This route is the second in the series of gravel/mixed terrain populaires that Kelly D designed. This route is a doozy: over 40 miles of fun filled dirt, gravel and single track trails, plus 7 water crossings. Of the 23 miles of "paved" roads, 6.2 miles will be on the 56 bike path. Those short traffic sections are: Espola, Poway Rd/Community Rd, Sorrento Valley Blvd/Sorrento Valley Rd and Artesian Rd. You'll likely see more squirrels, roadrunners and quails than cars by the time you're done.
Ham Hock Trail 101k links the following trails in one populaire:
With 40 miles of gravel/dirt trails, the new gravel allowance adds 1 hour 4 minutes (64 minutes) to the time limit. This populaire's official finish time is 14:48.
A road bike is not recommended. There are some short technical and rocky sections. For novice gravel riders, walking/hiking is an acceptable gear to use to finish this populaire safely.