AntSol Travel

This is the blog post version, a video version will be posted sometime later due to time constraints.

Orange County is spread out and car-dependent. However, if you plan right, you can go car-lite throughout the county. Thankfully, it is navigable with Metrolink, Amtrak, OC Bus, and the well-built bike lane infrastructure of central Orange County with their wide street roads to at least nibble a bit of road for bikes when the road was resurfaced & restriped. Let’s go on another bike adventure!

For fitness, I jog, bike, and hike around various routes and destinations throughout Southern California via train or car to get to the staging point of my excursion. When my outdoor gear is wearing down, my favorite store to shop at is Recreation Equipment Incorporated, REI for short. When I saw that a new REI was having the grand opening in the Laguna Hills location on my day off, located 19 miles south of Disneyland, I knew I wanted to go. I wanted to do another bike & transit adventure.

For this trip, I will take the OC Bus from the ARTIC in Anaheim to Santa Ana, bike to Laguna Hills REI, with stops along the way, and then attempt to go as far as I can on a bike to San Juan Capistrano, which parallels the OC Bus line 91. In San Juan Capistrano, I would grab a quick dinner, and then take Amtrak back to Anaheim, and be back past 7 p.m. so I don’t have to deal with pre-Angels game traffic. How far can I bike, do I have the energy to get to REI, and can I make it 10 miles to SJC, find out next on AntSol Travel!

This is part of my new commitment to showcasing how to be cleaner & greener on how we move around in car-dependent Southern California and ways for the guests of the region who don’t need a taxi, rideshare, or rent a car to get to their destinations by Instead go by foot, bike, bus, and train! It most likely does not work for everyone, but it is a step in the right direction! 

Segment 1: OC Bus 553 from ARTIC to Main & Edinger: 7 miles

The first segment was to bike from the apartment to the Anaheim Regional Intermodal Transportation Center (ARTIC), and then take the OC Bus 553 from Anaheim to Santa Ana at Main Street & Edinger. OC Bus is the county-wide public transit for Orange County by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), the transportation planning agency of Orange County. There are two types of scheduled bus service: regular bus service which frequently stops at most intersections for passengers, and the Bravo, an electric express bus that has fewer stops overall. To buy a bus fare, each bus is $2 per boarding, not transferable to another bus, and either pay on the OC Bus App, cash, or a prepaid monthly pass card for $69 from the OCTA store. An all-day pass is $5 if you need to take more than two buses in a day.

Since I am bringing along my bike, I will use the front bike rack, each bus has a front bike rack that can fit up to three bikes by BYK-Rak. To operate when not in use, squeeze the handle at the top of the rack to fold down and place the front wheel at the front wheel sticker. For the bike rack model that OC Bus uses, rotate a lever that moves the front wheel holder to hold down the bike. When exiting the bus, do everything in reverse. However, if another passenger has a bike on the bike rack if you are boarding or disembarking, you don’t need to flip back the rack since there is another bike on there.

The OC Bus 553 line goes from Anaheim, through Santa Ana, and into Costa Mesa. This connects the ARTIC, Angels Stadium & Honda Center, With hospitals & medical facilities in Orange, Main Place Mall, downtown Santa Ana & Orange County government offices, older pre-WWII neighborhoods of Santa Ana, and into Costa Mesa at the South Coast Plaza Mall. These destinations make it a really popular route, making it perfect for the Bravo limited stop routes, and people who want to use it for the convenience of not driving a couple miles from the medical center to their home in Santa Ana, or they need it because of the cost of maintenance of a car. Cars are not cheap to buy, use, or maintain. It is not easy to get a license, especially if the person immigrated to the United States who does not know English well or does not make good cognitive decisions while driving. For me, it was the convenience of not biking seven miles of not bike-friendly Santa Ana & Anaheim, which both cities lack bike lanes.

After taking the 553 for thirty minutes, we arrived at my stop, Main Street & Edinger, I got my bike off the bike rack, flipped back up the rack, and fixed the bike chain as it kept slipping off the pedal sprocket even though all the bikes shops I have been to say it seems fine, and got ready to head down Edinger for my next stop, Micro Center in Tustin, about two miles away.

