# LA training routes.



## norman99 (May 25, 2017)

Hi everyone,

I'll be in L.A. for 2-3 days next week and will be bringing my bike with me and I'm looking for some good training routes to ride. Unfortunately I'll be staying at the airport, and won't have a car so anything will have to start and stop from there.

I'll probably have time for 2 short rides and one long one. I'm thinking of heading up Mandeville Canyon Rd for a short climb, but for a long ride I'd prefer to keep things a little flatter, as I'm training for a half ironman. Anything up to a century would be great, if hilly maybe a little shorter.

Previously I've ridden the South Bay bike path to Redonda, so just looking for other options. 

So far using Strava Heatmaps as a guide, I've come up with one route as shown below, though it's hillier than I'd like. Is the PCH west of Malibu a valid option if trying to keep things flat? I was hoping someone could let me know how reasonable both the PCH and the rest of my route (largely on Mulholland Hwy) is with regards to traffic, road condition, etc.

Seems other options are the LA river or the SG river bike paths. How safe are these routes for a lone rider? I've read of a few incidents in the past although most seem a couple years old now. They do seem hard to get to from LAX, and quite frankly, a little uninteresting too, but I'm happy to be corrected.

Any other routes or advice anyone can offer would be most welcome.

Cheers, Michael.


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## arai_speed (Aug 19, 2003)

Anytime you go up into the Malibu hills the elevation gain will always be more than expected as the terrain tends to have many rollers that are not apparent on the maps.

If flat is what you want continue on PCH to Mugu rock and back...roughly 88 (141km) miles and 3500ft (1000m) of gain.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

The route you laid out is excellent in many ways, from weather to difficulty (not insane) to views. The thing is, Topanga Canyon and, to a lesser extent, Kanan Dume Roads (at least I think that's what's on your route) are well-trafficked commuter thoroughfares. I'm not 100% sure (memory fails), but I'm also pretty certain that Kanan-Dume has a scary tunnel at the top. If I were doing the route I'd try to do them during non-commuter hours, say between ten and two-thirty. Sure, it'd be virtuous to attempt it in the earlier morning, but I'd avoid that like the plague. All those deranged lawyers trying to make it to that court appearance downtown....


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

PCH west of Santa Monica is very popular. Until you get to central Malibu, it's pretty flat. Between Malibu & Pt Mugu I'd call it "gently rolling terrain". 
If you're in town on a Sunday, there's a group of typically 20-40 that leaves the downtown Manhattan Beach "Kettle" coffee shop @ 700am, bound for central Malibu. Many opt to keep on going, either further west on PCH, or for climbing in the Sta Monica Mtns.

PS: if you're on a TT bike, that will make most road cyclists nervous in a peloton. Best to stay toward the rear, and ride with hands on the "horns" whenever possible. I do see quite a few solo or small groups of 2-4 TT riders on PCH.


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