Best of 2001: Best Downhill Scare On A Bicycle

Slaughterhouse Canyon
Highway 67 south through Slaughterhouse Canyon, Lakeside

Heading down Highway 67 from Scripps Poway Parkway, the shoulder is wide, the pavement is smooth, and for three miles the road rollercoasters gently. But then it starts the plunge into Lakeside, and the bank to your right levels off, then drops away precipitously. Welcome to Slaughterhouse Canyon, where the gusts of wind howling east on a hot day threaten to knock you off your bike as you coast at speeds in excess of 40 mph. The semis barreling by to your left create their own vortices of wind and heat until you feel like Ulysses caught between Scylla and Charybdis. Science tells you that your bike wheels are subject to a gyroscopic effect: the faster they spin, the more stable they become. Forget it -- you're going to ride the brakes until your hands ache. The crosswinds will buffet you for nearly two miles, all the way past the junkyard. At Slaughterhouse Canyon Road you can start to relax. You should stop shaking by the time you hit the traffic light at Gold Bar Lane, two and a half miles later.