SC Route - Video

 Wrapping up the SC400 Route with some video clips shot during our time out there.

SC Route - Day 5

28.5 miles - 984 ft. climbing

It was a beautiful but restless night at Fish Creek, nice stars and full moon, but wind gusts. We were both feeling dry and tired from the day before. After packing up, we pedaled into Ocotillo Wells and waited on some benches for the tidy little store to open. After purchasing snacks and Gatorade, we headed up the highway towards Borrego Springs. It was already hot, and the headwind was significant.

Turning towards Borrego Springs, we expected to be rewarded with a strong tailwind, but the hills blocked the wind. It seemed unfair. We stopped briefly at a giant mastodon, one of many oversized sculptures dotting the desert around Borrego, then pedaled into town for a burrito and soda at Los Jilbertos, a favorite stop for bikepackers.

We started to plan the next leg of our ride, up through Coyote Canyon and the infamous willows. Many parts of the route are tough, but with the high temperatures (87F) and wind advisory, it was going to be a grind. We decided to call our journey done and find a ride back to Idyllwild. 

Bailing out of a bikepacking trip is often harder than riding. Ideally somebody has a bike rack and room for you and your luggage. With two of us, it’s possible for one person to get a ride back to the car while the other waits (for hours!) with the bikes. A taxi business in Idyllwild was able to fetch us after a few hours, but luggage and wheels had to come off the bikes with careful packing into the back of an SUV. 

The driver was a character, regaling us with stories of how he came to be in Idyllwild after attending Coachella and seeing more concerts in 3 days than in his entire sheltered NY life up to that point: Dr Dre, Eminem, Amy Winehouse and Lionel Richie just to name a few.  He told us about his cat, chicken, hydroponic strawberry gardening, dislike of raccoons (he’d like to shoot them in the face for biting his chicken for no reason!), suspicions of independent gas station owners (octane level irregularities), getting a business degree in Connecticut, masters degree in teaching, making a difference by teaching children (3rd grade and under, before they develop an attitude), and owning property in NYC, New Jersey, and Florida.  He made a keen observation that a rooster sleeping perched on a fence with his head hanging down looks just like a meth head.  And although he advertises as a taxi service he was confused about potential passengers calling for rides to a wedding (what wedding?!, he seemed to think he should know about any nuptials happening ahead of time.)

He kept the windows down even though it was very chilly outside.  He warned Ed that he might have to take over driving a number of times as he hadn’t had much sleep recently.  We only ran out of gas once, and he kept one hand on the wheel most of the time, checking his phone (calls and messages from Burbank are bank!), shifting even though it was an automatic transmission, eating a burrito and nuggets and fries, speeding into corners and braking only after it was too late to control the turn, swerving as needed. We made 3 gas stops for a 78 mile ride if you include when we ran out and refilled from a gas can. Sitting in the passenger seat, Sarah quickly gave up on maintaining a relaxed appearance, gripped the handle over the window, and kept her right foot firmly on the floor where a brake pedal would be if there was one on the passenger side. It was dark and cold when we got to the Bunkhouse in Idyllwild and our adrenalin levels subsided.   

SC Route - Day 4

79 miles - 5853 ft. climbing

It was just a little chilly when we left Alpine in mist and fog, our front and rear lights on for visibility on the road out of town. Soon water was dripping off our helmets. As we made our way up Viejas Grande, the clouds lifted, giving us a good view of the community as we climbed past. Victoria’s Kitchen in Descanso was closed, so we got supplies at the small store next door and were soon heading up the Merigan Fire road then onto the highway past Oakzanita (store closed). Part way along the singletrack to the Cuyamacas, we came upon a woman who had fallen from her freaked-out horse. Paramedics were attending to her. Her pretty Appaloosa rolled its eyes and whinnied in fear when he saw us, so we backed up and wheeled  our bikes down to the nearby highway, picking up the trail a few miles later. 

