Just like my bike ride a week ago along highway 56, I didn't really know if I was going to go all the way with this Saturday bike ride. I woke up with a headache, but after coffee, food and aspirin I felt better. So I put on my biking gear, filled my water containers, pumped up my tires and headed off. My ultimate goal was to ride from my house to Santee via the bike path along highway 52. Getting there is not direct. You have to take lots of surface streets, pass over many freeways, some twice, and then after about seven miles of riding you reach the beginning of the bike path.
I had seen this bike path before as I drove along 52, but never really saw many bikers using it, unlike the path along highway 56. Probably because it is so hard to get to, plus, the hill you have to climb to get from one side to the other is pretty steep. The bike path is on the north side of the freeway, and is separated from the freeway, most of the way, by a duel guard rail. However, you are riding very close to the freeway where cars and trucks are flying by at 60 to 80 MPH.
I was lucky that it wasn't too warm and there was a slight breeze to keep me cool. The path heading east was not as steep as I thought. I averaged about 8 MPH up to the summit, which is 821 feet above sea level, as you can see by the sign in the photo above. I had to stop, take off my backpack, get my phone to take this photo. I'm sure people driving by wondered what I was doing. After this small break is was all down hill. The hill was steep and I easily did 30 MPH but didn't feel comfortable going much faster. The bike path is not that wide, and there was a cross wind that made me feel less stable. Then there were the two bridges. They spanned valleys that were at least 100 feet below, and not liking high places, I slowed down and and tried not to look over the guard rail.
Once I got to the bottom where the bike path ends, I took a surface street another mile before I stopped to eat a protein bar, stretch my legs, and take a photo of my bike with El Capitan mountain in the background. After resting about 10 minutes under the shade of the tree I put my back pack back on and headed back home. It was only 14 miles to get here, so I knew my ride would be about 28 miles, and it was.
The ride back up the summit was slightly steeper. I averaged 6 or 7 MPH, either that or my legs were really tired, which they were. One major hazard on the bike path is the grates over the water drains. The spaces between the metal grates are wider than bicycle tires, so you have to be careful not to ride over them. I assumed that if I did ride over the drains, the bike would get stuck causing me to crash, and there are quite a few along the west-bound side of the path. Other than that, the ride back was uneventful. I only saw there other bikers on the path, so I didn't have to worry about being passed or passing any one, unlike the ride along Kearney Villa Road where I was passed by two large groups of bikers.
Once back at the end of the bike path, I retraced my ride back home. I think I had a good tail wind and made pretty good time. The entire bike ride took 2:20 minutes. My average speed was 11.6 MPH, which I think includes the stops I made. My computer does not record average moving speed separately from average overall speed, apparently. I burned 1556 calories, so I had to be sure to eat a healthy lunch and dinner, because one cheeseburger could add those calories right back on to my belly. So, after this fun and challenging ride, I need to plan my next biking adventure.
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