Segment 2: Biking Edinger from Main Street to MicroCenter: 2 miles

At Edinger & Main was the Historical Santa Ana Business District along Main Street, according to Zillow, many of the homes are single-family bungalows here that were built in the late 1920s to early 30s, making the housing & commercial stock well over 90 years old. Edinger was seven lanes wide with some space for me to bike along the road if I needed to pass anyone on the sidewalk on the bike since I was not super comfortable on the road without at least a striped lane so drivers have their boundaries. On Google Maps, for some reason, it shows bus stops as bike lanes, which does not make any sense as to why that would be the case as there isn’t any striping for a designated bike lane.

About a mile later, Edgeiner went from a residential to a light industrial area with light manufacturing buildings and offices, with the increase of trucks and car lanes, so I had to be on the sidewalk. A mile later, I went under CA 55 to Tustin, where all the roads I would bike on would have designated bike lanes. Then I reached MicroCeneter!

Stop 1: MicroCenter

MicroCenter is a chain of twenty-eight computer stores throughout the United States, specializing in computers from getting a USB cable to building your gaming computer with the latest technology & graphics card. It is the perfect place to visit for technology enthusiasts and hopefully not overspend on a new computer. 

For this visit, I only need to get an SD card reader to the lighting adapter for my iPhone and iPad so I can do quick video edits without editing videos on my computer. They don’t have bike parking so I can just bring my bike in with me. Looking at the Apple section, the adapter was behind a locked door, so I asked a friendly store associate to help me get the adapter. Then I got the adapter, went to the restroom quickly, and then checkouted out. Then I got ready for the next segment.

Segment 3: MicroCenter to Culver Plaza: 3 miles

From MicroCenter, it was a really wide, really fast street road along Edinger with a 50 mph speed limit since there are a few stops before getting to Jamboree Road into a neighborhood. Due to the high speeds, I biked on the sidewalk for a bit until the bike lane was wide enough. Along the way on the right-hand side was the Tustin Blimp Hangers dating back from World War II to 1999 when most of the armed forces facilities were being decommissioned. Now, the land that was occupied by the surrounding base area called Tustin Legacy, was being redeveloped for more housing and commercial spaces as there is always a demand for housing, the surrounding offices, places to shop & eat, and easier commute for UC Irvine students as it is several miles away from campus. Past Jamboree Road, which is a city-owned controlled access roadway where only cars can drive and bypass traffic. Then Edinger goes into a residential neighborhood with a huge road going through it, which was built mostly in the 1970s. A few signals later, I arrived at the Culver Plaza Shopping Center.

Stop 2: Culver Plaza 

Culver Plaza is a massive strip mall located at Culver Drive & Irvine Center Drive in Irvine with 50 retailers & restaurants. I was there to get lunch from 99 Ranch & get cough drops for my sister since she still was dealing with a lingering cough. There were several bike racks around the shopping center, so finding bike parking was not an issue. 

99 Ranch is an Asian grocery store chain started in 1984 by Taiwanese immigrant, Roger Chen, as a way to fill the gap in his Asian American communities and get much more Asian cuisine products than most American grocery stores, such as moon cake for upcoming harvest moon, taro bread, and even roasted duck. They also have a bakery section that they changed up to be competitive with the Taiwanese bakery chain, 85C, with individually wrapped baked goods, and a hot deli with dim sum, Cwanesd BBQ, and even Panda Express-styled combo plates.

I got a combo plate with fried rice, orange chicken, and roasted duck as I ate duck a lot with my family growing up. I am half Chinese, so my mom & I would regularly go to the 99 Ranch to make Chinese dishes for dinner for family gatherings or at home with my dad & sister. After eating, I went to CVS, got the cough drops, and got ready to head out to the next segment.

Segment 4: Culver Plaza to Costco Irvine Spectrum 5.4 miles

From Culver Plaza, I went north on Culver Drive and went on the Walnut Trail to the Irvine Spectrum area. The Walnut Trail is a four-mile multi-use trail under a power line right of way, as it connects the Walnut neighborhood in Tustin to Sand Canyon Road in Irvine, and it connects neighborhoods so residents can have a safe place to walk & bike. The pathway meanders around the power line pylons while next to the train tracks that I will take back later that night, however, none passed by while on the trail since it was mid-day. Then past Jeffery Road, the train tracks and the bike path split the Oak Creek Golf Club in half and are connected by a golf cart footbridge. Then I passed by a storage facility and light industrial buildings and ended at Sand Canyon Road.

