I've ridden both of the shores of Hodges for years but have been wanting to connect it into a full loop for a while and finally did it. Started riding in the lot by the RB community park, which was much nicer than the normal lot by the mall and added some fun bits of trail. We rode the north shore of Hodges past the dam and up the switchbacks. Then we continued on some trails through RSF. Lost the trail a bit by Camino del Sur, we were hoping to keep off the pavement but had to cross a few roads. Ended up on a powerline road in RB around mile 21 that was pretty damn steep. Bailed on that and rode through some Westwood neighborhood streets to hook back up with the trails on the south shore. Total damage was around 26 miles and 2200 feet.

Word of warning, the gate in the parking lot is on a timer that is supposed to close at sunset. It was still light out and about 10 cars got locked in, had to take and alternate route to get out

no pics this time but here's the GPS and a map:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188149024

Nice! I want to try to do this route sometime. Thanks for inspiring me.

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A man that I didnt know died so that I could live.
I am trying to get to know who he was and
why he would do that for me.
Everyday I try to honor him by living as he did,
by loving people enough to die for them.
http://www.forgivenick.wordpress.com

That's a cool ride, did it a few months ago with Belizean and we added some Highland Valley Trail at the end to make a close to 30 miler.

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"We'll ride it until they pave it."

-Big Clyde

Very nice ride - I have to try that one of these days. That SDGE road in RB is a real bitch, ain't it?

About the RB parking lot - yeah, I parked there one time and came back to find that the gate was closed. I thought I was locked in, but there was a sensor that opened the gate when I got close to it. YMMV.

That Gate will (should) let you out but not in.

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I've taken that power line fire road west of RB exactly once. It was almost impossible to push the bike up! Grab brakes, use bike to haul myself up a step or two, release brakes, push bike an arm length, repeat forever.

I like that loop, and there are some fun singletrack paths under the eucalyptus in south RB that you missed by going along RB road. But you did good by abandoning that awful fire road.

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Velo Ergo Endo

I've done a similar route several times. Usually we start at Hernandez because it's a good spot for after ride celebration. I've done the powerline trail once and never again. Now we just take an..eh.. alternate route through some open land....
Great ride, one of the best in San Diego, especially when you throw in the "Jungle Trail"

I guess I didn't have to drive down the sidewalk then thanks