A perfect day, 75 degrees and sunny. This morning I headed out to Rancho San Diego and set out to ride up Mt. Laguna. It would be a good time to work on some hill climbing and hopefully see a bit of snow. The first part of Dehesa Canyon Rd is pretty flat, until Harbison Canyon, then a hard right and it climbs 900' up to Japutal Road. It's a pretty steady climb, and is the first part of the Great Western loop. Went pretty slow, working on steady climbing - sub-tempo.
The next section is a rolling climb past Loveland Reservoir up Japatul Road followed by a series of lazy switchbacks and "the wall" ; a steep 10%+ climb - always hurts, never fun. To complete the Great Western Loop one turn right at Lyons Valley, but continuing up Japatul sends you back to the north, under I-8, and past Descanso.
The real meat and potatoes of the ride came after the left turn on to Pine Creek Road, just before Pine Valley. Pine Creek skirts the lower section of the infamous Nobel Canyon, crosses Pine Creek and turns into Deer Park Road. Scrub and Live Oak line the road as it follow the creek and begins the steep climb up Mt. Laguna. Really, really steep. It climbs about 2000' over 8 miles, but has a bit of up and down, so is really more like 2200' total. The total elevation gain isn't the entire story as the climb comes in chunks, sections of 15%, 17%, 22%, even 24% pepper the lower sections. The terrain moves from Oak lined creek bed, to desert sage, to fire scorched pine. It tops out around 5500' where it connects with Sunrise Highway. Towards the top a bit of snow was hiding in the shade at the base some of the trees, rocks...
Right on Sunrise takes you up over 6000' and to the Mt. Laguna Lodge for a root beer and some peanuts - and if you are lucky, a brief lecture on any variety of topics from the owner. The drop back down to Pine Valley is a quick ride, most of the corners are sweeping. From the top you can see to ocean. At the bottom, a right turn takes you through Pine Valley and then sends you to retrace your route back under I-8 and to the Lyons Valley / Japatul intersection.
A left turn and a short descent puts you back on the Great Western loop. It's a long drag over rolling hills that takes you up to the "four corners", instead of heading up skyline I stuck to Lyons Valley and dropped down, well Lyons Valley. A quick run down Mexican Canyon and back into Rancho San Diego.
90 miles
8795'
6 hrs 10 min
