# Palomar Ride tomorrow morning (San Diego)



## c0braje7 (Sep 28, 2005)

I will be riding Palomar tomorrow morning. I plan to park at North County fair and then ride up through Lake Wolfford over to Palomar. I believe it is roughly a 50-60 mile ride. If anyone is interested I will be leaving the mall at 5AM.


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## 3465mike (Dec 7, 2004)

I've heard how epic Palomar is ........I can't make it tomorrow but would like to eventually.......can you give me specific direction on how to get there, routes etc? thanks.....Mike
[email protected]


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## -CM- (Jan 6, 2006)

c0braje7 said:


> I will be riding Palomar tomorrow morning. I plan to park at North County fair and then ride up through Lake Wolfford over to Palomar. I believe it is roughly a 50-60 mile ride. If anyone is interested I will be leaving the mall at 5AM.


Lucky you! I've done that ride 2 or 3 times. Have you done it before? Are you going down the other side (East Grade), then heading back on Hwy 78? That's an incredibly scenic route, and I plan on riding it in October, when the temperature will be much nicer. You're smart to start at 5AM, because it's going to be toasty in July. Wish I could be there. 

Do you make the extra jaunt to the observatory? It's not very long, but I remember it was quite challenging. Don't know that I'll do it again, but it was nice to do once.

Have fun!


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## c0braje7 (Sep 28, 2005)

I generally ride Palomar twice each month. There really isn't a substitute for the training that you get from that mountain. It is a beautiful ride and it can be very hot. I ride it as frequently as possible when the weather is good. Once the snow sets in the mountain is off limits.
I actually just pulled up a Polar graph and it is 44 miles with 5520 ft of climbing riding from my starting point up the front side and then back the same way. Adding on the backside would bring it closer to the 50-60 miles I am shooting for. I tend to not ride up to the observatory but its a good idea that I might throw in on a future ride.


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## -CM- (Jan 6, 2006)

>44 miles with 5520 ft of climbing 

That's interesting. My backyard ride is to Mt. Wilson. From my door to the top is 60 miles with about 5300' of climbing. If I decide to avoid the cross-town jaunt and start the at the Rose Bowl, its 48 miles with about the same amount of climbing. The Mt Palomar climb is tougher, though.


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## c0braje7 (Sep 28, 2005)

Let me clarify the ride just to make sure we are on the same page. There are two climbs before the mountain that are killers. Those make up for about half of the climbing I noted. Then you hit the front side and the real climbing begins. Here is a link to a local webpage that breaks down the majority of the climbing http://socalvelo.com/sub/palomar.html. I start further out and there is a big climb just to get to Highway 76.
I'm not familiar with your route but it doesn't sound like a push over. Palomar is well known for being a bear to ride. Most people who bike down here have rode it at least once. I just enjoy climbing and it offers some of the best climbs around San Diego.


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