# Looking for 30 - 50 miles in Monterey Park and Beverly Hills



## eddy (Jun 5, 2005)

I will be spending a few weeks in SoCal and am looking for a few good rides. I will be spending some time in both Monterey Park near East LA College and in Beverly Hills near Mulholland & Beverly Glen.

Are these areas rideable? Safe? Bike lanes? Traffic? Hills?

Do I need to drive to ride someplace better?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Mulholland & Beverly Glen is ground zero for some of the best, if hilliest, riding in the city of LA. 

1) Do Mulholland Drive, end to end. Enjoy the views.

2) Dive south down Beverly Glen. Before you hit Sunset Boulevard (a street where bicycling is recommended only to those seeking martyrdom), make a right turn into Bel Air or a left turn into Holmby Hills. Even with a map, you're likely to get lost. But that's what cell phones and friends in the neighborhood are for. In any event, it's very posh. Very beautiful.

3) Go west on Mulholland Drive. Make your way down to Sepulveda Blvd. It's the road that parallels the 405 fwy. Go south on Sepulveda until you get to Constitution Avenue, just north of Wilshire Blvd. Navigate your way west through the Veteran's Administration Campus, and then navigate your way west to San Vicente Blvd. Follow your nose, or better yet get a map. Go west on San Vicente to Santa Monica. The street ends at a park on the bluffs above Santa Monica Beach. Enjoy the ocean view. 

For that ultra-macho fifty mile ride, continue by heading down to Pacific Coast Highway. Go north (actually west) to Topanga Canyon. Take Topanga up into the hills and into the San Fernando Valley. Take Ventura Blvd. east to Sepulveda. Climb your way back up to Mulholland.

Apart from the stretch along Pacific Coast Highway, all these routes are reasonably trafficked, at least by LA standards. With the exception of Pacific Coast Highway, all these routes reasonably safe...which means drivers are used to dealing with bicyclists and are reasonably polite. Don't expect any bike lanes, though. And road shoulders can mysteriously disappear in places.


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## eddy (Jun 5, 2005)

*Cool!*

Wow, sounds like I'm going to be in the right area, at least half of the time. Thanks for the info. I look to forward to climbing some hills!


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## The Walrus (Apr 2, 2000)

Ride north out of Monterey Park on Fremont Ave, up into South Pasadena. At Mission St., jog east about 3 blocks to Fair Oaks, then continue north into Pasadena, past Colorado Bl., over the 210 Fwy up to Washington Bl. Head west, passing under the 210 Fwy and keep going for another half-mile or so where you'll head downhill into the Arroyo Seco. You can head north on Rosemont Ave to the end of the park, then turn around, following Rosemont to where Rose Bowl Dr. veers off to the right by the Rose Bowl, which in turn runs into Arroyo Bl. Follow Arroyo south; after you pass under the 3 sets of bridges, keep following Arroyo, passing all the _great_ houses--Tudor, Spanish Revival and Craftsman--and mature oaks and sycamores. You'll go through Pasadena into SoPas; just after you pass San Rafael (street going west over the bridge), veer left at the fork to stay on Arroyo. When you hit Mission St, turn east back to Fremont Ave and head back to Monterey Park.

You can always extend the ride a bit by exploring around the Arroyo Seco, dropping down some of the roads to the west from Arroyo Bl, or heading east and enjoying the great old neighborhoods. There aren't any proper hills to speak of, although the northbound ride is on a constant, mild incline. The only section of the route with much traffic is Fair Oaks, but the street's generally wide and the drivers are not too hostile.


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## pavedroad (May 3, 2004)

Be careful in Monterey Park. If you need to, drive out of that city. Monterey Park is home to some of the worst drivers and they will kill you without even noticing.


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## eddy (Jun 5, 2005)

Thank you for the route info, Walrus, and the warning, Pavedroad. The flats of Monterey Park and Pasadena should be a nice contrast to the hills of Beverly. I'll map it out on paper for an overview and most likely have a look around the neighborhoods by car first since I'll be in unfamiliar territory. Thanks, guys!


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## eddy (Jun 5, 2005)

*Santa Monica photos*

Just thought I would post a couple of photos from my ride. I did Ride #3 listed on Mapei Roida's post above. I should have taken photos of the ride itself, but I didn't think of it while I was in motion.  It is a great ride, although I really wish I could do it in reverse. I want to climb first and descend on the return. After all, the descent should be the reward for climbing so high! 

The Pacific Ocean was absolutely gorgeous. I love swimming in the ocean in SF and Santa Cruz in the frigid 58 degree surf. How much warmer is it down here? How do they keep the beach MUT so clean? Do they sweep it every day? The sand must blow everywhere with those fierce winds.

Apparently, there was a big fire in the park the night before. While I was admiring the views, three large fire trucks pulled up. Luckily for the buildings across the street, the wind was blowing out towards the ocean at the time. Several palm trees on the grass were badly burned all the way up to their tops, and the fire damage extended for maybe 75 yards along the cliffside. One of the trees was still smoking, so the firefighters sprayed it with foam.

Everyone in the park was very friendly. I talked to a couple of people when I was there, and many others said hi. I think the great weather and the great location puts people in a great mood. It certainly does for me, and I'm usually pretty grumpy.


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## eddy (Jun 5, 2005)

*Hill pics*

I love Beverly Hills!


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

eddy said:


> I love Beverly Hills!


eddy, 

You posted in another thread that you did Deep Canyon. How did you come back up to Mulholland? Was it by way of Benedict Cyn? I drove it the other day and noticed Benedict is now open after over a year of closure.


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## eddy (Jun 5, 2005)

il sogno said:


> eddy,
> 
> You posted in another thread that you did Deep Canyon. How did you come back up to Mulholland? Was it by way of Benedict Cyn? I drove it the other day and noticed Benedict is now open after over a year of closure.


I just turn around and take Deep Canyon back up because it's nice and wide. I can do repeats on this street. I haven't tried Benedict Canyon since they opened it back up a few months ago. I'm glad most of the traffic went back to Benedict.


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## eddy (Jun 5, 2005)

Mapei Roida said:


> 3) Go west on Mulholland Drive. Make your way down to Sepulveda Blvd. It's the road that parallels the 405 fwy. Go south on Sepulveda until you get to Constitution Avenue, just north of Wilshire Blvd. Navigate your way west through the Veteran's Administration Campus, and then navigate your way west to San Vicente Blvd. Follow your nose, or better yet get a map. Go west on San Vicente to Santa Monica. The street ends at a park on the bluffs above Santa Monica Beach. Enjoy the ocean view.





eddy said:


> Just thought I would post a couple of photos from my ride. I did Ride #3 listed on Mapei Roida's post above. I should have taken photos of the ride itself, but I didn't think of it while I was in motion.  It is a great ride, although I really wish I could do it in reverse. I want to climb first and descend on the return. After all, the descent should be the reward for climbing so high!


Linking to the photos of this ride. The photos are in reverse order--my preferred order!

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=48805


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