A mystery solved...

In our post-911 world, I was not sure about access to Camp Pendleton.  An important link in my planned bike trip to visit Brett & Tiranan in Long Beach, I set out to confirm I could make it to San Clemente.  Drove up to the Oceanside Transit Center & headed North on bike.  I woefully underestimated both the ease of access & the distance across the base.  The only ID needed to go through the South Gate was my driver's license...period.  No questions about my destination, plans, etc.  I had thought that this would be a quick little jaunt of approximately 20 miles round trip...oooops.  The bike route follows base surface streets for many miles before heading out to the coast at what the Marines call "Red Beach".  This is the area you see from the 5 as you pass by Las Pulgas Road & the Amphib Assault base( "No Beach Out of Reach").  From that point you are on the old 101 & passing through San Onofre State Park.  There was a lot of long gradual grades & winding roads.  While heading north I was joined by a fellow biker who was at my side for a few miles.  He was heading for his bivouac where about 700 troops were involved in a training exercise.  A freighter from Saipan was at anchor off Red Beach & they were off-loading & re-loading equipment, vehicles & supplies.  This was a rapid response training & was intended to simulate an emergency deployment.  Riding along with this fellow & hearing what he was doing made me think he had a pretty cool career path.  He was 48 years old, a fully pensioned Marine retiree but still had his military job(even the same office on base) as a civil servant.  Nice gig.  While not getting into a lot of detail(I was too busy huffing & puffing while trying to "casually" keep pace with this guy for a few miles), he said he was a "logistics officer"...anyhoo, he pulled out at Las Pulgas where their tent city was set up.  I finished the trip to San Clemente & then headed back to O'side & home.  I was allowed back on base with a wave of the hand & no ID check at all.  With a rather brisk headwind I really had to pump my way South...heavy-legged by the time I got to the car.  So much for an easy, breezy trip: 46.2 miles roundtrip, 10.9 mph average(how slow can I go?!) & 4 hours + to get it done.  This valuable exploration confirmed that I will break my Long Beach trip into two days...get to San Clemente/Doheny & crash in a motel...then on to Long Beach.  Looking forward to the journey & November  5th looks like the day.

By the way, I was too pooped to peep at whatever little bird friends might have watched me pass.  There was an impressive number of turkey vultures soaring around when I passed through San Onofre State Park.