The singletrack through the Cuyamacas was fun and scenic, a new route since we last rode the stagecoach. The sky was a bright blue with only a few clouds on the horizon, a contrast  to our morning departure. A light wind kept us cool. We had a brisk ride to the top of Oriflamme, a rugged, rocky descent popular with 4 wheelers. A large rattlesnake near the top rattled at us, and the descent went pretty quickly. The middle part of Oriflamme had been graded, and was soft in spots, but brisk. We had a tail wind when we hit the pavement, stopping at the Butterfield RV park to pick up some Gatorade, then zipping down to Aguas Calientes state park for water (the store was closed). 

It was 5ish when we entered the desert of fish creek, and quickly we started to feel the heat, probably in the lower 90s. The Hollywood and Vine sign appeared to be missing — a sight that gave us a good laugh on our first time thru a couple years ago. The building wind was behind us for 5 miles, but it hit us head on when we turned to enter the canyons. With the sand and headwind, going was slow. We stopped to look in side canyons and wind caves, taking it easy.

Around sunset we popped out of the canyon with a pale sunset on one side and the rising moon on the other. It was beautiful as we wound our way to the Diablo Drop-off, donning our lights before descending to Fish Creek. We haven’t done a lot of night riding this year. It was fun and fast and bumpy, hard to tell where pockets of deep sand may be lurking to grab your tires. We camped at Fish Creek Primitive Site, the only people there, having not seen another person since leaving the pavement. The camp site was nice, but we were dry and tired, the wind and heat having exhausted us earlier.

SC Route - Day 3

45.9 miles - 3993 ft. climbing

We got rolling even later on day three, getting coffees and breakfast sandwiches at the hotel cafe before we rolled out. It was misting lightly with a marine layer. The route thru the Otay wetlands, a new part of the route this year, was scenic, winding past mini lakes with ducks, across wooden bridges. A few parts were strange, like an area that seemed to be a half deserted plant nursery, and another place that seemed to be event parking for a water park, but overall great. After rolling up thru the Otay Hills we topped up our water and grabbed an early lunch. Some of the greenways rolled past charming neighborhoods, and finally we rolled up a different, slightly obscure entry to the Sweetwater trails than on the old route.

The Sweetwater trails are mysterious, sometimes steep, but beautiful. Often obscured by waving grass, bushes, and wildflowers you can’t always see where the trail is going ahead of time. 

After a break at the tiki hut, we continued on. This part of the trail was made more thrilling by running close to an old barbed wire fence, but tetanus be damned, we came to ride bikes! After a few miles, Ed had a flat tire after crossing some rocks. We were 6-7 miles from Campos Road ahead or the campsite behind (on last year’s route), and the leak along the bead didn’t want to seal. We considered our options. After adding sealant, using an air cartridge, and pumping like crazy, it was reduced to a slow leak. We pressed forward, walking over rocky areas so as not to anger the tire gods, intermittently pumping the tire. It was slow going.

At Campo Road we called the bike shop in Alpine to see if they could help if we could get there. The person who answered was weirdly unfriendly for a bike shop, something we also experienced there about 3 years ago. We decided to ride up the pavement to try to get there before their early closing today, and also so we could flag down help if things went further south. The dogs of Sloan Canyon will have to wait for another day to have a go at us! The sun finally came out, and it was humid, but not windy. 

In Alpine, the bike shop guy grudgingly sold Ed a new tire, super unpleasant but we got what we needed. We checked into the Ayers Lodge then had a great pizza and salad at the local brewery. It was a hard day for short miles.

SC Route - Day 2

76.8 miles - 3205 ft climbing

After a coldish night, we woke to a chilly morning and were a little slow to pack up. When we were nearly ready to leave the Dos Picos County Park, a neighboring camper came over to offer us coffee, observing that we appeared to be travelling light. We accepted 2 enameled mugs of coffee and chatted with our neighbor, originally from North Dakota, now a Californian, and spending the weekend camped with his 5 children. That park really did look like paradise for kids.

We headed back to Highland Valley Road to get on route, a little climbing and a fun downhill, several wineries and fruit orchards. Just before Escondido we rode over a berm to join the official SC route at a wildlife refuge. Lots of hikers, cyclists, and runners were out. We detoured into Escondido to partake of its culinary delights (McDonalds, Starbucks, and the gas station Food Mart). From there we took a use trail beside the highway to rejoin the route around Lake Hodges where a lot of people were out cycling and hiking.

