In September 2021, I spent 3 days in Oceanside, CA and stayed at an AirBnb that provides some 1 speed bicycles. Unfortunately, my seat was all the way down and the host did not have an Allen wrench to adjust it. After I bought a wrench set at Wallmart I was able to have 3 days of wandering around this beach town in the mornings before my wife was ready to go for the day. She is still recovering from a broken arm so she was not able to ride with me. The bikes were really beach cruisers and are not meant to go up hills. This was fine if you stay near the beach, but Oceanside does have some hills if you try to explore some roads inland.
We stayed in South Oceanside so my first trip was to the Oceanside pier which was hosting a surf tournament for disabled surfers. Very cool. Then I headed up to the marina and then the San Luis Rey River trail. Protected trails for most of it or beachfront roads with limited traffic. It was really fun to be riding along the beach in warm weather at 8am in the morning. Camp Pendleton is just North of Oceanside so the trail kind of stops North of the Marina unless you want to turn inland and ride up the San Luis River Trail. I didn’t see too many bikers on the trails and almost no commuters even though it was a weekday morning.
Going South the 4 miles towards Carlsbad was the next couple mornings. There is a bike route all the way to San Diego but most of it is just painted lines or shoulders on the side of the highway. It was beautiful but there are runners in the bike lane or on the shoulder most of the way. The first couple of miles are along train tracks and protected lanes. Then next couple of miles are on the highway and then you hit Carlsbad. Carlsbad signed the trail as going along their main street which is not a place for an all ages and abilities trail. The lanes disappear and are replaced by street and angle parking in their little downtown. It then comes back as a protected lane along train tracks after the little town. I went a few more miles towards Encinitas and then turned around. Really a great ride and view even though it was along the highway.
Overall, it was a great place to bike. There is an attempt to make bike infrastructure but it isn’t quite at the level of “All Ages and Abilities” in most places. I saw a lot of recreational riders on beach cruisers and a few serious cyclists but I didn’t see anyone using a bike trail that looked like they might be commuting or doing errands. Southern California is still a car first area and bikes are really just for fun here. But, I had fun and I really would like to come back and try the trail all the way from Oceanside to San Diego. Or maybe even LA to San Diego.