Stagecoach 400 - Day 5 - Detour on the Stagecoach 400 to Explore San Diego
Date: March 16, 2022
67.66 Miles
Rancho San Diego, CA to PCH to Escondido, CA
I made plans with my Aunt Martha to bike to their place in Escondido tonight to stay with them before I made my way back to Idyllwild to pick up my bike. I bid Vineyard Hacienda adieu and started pedaling through neighborhoods that whisked me northwest back towards the ocean. Komoot did a fantastic job taking on a weaving bike-friendly path down lesser-used roads and bike multi-use paths through the outskirts of downtown San Diego right back to Torrey Pines and the Pacific Coast Highway. Once I reached the ocean, I laid out on the beach and enjoyed the perfects temps and sun with my bikepacking rig laying in the sand.
The latter half of my afternoon was spent cycling directly inland from Encinitas towards Escondido. Unfortunately, Komoot struggled more here, repeatedly taking up giant climbs and down big descents straight into private property notices. I was forced to turn around and retrace my route repeatedly in a giant semi-circle of approaches until the evening came and found me finally arriving at my aunt's house. I hadn't seen my Aunt Martha nor my younger cousin for some time, so it was great to converse and catch up with them. With the scolding heat descending on the area, I was happy to have truncated my route. However, I knew I'd be back to ride the whole thing again as the Stagecoach 400 is beyond a doubt, a phenomenal spread of SoCal environs from pine forests to desert to oceanside beach.