Then I went up a block to cross Sand Canyon to go on to Laguna Canyon Road and then turned left onto Technology Drive. Technology Drive is a two-lane road with a speed limit of 50 mph and has narrow bike lanes, so I decided to go on the sidewalk, this was due to the Interstate 5/CA 133 tollway interchange above it, making the road a bit tight to drive & bike through. After that, the road widened back to normal with a massive bike lane, passing by office parking with massive parking lots. Past Barranca Parkway is Alton Marketplace, the massive strip mall with a huge parking lot due to parking requirements of huge furniture retailers, and Costco, the most lively of the bunch. 

Stop 3: Costco at Irvine Spectrum

Costco here is always busy with customers buying their weekly needs of bulk items for the week, however, I already went the week before, so I was there as a rest stop, restroom, and get a quick mocha freeze for a quick caffeine boost before my next leg of my trip of Laguna Hills. At the food court, they now use kiosks to scan your Costco membership card, place your order, and then wait in line to pick up your order with your receipt. Costco now requires you to scan your membership and has to be under your name as there have been articles online on what you can buy without a card. After drinking my mocha freeze, I prepared for the next segment to Laguna Hills.

Segment 5: Costco to REI: 6 miles

The next segment is the second all-bike lane segment from Costco at Alton Marketplace in Irvine to REI in Laguna Hills. From the Alton Marketplace, which a Bass Pro Shop is moving in, continues down Technology Drive through medical office parks, right on Alton Parkway, and then another right on Muirlands Boulevard. This was passing by farmland that was ripe for more housing development, and then passing by light industrial & office buildings.

At Bake Parkway, I entered into the city of Lake Forest, filled with single-family homes and low-rise apartments commuting to Offices & industrial areas of Irvine and surrounding cities. At Lake Forest Drive, there was a sign for a bike detour due to construction on Los Alisos Boulevard, I decided to ignore it since Lake Forest Drive did not have any bike lanes downhill and would be too dangerous as it goes to the ramps for the I-5, so I decided to continue on Muirlands to Los Alisos. Muirlands has a generously sized bike lane that I was more than confident to ride on as the width was the length of my bike, but no one else who was biking used the lane.

At Los Alisos Blvd was the bike route through El Turo Park going downhill, the park and pathway following Aliso Creek, Spanish for alder tree. When the park ended, I did not realize that there was a separate bikeway along the creek, so I followed the road, which was a huge mistake. The reason that the bike detour sign was up was due to the construction work at the I-5 overpass, so I carefully went on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road, and made it to the other side of the freeway at Avenida de La Cartola, Topper Avenue in Portuguese, to get to the shopping center.

There were two different apartment complexes, one of Sofi Laguna Hills, which seems to be on the older end, and then there is the newer Reata Laguna Hills with “resort-style amenities” apartments and front door access to the Oakbrook Village shopping center that’s hosts cafes, El Torito, Trader Joe’s, Road Runner Sports, and my next stop REI! 

Stop 4: REI Laguna Hills

September 15, 2023, was the opening of REI in Laguna Hills, hosting gear & clothing for outdoor enthusiasts of all levels. With their opening weekend, they had their brands informing customers about their wares in stores & outdoor recreation nonprofits to learn more about their work and table out in the parking lot with music & prizes. I first went to the REI booth and they had quiz questions, which I picked for National Parks. The question was which state has the most national parks, the answer was California with nine parks, then listed all of them, which I was stumped with and only got Yosemite & Joshua Tree. I still got the prize anyway since there were no losers, I got a color-in trucker hat, an energy bar waffle, and a 23% REI branded item, which I would use.

In the store I has the bike shop staff check on my bike’s front sprocket cover, which is all plastic, broke off on the front but the back was still intact, which unfortunately, they did not have the screw to reset the guard piece or even a derailer to keep the bike chain in place. In the store, I found an REI branded navy sun shirt, similar to my current orange Sun shirt, and used the 23% off, along with buying the REI Laguna Hills sticker for $4. After making my purchases and going to the restroom, I made my way out by biking instead of the bus, which was a huge mistake.

