBurrito:Welcome MMaxfeldt!
I just moved to Normal Heights today actually, but my commute is the other way, up to Clairemont Mesa. See you around.

Shapps (Bryan):

DutchBurrito:Welcome MMaxfeldt!
I just moved to Normal Heights today actually, but my commute is the other way, up to Clairemont Mesa. See you around.

Can you post your route? I have been considering a move to hillcrest/north/south park and work @ 805 and miramar by UTC. Trying to find out if I make that move if there is a feasible bike commute to and from.

Phil:Welcome, Sundari! I swear your boyfriend (Marshall?) repeated his name to me several times at Blind Lady, and I didn't get it until he introduced himself to someone else (and I still might have it wrong ... sorry, it was loud and I already started with the beer!). I think it went something like this:
"Hi, I'm Phil."
"I'm Marshall."
"Mark?"
"Marshall."
"Mark?"
"Marshall."
"Nice to meet you, Mark!"
:face-plain:

ray333:Hi Sundari! Welcome to the local bike commuting community! I'm Ray and I spend a lot of time riding in ovals on the 333.3 meter velodrome on Morley Field, hence the username.

My wife Jolie and I have toured the entire West Coast of the U.S., from an unofficial unauthorized crossing of the border at Blaine, WA from White Rock, B.C. (that was in 1998, don't try it now!) to the Mexican border at San Ysidro. We've done our favorite parts numerous times. San Francisco to San Diego four times, once on a tandem, and even a short tour from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

When you leave Carpinteria, you will merge onto the freeway, Hwy 101. Just south of Rincon Beach at Seacliff you will leave the 101 and enter Hwy 1. Just before you get to Ventura, bikes are routed off the 1 and onto a class 1 bike path at Emma Wood State Beach. You will end up at the Ventura Pier where you will follow Harbor Blvd. south past McGrath State Beach and into Oxnard. Bear left onto Channel Islands Blvd. (The grocery store on the left is the last place to buy supplies before the store at Trancas Canyon Rd. at Zuma Beach.) Turn right on Ventura Rd. Last time I rode through here in 2005 the roadway was too narrow to accommodate bikes and motorcars and the traffic engineers have you ride on the sidewalk for a couple of miles into Port Hueneme. Watch for oblivious moms with tandem strollers.There is a liquor store at Port Hueneme Rd. for last minute supplies (if you're lucky you may see the skateboarding dog in the parking lot). Make a right on Port Hueneme Rd. Turn right just before Hwy 1 onto Navalaire Rd. that will take you past the Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station. Turn left onto Pacific Rd. and bear right onto Hwy 1. You will be on Hwy 1 until you get to the beach bike path at Will Rodgers State Beach. Use extreme caution riding through Malibu. The highway has no shoulders in places and the locals are either oblivious to your presence or hostile. Avoid riding through here after 3 or 4 pm to steer clear of the drunk drivers who rule the late afternoons and evenings. Overnight at Sycamore Canyon or Leo Carillo if you have to; these are the nicest campgrounds and the last ones until you reach San Onofre.
Stay on the beach bike path until the pier at Redondo Beach. Get back on Hwy 1 here to avoid leg breaking climbs over Palos Verdes Estates as well as hostile police. We were shadowed once by a police cruiser from Palos Verdes Blvd. all the way to Crenshaw Blvd. and halfway up the grade over the hill to Lomita. You will soon find yourself in what Jolie and I call "the most scenic part of the West Coast," the hellish industrial landscape of the smoke-belching oil refineries at Wilmington and Carson complete with 50 foot flames. Once you find your way through Long Beach to the coast, you will reach Huntington Beach and its miles of beach bike paths. On all the beach paths you will encounter oblivious pedestrians, roller bladers, and bike freds. Give them a wide berth when overtaking. In 2005 I was riding a road bike south through Marina del Rey when a roller blader suddenly made a hockey stop and turned 180 degrees to face me. I grabbed a little too much front brake and rode the bike to a stop on the front wheel, the rear wheel well off the ground. I had just enough time to think "this is going to hurt; I wonder if I'm going to hospital." I managed to put the rear wheel back down and stop safely. Before you cross the Santa Ana River and approach Newport Beach you will rejoin Hwy 1. From here on out until you reach San Clemente you will be at the mercy of hostile drivers. In spite of the fact that there are two lanes in either direction, some spoiled kid in his mom's Mercedes is going to terrorize you and refuse to give you the space you need to stay out of the door zone of parked cars. When you get to the San Diego County Line just south of San Clemente you are home free. The only other possible problem is if the gate guard at Camp Pendelton won't let you through onto the base for some reason. Don't sweat it if this happens. Just enter 5 south at Las Pulgas and ride the freeway shoulder into Oceanside. It looks scary at first, but it's no big deal.

Have a great ride; I wish I were doing it!