Motorbiking through eastern San Diego county

My original intention for this weekend had been to get the bike loaded and get on the road as soon as I could Saturday evening after work. I would find a place to camp Saturday night, lounge in my tent and around camp over breakfast, hike the late morning and early afternoon away, then ride back into San Diego just before dark. I had plans to sail on Monday, otherwise I would have camped both nights. However, the impending opening of yet another show had me sticking around Saturday night to be on call for any emergencies that might crop up that night, that would need to be taken care of before the next afternoon. I know, I know--costume emergency!?! Well, it does happen, and as The Old Globe has so many performances, extra help is sometimes necessary.

Of course, as it turned out, I was not needed. And since I awoke Sunday morning to a bright, beautiful sunny day sans work, I did what I really love to do on a Sunday. I went out to breakfast--many thanks to Judy The Beauty at Big Kitchen in South Park--and then I took myself for a nice long ride. Most of today's miles were on pavement. I headed east on 94 through Jamul until I came to Honey Springs Road. A left turn there took me further from civilization to a slightly higher altitude and lovely foothill country dotted with sprawling farms.

Feeling like I had missed out on another great weekend with the RMAR Rendezvous, my heart and my motorbike went in search of dirt roads and found them.

Eventually, I made my way back north to I-8 and headed east a few miles. Missing the exit for the Sunset Highway (doh!) I hit the next exit--Buckman Springs Road--which, conveniently, had a rest stop. I had a nice long drink of water and noticed that my thermometer was reading just over 90 degrees. I hopped back on the bike and took Buckman Springs Rd to Morena Stokes Valley Road. This road immediately turned to dirt and gravel, and led into hill country to the Corral Canyon OHV area.

Oops! Pardon the finger. I love this jacket, but boy, the day was almost too warm even for that one. The thermometer was edging towards 100 degrees, and I was whisking I had armor and a light jersey instead of a full on jacket.

Oops! Pardon the finger. I love this jacket, but boy, the day was almost too warm even for that one. The thermometer was edging towards 100 degrees, and I was whisking I had armor and a light jersey instead of a full on jacket.

I rode out to the staging area for the OHV area and then kept going until I found a campground. Before leaving for San Diego, I did a little research on areas to ride off pavement, and was one of them. At the campground, I rode through to check it out. There were three or four groups of people, all with quads. Not so much with the motorbikes, or a smile for that matter. In fact, the stares looked just menacing enough that all I did was continue riding through. Was I being paranoid? I don't know, but I chose to not press my luck.

The dirt roads had sections that had gravel dumped on them for some reason. I kept flying around curves just to find there was another one ahead, only it was covered in 2-3" of gravel. I hate that!

The dirt roads had sections that had gravel dumped on them for some reason. I kept flying around curves just to find there was another one ahead, only it was covered in 2-3" of gravel. I hate that!

My original plan in riding that area had been to take Los Piños Road to Corte Madera Road which would then spit me back to the interstate. I had looked at it on Google Maps in the satellite mode, and thought it might be doable. But as I sat at the junction where Los Piños Road began, I got a little nervous. I like riding off road a lot and I have a method that works for me when I ride alone. I ride as far as I like as long as I feel relatively comfortable with a couple of things. One is that I need to be able to turn around and go out the way I came in if I got into terrain I didn't think I could handle. The other is that I need to ride in spaces that are wide open enough that if I drop my bike, I won't be run over by a quad or a 4x4 zipping around a curve. Los Piños Road failed it both categories from what I could see. So...I exercised my first rule above, turned around, and rode out the way I came in, and continued south on Buckman Springs Road to the turn off to Morena Valley.

Cooling down in some shade for a bit after riding about 20 miles of twisty dirt road in the screamin' sunshine.

Cooling down in some shade for a bit after riding about 20 miles of twisty dirt road in the screamin' sunshine.

I love all of these old oak trees. The first couple miles of this road were like a tunnel through them. They had grown ov from each side and interlaced their branches.

I swung into Morena Valley and stopped at the gas station/market for some more water. The only thing I needed was water. I had planned on just buying water. When I got to the cashier, I had water. And cranberry juice, a king-sized Neapolitan (mistake! I really only like the vanilla) ice cream sandwich, and the largest bag of chile and lime chicharrones they had. The cashier asked if I had everything I needed and told him that, yes, yes I had all the ridiculous things I could possibly need. He just laughed and said he does the same thing when he stops at stores like that. It could have been true. Then again, he may have been trying to make me feel better about my truly horrific culinary choices.

Ice cream sandwich! It's just about the only way I really eat ice cream--you know, between two cookies!

Ice cream sandwich! It's just about the only way I really eat ice cream--you know, between two cookies!

Lake Morena Road took me out of town, and hooked me back up with Buckman Springs Road, which I then followed south to 94. I headed west, back towards San Diego, and after I had gone a few miles, I started to notice a really impressive fence off to my left. My left, meaning south. Duh! It was the border, and it was a REALLY impressive fence.

See the dark line of fencing near the top of the hill--that's the U.S./Mexico border. Looks small in the pic, but its actually quite tall.

See the dark line of fencing near the top of the hill--that's the U.S./Mexico border. Looks small in the pic, but its actually quite tall.

After stopping to take a picture--in an area I'm not entirely certain I was allowed to stop in (don't tell anyone...)--I rode to Potrero and turned off onto Potrero Valley Road. According to Google Maps, this road would head north, then loop around back to 94. Only...that road split. Not into to other paved roads, or a paved road and a dirt road, or even two dirt roads. This road split into what looked like sand quad trails! Right before the split, there was a very handy sign warning drivers that the pavement ends. Well, no shit! So, once again, I turned around and headed back to 94.

 

There was a completely unnecessary sign saying "Pavement Ends".

Getting back to 94, I wound up behind a jerk who couldn't get off his phone (this is super illegal in California, but many don't pay attention to this law) and then had to sit behind him for twenty minutes when I came upon the immigration checkpoint (not on Google Maps!). I briefly considered trying to get around him and asking the immigration agent to give him a hard time because of the phone, but there wasn't really a good opportunity. They made each vehicle stop and the occupants get out so they could look in back seats, trunks, way-way backs, etc. I was waved through without having to stop. I guess they could see I wasn't smuggling any undocumented immigrants in my tank bag.

The sign on this building advertised buffalo meat. When I went in and checked out their meat department I also discovered "dog burger". Uh...what!?!

The sign on this building advertised buffalo meat. When I went in and checked out their meat department I also discovered "dog burger". Uh...what!?!

As we continued along 94, we reached Honey Springs, where I made my first turn off of the day. I decided to get out from behind the phone jerk and turned. I thought I might head to Alpine then home, but as I got to the turn to Alpine, I made the decision I hadn't put enough miles on. I headed up to the 8, then across and up to Julian again. I didn't stop there, but turned and rode to Santa Isabel. There is a bakery there called Dudley's which conveniently also sells locally made jewelry. I bought a loaf of jalapeño cheese bread and mini cinnamon rolls, then stood in the parking lot putting on new earrings while snarfing down two cinnamon rolls. Yeah, they were pretty good.

In Santa Ysabel at Dudley's bakery. I bought Cinny minis and stood in the parking lot, next to my bike, scarfing two of them down.

In Santa Ysabel at Dudley's bakery. I bought Cinny minis and stood in the parking lot, next to my bike, scarfing two of them down.

I rode on home through Ramona and Santee, a ride that has become my "usual" route. I put on a little more than 250 miles that day. I wore down the rest of the good road rubber on my tires, and I'll be ready for off road worthy knobbies next. Now, just to get back to Colorado and good off road riding!

 

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