Bicycling in San Diego

Bike Paths

On any given summer day, Route S21 (or Old Highway 101) 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 is world famous for weeding out the weak. Another Darwinian challenge (survival of the fittest) along this route is dodging slow-moving pedestrians and cars pulling curbside to park in towns like Encinitas, Del Mar, and Oceanside. 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 has miles and miles of cement paths bordering big green lawns, children's playgrounds, and picnic spots. San Diego Harbor is a scenic place to pedal past big boats and cruise ships. Mission Beach Boardwalk is truly a scene; with babes on blades and bikes—in bikinis of course—often slowing foot and bike traffic to a crawl. San Diego also has a velodrome in the Morley Field section of Balboa Park. Often thought of as only for racing, this.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 Kearny BMX (3170 Armstrong St., Kearny Mesa, 92111. 619/561-3824. www.kearnybmx.com) has a dirt track where BMXers rip it up, racing three times a week, with time for practice beforehand.

The Great Wide Open

A $6.50 round-trip ferry ride transports you and your bike from downtown San Diego to hyper-flat, super-cruisable Coronado, with a wide, flat beach, the historic Hotel Del Coronado (an unbeatable background for photos), and the beautifully manicured gardens of its many residential streets.

Bike Tours and Rentals

Bike Tours San Diego (522 6th Ave., Downtown, 92101. 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, 92037. 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 slightly 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, 92109. 858/488-9070 or 800/941-7761. www.cheap-rentals.com) is right on the boardwalk and has great daily and weekly prices for bike rentals, including beach cruisers, tandems, hybrids, and 2-wheeled baby carriers. Holland's Bicycles (977 Orange Ave., Coronado, 92118. 619/435-3153. www.hollandsbicycles.com) is a great rental source on Coronado Island and has a second location at the ferry landing (619/435-7180, so you can jump on your bike as soon as your cross the harbor from downtown San Diego. Wheel Fun Rentals (1355 N. Harbor Dr., Downtown, 92101. 619/239-3347. www.wheelfunrentals.com), at the downtown Holiday Inn, rents surreys, cruisers, mountain bikes, tandems, and electric bicycles, among other 2-, 3-, and 4-wheeled contraptions. Wheel Fun has a number of other locations around San Diego; call or visit the Web site for details.