Will Blog for Food

Biking San Diego: Downtown Loop, South Park, North Park and Back

We start at the 12th and Imperial trolley station and head east on Imperial  Avenue. There is a lot of local color on Imperial Avenue not seen in Downtown although it's only a few blocks away. You can click on the pictures to make them larger.

We take a left on 25th St and head north to Golden Hill. Some of the landmarks along the way:

We cross Broadway and are in downtown Golden Hill. A good stop is at Panchita's bakery. Continue on to C street and take a right. Go to 30th and take a left. Now we're heading for South Park. In a few blocks, you'll find yourself on Fern. No worries. Stay on the main drag. It changes back to 30th at Juniper. Some of the sights of South Park:

Stan's Barber Shop really stans out! And there are a number of Laundromats, Laundramats, Laundermats, Laundrymats ... even Lavenderias! It seems to be one word in the English language that has no official spelling.

We are almost to University Avenue where we take a left. Here are a couple of final shots on 30th Street.

Finally, we turn west on University and pass an Albertsons. In just a few blocks we turn left on Park Avenue and head back toward downtown. We pass this church on our left.

We pass the zoo and Balboa Park and pass under this pedestrian bridge:

We see this view of the city and the El Cortez as we approach downtown.

This whole trip only took a couple hours and we passed through several outlying neighborhoods of the city. We board the trolley for the trip home wherever that may be! Yep, you can take your bike on the trolley. No problem!

Tecolote Canyon and Linda Vista

Taking a bike on the trolley is no problem. Just position the bike at the end of the car and stay with it. We take the San Diego Trolley Blue Line from downtown to Old Town and transfer to the Green Line getting off at the first stop: Morena Linda Vista. We then walk straight into the Village at Morena Vista - a group of apartment buildings and shops built right on the trolley stop. Now wasn't that a good idea! Urban planning at its best with the idea of reducing freeway congestion. Thank you CCDC. We head across the parking lot, and through the Starbucks patio to the corner of Napa and Linda Vista Road. Then cross over in both directions ending up on the northeast corner. Head north on Napa merging into Morena after a block. Then go a few blocks and take a right on Tecolote Road. After a short distance you will see Tecolote Park and Recreation Center on your right with a lot of baseball fields. Straight ahead is the entrance to the nature trail. There is also a Nature Center here and then you see the entrance to the Hiking Trail. Fortunately, my bicycle has a lot of shock absorption features so taking it on the trail was no big deal. It's great for riding on streets too. I got it at Target for around $100 - the deal of the century. Finally, I got a big, comfortable padded seat instead of that narrow little thing that was a pain in the butt. Now I can sit and peddle very comfortably without getting tired. The 21 gears work well also. Now if I could just get rid of these squeaky brakes. By the way click on any picture to see a larger version.

There are a lot of runners and joggers using the trail.

Tecolote Canyon is filled with a lot of natural beauty!

Tecolote Canyon is huge. We only go about halfway. Then we come to the Sam Snead Golf Course on our left:

Then we veer off the main trail taking a right hand turn and climbing the canyon wall to the street above:

We see a gate that leads onto a street in a really nice apartment complex, Casa Bella:

Follow Tunica Circle to Inman Street, and then take a right on Inman. Here are some Christmas decorations on Inman Street:

Follow Inman to Osler St. and then take a right on Osler. Go right again on Ulric and this takes you over to Linda Vista Road on which you again take a right. Now we are on the final leg of our journey, and it's downhill all the way from here!

You will soon come to the Linda Vista Shopping Center on your left anchored by the Vien Dong III supermarket. Linda Vista is mainly a Vietnamese community, and there are several Vietnamese restaurants here one in the Vien Dong itself! The Vien Dong is unlike any other supermarket in San Diego having signs in Spanish and Vietnamese only. So much for English! The other remarkable thing about the Vien Dong is that it has the freshest seafood in San Diego. In fact a lot of the fish are still alive swimming around in large tanks.  

Further on down the hill we pass University of San Diego on the right. Soon we're back where we started at the corner of Napa and Linda Vista Road. The Starbucks on the opposite corner beckons to us:

There is a FedEx Kinko's and a Subway in the Villlage at Morena Vista as well as a Taco Del Mar, a Jamba Juice, a nail salon and a number of other shops.

We ride across the parking lot to the trolley station and, after a short wait, our Green Line Trolley comes for the return trip to downtown changing again at Old Town to the Blue Line. Our bike trip has only taken about an hour to and from the Morena Linda Vista trolley station.