Cycling on the 5 freeway in San Diego (legally)

Prior to 2020, it was possible to ride on the I-5 freeway (both northbound and southbound) between UTC and Sorrento Valley here in San Diego. Legally!

I know. Legal or not, it probably seems like a really dangerous and stupid thing to do. It was. But it was also a heck of a lot of fun.

Note: There is now a designated bike path that runs along the western side of I-5 between Genesee Avenue and Sorrento Valley Road. This eliminates the need to ride directly on the freeway (northbound and southbound). Riding on the freeway is no longer legal. #wompwomp

Map showing bike route along I-5 between Genesee Avenue and Sorrento Valley Road in San Diego — FYI, it’s about 1 mile (1.6 KM) between Genesee Avenue and Sorrento Valley Road.

What it was like to ride a bike on the I-5

To be completely honest, riding a bike on a busy freeway is not as scary as it sounds. Especially the particular stretch of freeway between Genesee Avenue and Sorrento Valley Road.

Riding my bike northbound on the I-5 freeway in San Diego

The shoulders are wide and the cars don’t drive by as closely as they do on surface streets. Yeah, they are going much faster. It was still dangerous AF, but it didn’t seem like it.

Riding a bicycle on the I-5freeway in San Diego in heavy traffic

Riding on the shoulder of interstate 5 on a bicycle in San Diego

I recorded a full video of this ride (both northbound and southbound) with my GoPro Hero 4 mounted to the frame of my custom built Nashbar cross bike in January 2016. Video quality is terrible (because Hero 4), but it still captures the full essence of what the ride was like:

Going northbound

Northbound from Genesee to Sorrento Valley Road was by far the sketchiest of the two directions. The on-ramp was downhill, so it was possible to build up quite a bit of speed as you merged onto the freeway. Fast bike + fast cars + debris on the shoulder + loud noises = a very butt puckering experience:

Notice the construction barriers in the video. Work to widen Genesee Avenue (and to integrate the dedicated bike lane on the westbound side of I-5) had already begun.

Going southbound

As you can see, the shoulders are generous and the cars whizzing by are far enough away that it’s not any more nerve-racking than riding on a busy surface street around town:

As sketchy as riding on the freeway was, I will admit that I still miss it from time to time. The new bike path that connects Sorrento valley road to Genesee Avenue isn’t anywhere near as much fun IMHO.