Ride the Point: 62 Miles, a Cabrillo Stop, and a Price Rise This Saturday

Overview

Ride the Point is Saturday, November 7 — twelve days out — and the price goes up this Saturday.

October 31 at 11:59 p.m. is the deadline for the current rates on the two long routes — registration is open now. There's a second deadline after it: Wednesday, November 4 is the last day to register for the "exclusive hidden routes." If you're going to do this, the decision is this week, not next.

It's the 13th annual Ride the Point, hosted by the Point Loma Rotary Club, and it's properly called the Jim Krause Memorial Charity Cycling Ride the Point. Proceeds go to the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center research team that treated Jim Krause — the same team, named specifically, not a general fund. The ride has raised over $500,000 for pancreatic cancer research.

Here's the thing that makes the 25-mile route the one most people should pick, and it's not the distance.

It stops at Cabrillo National Monument. You ride out along the west side of San Diego Bay past Fort Rosecrans, with Coronado and downtown across the water, up to the end of Point Loma — and then back down through Ocean Beach and around Mission Bay. That's the best twenty-five miles of road in the city, and it's a stop on the route rather than a detour.

The Routes

Family Fun Ride — 5 miles · starts 8:00 a.m.

• Bike paths and sidewalks along San Diego Bay, starting at the USS Recruit
• Traffic control at all intersections — the only route where that's true
• $25, or $10 for ages 0–18

25 Mile "Enthusiast Ride" — starts 7:00 a.m.

• Liberty Station out along the west side of San Diego Bay, past Fort Rosecrans, with views of Coronado and downtown
• A stop at Cabrillo National Monument
• Then Ocean Beach, a loop around the east side of Mission Bay, back through Robb Field, finishing at Liberty Station
• $80 — rising after October 31

Metric Century — 62 miles · starts 7:00 a.m.

• Everything in the 25-mile route, plus a northern loop
• Up Rose Creek and Rose Canyon trails, through La Jolla Colony and UCSD North Campus — with a rest stop at the Moores Cancer Research Center, which is where the money goes
• Out along North Torrey Pines Road to the edge of Del Mar, back through Carmel Valley, UCSD, Mission Bay and Robb Field
• $100 — rising after October 31
• Includes a VIP reception, jersey, lunch, parking and swag

Also offered: a VIP Ride at $200, a Student rate at $25 (ages 15–24), and a Military rate at $25 for active duty.

Know Before You Ride

• The roads are open. In the organizers' words, "All roads and bike paths are open to other traffic including cars, bikes, and pedestrians." Course marshals are at major turns, but this is not a closed course. The Family Fun Ride is the exception — that one has traffic control at every intersection.
• Helmets are required, along with other safety gear as needed.
• E-bikes with pedal assist are allowed, with assist requested "only on climbs or when necessary to stay in the flow of traffic."
• Riders must carry private health insurance, and must show photo ID at sign-in and carry it during the ride.
• Rain or shine.

The Day

• 6:00 a.m. — packet pickup opens
• 6:30 a.m. — starting lineup
• 6:45 a.m. — opening ceremonies
• 7:00 a.m. — wave start for the Metric Century and 25 Mile
• 8:00 a.m. — Family Fun Ride start
• 9:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. — the expo
• 2:00 p.m. — event ends

Packet pickup is also the evening before — Friday, November 6, 1:00–6:00 p.m., at the PLNU Conference Center. Take that option if you can. A 6 a.m. queue on a Saturday is avoidable.

What You Need to Know

• Registration, check-in and expo: Point Loma Nazarene University Conference Center Liberty Station, 2600 Lanning Road, San Diego, CA 92106
• Ride start and finish: the USS Recruit at Liberty Station, 2558 Lanning Road
• Five fully stocked rest stops, with water, juice, fruit and restrooms
• SAG support, plus a support vehicle and on-course bike repair from Moment Bicycles
• Every rider gets a collector medal, a promotional bag and post-ride refreshments
• Parking is included only with the Metric Century. The other distances aren't told where to park — worth asking when you register
• A free public healthy-lifestyle expo runs 9 a.m.–2 p.m. at Liberty Station, with vendors, music and refreshments. You don't have to ride to go to that
• Full route details and GPS maps are on the organizers' routes page; check-in, kit and rules are on the rider info page

Good to Know

• The price deadline is Saturday, October 31 at 11:59 p.m. for the 25 Mile and Metric Century. The new prices aren't published, so there's no way to know what you'd be paying by waiting.
• Hidden routes close Wednesday, November 4.
• Take the Friday packet pickup.
• The 25-mile is the sweet spot. Cabrillo, the bay, Ocean Beach and Mission Bay in one morning, and you're at the expo by late morning.
• Heads up on Liberty Station that day: a separate large family festival is running at Liberty Station on the same Saturday. Expect the area to be busy, and give yourself more time than usual to park.

Why It's Worth It

A lot of charity rides are vague about where the money goes. This one isn't.

The ride is named for one man, the beneficiary is the specific Moores Cancer Center team that treated him, and the Metric Century route literally rides through the research centre it funds and stops there. That's an unusually direct line between the entry fee and the thing it pays for.

And the route is the real draw. Fort Rosecrans, Cabrillo, Ocean Beach, Mission Bay — on a November Saturday morning, with rest stops and mechanics. Even the five-mile family option gets you along the bay with every intersection controlled, which for a kid's first organised ride is close to perfect.

For more of what's on, browse our full event calendar.