Segment 6: Paseo De Valencia: 1.5 miles

This segment from Laguna Hills to San Juan Capistrano would be ten miles but parallels the OC Bus 91 line as a backup. From the Oakbrook Village shopping center, next door is the Laguna Hills Transportation Center, the bus terminal for the OC Bus 91. I thought I should be fine, however, I was wrong at a couple of miles down Paseo de Valencia, it was the tail end of school traffic and the start of commute traffic, as car drivers were speeding along, just getting too uncomfortable to be along, and the increase in hills made me give up 1.5 miles in at Alicia Parkway. I checked the bus tracker and the 91 bus happened to come in a couple of minutes, so it was the perfect place to stop. When the bus arrived I loaded up my bike and tried to attempt to scan my pass but the bus driver was okay with it since it was activated.

Segment 7: To San Juan Capistrano

On the OC Bus 91 from Alicia Parkway, it was 35 minutes, 9 miles to San Juan Capistrano at Camino Capistrano & La Zanja. The route weaves through Laguna Hills, a stop that’s half mile to Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Metrolink Station, and then to San Juan Capistrano. I just missed the 4:30 pm Metrolink Inland Empire train then transferred to the Orange County line in Irvine, but I stayed in since I would’ve missed the train. I bought my Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train 587 online from SJC departing at 6:36 pm to Anaheim arriving at 7:15 pm, perfect so I just missed the Angels game traffic. The bus looped around Saddleback College, and then along I-5 into San Juan Capistrano, where I disembarked at Camino Capistrano & La Zanja, got my bike, and biked through the neighborhood to get dinner before going on the train.

Stop 5: San Juan Capistrano

A few blocks from the San Juan Capistrano train station & the mission are two separate strip malls that are in stark contrast to the storefronts that are right on the street up a few blocks by the train station. To get dinner, I wanted a local highly rated counter service restaurant, Pizza AmoreCafe fit the bill. It’s a quick counter service Italian restaurant with pizza that I can eat there and take the rest to eat on the train. Inside had wooden panels, and the outdoor walkway lot had tables & string lights to make it more inviting since it’s right at the parking lot. I got a personal-sized pizza with mushrooms. It was good and it was $14 with one topping, which was hidden under the cheese. After eating, it was thirty minutes before my train arrived, so I headed over to the train station.

At the San Juan Capistrano train station, it was still twenty minutes before my train arrived, then I saw that people were getting headshots there and I wanted to make a rail safety month PSA. “Welcome to San Juan Capistrano station, Surfliner 587 in 20 minutes! This station is well-loved for portrait photo shoots with a mix of historic architecture and trains. Today’s rail safety tip, if you are taking photos, don’t take them on or near the train tracks, please take pictures behind the yellow line if on the platform.” Please make sure to take photos at a safe distance from the tracks to not be hit by a train.

Segment 8: SJC to ANA on Surfliner

At 6:30 p.m., the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 784 to San Diego arrived, but I had to wait about ten minutes before the 597 to Los Angeles arrived. Since I had a bike, when I booked my reservation, I made sure to include my bike since there were only six bike spots on the train. When I got my bike fastened, the conductor scanned my ticket. Then the conductor asked the other man in his 20s, who boarded as well for his ticket, the man said he did not have a ticket or bought one on the app. The conductor replied that he was okay with the man just getting the ticket on the Amtrak app and that he would be fine, which he did later when I checked on my bike as I sat on the upper level. The lower level is reserved for people with disabilities, and the man stays on the lower level, not knowing the courtesy of the lower level unless explicitly stated by the conductor. It seems like so many people don’t research things before doing anything, especially trains, which I have another story for another post.

After my bike was secured, I gazed out the window while eating the other half of my pizza. I looked out the window of my bike & bus progress was undone, Bypassing Laguna Niguel as it is Metrolink station, stopping at Irvine but one of the elevators was down so trains had to take turns at the station, passing Tustin Metrolink station, stopped at Santa Ana, passed Orange Metrolink station, and arrived back in Anaheim. It was quite a journey, departing at 9:30 am from Anaheim, and arrived back 11 hours later at 7:30 pm. It was fun, got plenty of exercise, got a new Sun shirt & REI store sticker, delicious pizza, and became more well versed in transit by taking the OC Bus & Amtrak.

Getting back to my apartment, I passed by Angels Stadium, which the Los Angeles Angels were playing The Detroit Tigers just started, so I don’t have to deal with incoming car traffic. The Angels lost 2-11, and were even swept the whole series by the Tigers.

I hope this helps you learn more about transit & biking around Southern California, and you don’t need a car if you plan things right! Thank you for reading & watching (my future video)!