We made our way up past the dam, across the bridge, and onto the trails to Del Mar. These are part of both the San Dieguito trails and the Coast to Coast trail. After a series of switchbacks where the trail is just a little too narrow to make all the corners, we popped out besides an upscale golf course and fancy Del Mar homes (mansions?). Down to the Ranch Market & Deli for lunch, then south along the beach, up the long climb past Torrey Pines, thru UCSD, along the connecting bike path to the sketchy parts of Mission Bay, thru beach traffic across and down to Dog Beach. We then wound along the twisty Ocean Beach bike path to the uber steep Hill Street.  Our glasses were fogging but we made it to the top without stopping, a triumph.  Finally past the San Diego harbor and bridge to Coronado Island to Chula Vista. 

It would be uncomfortable to make an urban camp in the city. While beautiful, many areas feel a little sketchy. We were debating where we would stop for the night when we found ourselves opposite the Rambler Hotel, a modest place with a serious dedication to a 1970s theme. There we booked a room and grabbed dinner.

SC Route - Day 1

98.2 Miles - 7805 Ft climbing 

We arrived in Idyllwild around 5pm, checked into the comfy Idyllwild Inn, loaded bags on our bikes, grabbed some pizza, and tried not to acknowledge to our bodies what we were about to subject them to. Because the weather forecast was hot, we decided on bivvy sacks over tents and left behind some warmer clothing options. Our hope was 4-6 days to do the route. Cutting weight and bulk makes the riding so much easier.

Saturday morning we woke fairly early, drove our car to a friend’s place where we had been offered a safe place to park for several days (thanks Brendan!). Then we hopped on our bikes and headed out. The morning was crisp, but the route starts up hill so we warmed up quickly. Soon we were on two-track and single track, but not without some navigational issues. It quickly became apparent that Sarah’s GPS device was flaking out. Since we’re riding together, Ed will mainly navigate. Of course we have the route on our phones too, less convenient, but a backup. 

After descending down to Lake Hemet, we pedaled up Little Thomas Mountain. The road seemed better than in the past. We had clouds of gnats around our heads most of the way, but, thankfully, they don’t bite. 

Soon we were in Anza where we replenished our water and electrolytes at the circle K. Only one dog chased us up the dirt roads past Terwilliger, and fortunately he was a little guy who wasn’t too motivated to catch us. We bypassed the Sunshine Market, having just filled our bottles in Anza, and set off over the Land of 1000 False Summits. The wildflower show was good, and the fast, paved roads down to Warner Springs much appreciated.

In Warner Springs, the gas station quickie mart was closed, so we topped up our water bottles at the fire station spigot and made a pit stop at the community center across the road. Several PCT hikers were there. It’s high season for the PCT; we were told only 50 people can start a day to minimize impact on the trail,

Josie’s Hideout Saloon was closed, so we headed up Mesa Grande with views of Lake Henshaw, then down the Black Canyon afterwards. This is almost the same timeline as when Sarah rode with Mike Ingram 2 years ago during the official SC400 event, but not a single whiff of skunk down the black canyon. Mike would be astonished, I’m sure. Two years ago it was the skunkiest stretch of road known to mankind.

We detoured into Ramona, avoiding the busy highway 78 descent by following the Ramona Alternate, hoping to snag a hotel room. We were pretty cold for a long while, crossing flowing water before we rolled into Ramona. We had no cell service for a couple hours until we got there, and unfortunately the Ramona Inn was full. We grabbed a fast food dinner while we debated our options: A cold, long ride to Escondido, stealth camp on the way though options were unknown, or the state park. Ultimately we decided to go a couple miles off route to Dos Picos State Park, a lovely and large campground with huge trees, showers, tons of families and kids (we found out the next morning). It was a good call. We rolled in around 11pm after a long day that took more out of us than expected. It was cold, and we second-guessed our decisions to leave warm clothes behind. 

Gearing up for the Stagecoach 400

Well not exactly the main event.  We were registered for the grand depart before work events took over our schedule.  We're heading out to ride the course on 4/19, the weather looks great!

We plan to ride together, but you can follow our individual trackers if you like.

Sarah's tracker

Ed's tracker