Bicycling in San Diego

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Bicycling

On any given summer day Route S21 from La Jolla to Oceanside looks like a freeway for cyclists. It's easily the most popular and scenic bike route around, never straying more than a quarter-mile from the beach. Although the terrain is fairly easy, the long, steep Torrey Pines grade, heading south just past Del Mar, is world famous for weeding out the weak. Experienced cyclists follow Lomas Santa Fe Drive in Solana Beach east into Rancho Santa Fe, perhaps even continuing east on Del Dios Highway, past Lake Hodges, to Escondido. These roads can be narrow and winding in spots.

For more leisurely rides, Mission Bay, San Diego Harbor, and the Mission Beach boardwalk are all flat and scenic. San Diego also has a velodrome in the Morley Field section of Balboa Park. Often thought of as only for racing, this 1/3-km, light-banked, elliptical cycling track is more like a lap pool for bicyclists of all types who come for community, not competition. For those who want to take their biking experience to the extreme, the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA Skate Park (200 Saxony Rd., Encinitas. 760/942-9622. ecke.ymca.org/sk8parklocation.htm) has set times when BMXers can rip it up on the same wood vert ramp and street courses that skateboarders use.

Bike Tours San Diego (509 5th Ave., Downtown. 619/238-2444. www.bike-tours.com) rents all types of bikes and conducts biking tours in the downtown waterfront and Gaslamp area, to and around Coronado Island, up to Cabrillo National Monument, and elsewhere in the city. Hike Bike Kayak San Diego (2246 Ave. de la Playa, La Jolla. 858/551-9510 or 866/425-2925. www.hikebikekayak.com) offers a wide range of guided bike tours, from easy excursions around Mission Bay and Coronado Island to more rigorous trips through coastal La Jolla. Mountain-biking tours are also available, and the company also rents bikes of all types (and can van-deliver them to your hotel).

Cheap Rentals Mission Beach (3689 Mission Blvd., Mission Beach. 858/488-9070 or 800/941-7761. www.cheap-rentals.com) is right on the boardwalk. Wheel Fun Rentals (1355 N. Harbor Dr., Downtown. 619/239-3347. www.wheelfunrentals.com), at the downtown Holiday Inn, rents surreys, cruisers, mountain bikes, tandems, and electric bicycles. Wheel Fun has a number of other locations around San Diego; call or visit the Web site for details. Holland's Bicycles (977 Orange Ave., Coronado. 619/435-3153. www.hollandsbicycles.com) is a great rental source on Coronado Island.