I’ve only lived in North Park for a couple of months but have been working on finding the best route to get from here to Ocean Beach, my favorite San Diego beach, since I moved in. The biggest issue is finding a good route from the mesa that North Park is on down into Mission Valley. Once in Mission Valley the very solid path along the San Diego River takes you comfortably and quickly directly west to the Pacific Ocean.
I’ve tried various routes into Mission Valley – Texas Street in North Park, Fairmount Avenue between Kensington and City Heights, Bachman Place in Hillcrest – but found them all lacking. Fairmount is very, very intense (read: dangerous) on a bike and Texas only slightly less so. Bachman Place is a much better alternative although it is a meandering windy road down the hill, not bad for cruising down but quite a long haul back up. Recently I was informed of a path through Old Town and it is my favorite by far. After a couple of practice runs I took this trip “in earnest” this week. [Read more…]