A year ago I bought my road bike.  I took it for the maiden voyage at the invitation of my friend Chuck (who also talked me into this triathlon thing) and road about 45 miles across Camp Pendleton Marine base, San Onofre State Beach, the South end of San Clemente and back.  At that time, it was the longest bicycle ride I had ever done.  It was tough going for me.  Butt hurt.  Legs hurt.  Cold.  Windy.  First time using clip in pedals.  I did it though and as usual, mostly remember the thrill of the accomplishment more than the uncomfortable moments.

One year later I am in tremendously better shape.  However, most of my riding has been focused on climbing.  For the triathlon, some longer, flatter, and faster rides would be good training to build some fast twitch muscle ability for speed.  So, I decided today to venture back out to this route and see what kind of speed I could put behind me.

The jersey pick today was thanks to my mother.  Even though I turned 53, she still throws me a few bucks each year with one stipulation.  I must buy clothing with my alma mater emblazoned on it.  Thus, today we rode with maroon and gold pride.

I started the ride in Oceanside with the first bit of Tim Hackbardt irony for the day. Oh, yes there will be more.  As I unloaded my gear from the van, I noticed that I was parked at the corner of Fremont and Michigan Street.  Fremont, Michigan (Home of Gerber baby food by the way) is just over 30 miles from where I grew up in Howard City, Michigan.  I had to wonder if there is a story behind these roads that lead back to someone who used to live in Fremont, Michigan who moved to California?  Just thinkin’.

I rolled from the corner of Fremont and Michigan Street down to the Oceanside Pier. Earlier this morning there was a dense fog warning, but once I got to the pier, it was nothing but sun.  Chilly, but sun.

From the pier, I wound my way around the harbor and then up to the entrance to the base.  To get in, you must register online before you go which I did a year ago.  A soldier scans your drivers’ license and then you are on your way.

I literally was not more than a half mile past the gate and I could barely believe what I saw.  Tim Hackbardt irony moment #2.  A huge sign from my own university thousands of miles away letting the Marines know they can get a degree from Central Michigan University.  How ironic is that on the day I decide to first wear my Chippewa cycling jersey for the first time?

Continuing on my way, the route took me through a busier part of the base filled with a fair amount of density of retail and other buildings with quite a bit of traffic.  After about 2 miles, there is a left that diverted me away from this and down less traveled roads into the base where there is more open space and is used for training.  Case in point is this Tank Xing painted on the road.  Not generally something you run into in the regular world, but greatly appreciated.  I definitely looked both ways before proceeding as the math is conclusive…tank beats bicycle.

After about 12 miles bicycles are diverted onto a combination of paved trail and what appears to be an old paved road.  The paved trail is next to the old road which seems odd since there is plenty of pavement with the road.  Within about a half mile the picture becomes clearer.  The old road turns into an exceptionally well built concrete road.  However, the lanes on this road are much larger than normal.  As I was contemplating this, it finally dawned on me that this doubles as a landing/runway when needed.

Within a few miles after this there is a crossing that goes under Highway 5 to the Pacific Ocean side to the West.  Again, this is primarily on a trail with ocean views to the left and mountain views to the right.

This is short-lived as it transitions to San Onofre Bluffs Campground.  Miles and miles of camping spaces with access to walk down to the Pacific Ocean.

On this first day of February, it was almost completely vacated.  This is where I was really able to get into a rhythm on the flats keeping the speed between 16mph and 18mph sustained for quite a few miles.  I only ran into one group of hardcore surfing campers along the way.  Every single other campsite was empty.

Eventually, the campground ended to a much less scenic view of the now inactive San Onofre nuclear power plant.  Inactive is a relative term.  Not sure how you can say it is inactive when radiation half life is longer than mine entire life.  Plus, as we understand, the fuel has not been removed.  It is still being stored there because it is either too dangerous to move or there is nowhere to take it.  I think I sped up a little more past this space.

Past the power plant are two famous surfing beaches.  San Onofre and Trestles.  Usually, San Onofre is longboard dudes and Trestles is full of shortboard dudes.  About 20 years ago I was one of those longboard dudes down there.  Not my best sport.  It was almost like “Midwest Boy” was stamped on my head I was so bad.  I sold the board long ago and freed up space for dudes and dudettes who could make better use of the long rides on the long boards.

Past Trestles is the turnaround.  I was enjoying my speedy ride and noticed that halfway into it I was feeling particularly strong so I kept up the pace on the way back.  This is good news since we have 50+ fast paced miles in Whistler, B.C. to contend with.  There is some climbing there which will play to my strength, but traditionally the need for speed is important in triathlons as I understand.

This pace continued until just after I exited the campground.  Then, all of a sudden, two military helicopters came flying low over the ocean bluff.  A bit startling, I skidded to a halt knowing that I better get a photo.

As I took this photo, I noticed military vehicles in action beneath them.  The base was clearly active today.

As I regained my pace, fly-by’s and track based vehicles kicking up dust on either side of me continued for miles along with small arms firing off in the distance on what appeared to be a practice range.  It concluded with six Osprey’s and a few helicopters all landing in front of me a few hundred yards away.  I hope I never have to see that in more than a training exercise like this.  Quite impressive flight choreography and I was surprised at how large they are up close like that.

I was happy with my speed and stamina during the ride.  As will often happen, I felt a reward was in order.  Fast forward to me rolling up to a hipster foodie place.  Such a shocker eh?  Oceanside has been popping more and more of these up over the past few years and there was one just a block away from where I parked.  My choice this day would be Local Tap House.  Or, LTH as it shows at the entrance.

The reward meal of the day started with a pint of Blood Orange Wit.  This was followed with my lunch entree of choice the Turketta Club.  Shaved house roasted herb turkey, avocado, fried egg, bacon, cheddar cheese, butter lettuce, tomato, cranberry chipotle jam, garlic aioli on a thick cut squaw bread.

Results for the day included two massively ironic Tim Hackbardt Michigan moments, good continuous pace over 43 miles of relatively flatish pavement, decent speed, odd sort of interaction with a mock invasion using real military vehicles, and the best club sandwich I have ever had.