# Santa Fe Dam



## shokhead (Dec 17, 2002)

Anyonr going up there?


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## soulsurfer104 (Jun 30, 2003)

when?


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## shokhead (Dec 17, 2002)

Whenever. I try to go once a month.


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## stihl (Oct 27, 2005)

It was scorching hot last week over there. I try to ride down PCH to Newport Coast whenever the weather gets that hot.


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## shokhead (Dec 17, 2002)

I went to the Pico golfcourse and it wasnt bad at all but i got there around 7:30. Most likly be there again sat morning around the same time.


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## soulsurfer104 (Jun 30, 2003)

if i find myself riding the river, it'll probably be on a weekday. i work both weekend days, so my long-ish rides are usually on one of my days off, during the week. if anybody wants to ride from seal beach to the dam and back one morning next week, speak up....it's a good ride because it's pan-flat and you can work on "finding your flow," but it's boring as $hit.


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## stihl (Oct 27, 2005)

I cannot stand that headwind coming back to the beach.

It's good for the legs though.


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## Bixe (Jan 28, 2004)

*San Gabriel River*



soulsurfer104 said:


> It's boring as ****.


Agreed. My out-of-the-driveway rides start in the area of El Do Park, so if I ride above Whittier Narrows, then I'm going to the bottom of San Gabriel Canyon. Between the Narrows and the Santa Fe Dam, it gets quite tedious. But there are the occasional days when I get on the saddle and find that I don't want to put up with the traffic (vehicular and/or bike).

I rode the Santa Ana River with a friend down from Colorado who remarked how dull the River path was. I reminded him that many years back when we lived in Upland, my evening ride was up towards Baldy Village. However scenic it was, that ride could get pretty old too.

So I climb on the bike, roll out easily and without a predetermined route in mind. There's the occasional after-work evening ride that turns into sixty miles and every now and then, I just ride down to the River's End Cafe and back and call it a day.


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## RoundisAshape (Feb 12, 2006)

soulsurfer104 said:


> if i find myself riding the river, it'll probably be on a weekday. i work both weekend days, so my long-ish rides are usually on one of my days off, during the week. if anybody wants to ride from seal beach to the dam and back one morning next week, speak up....it's a good ride because it's pan-flat and you can work on "finding your flow," but it's boring as $hit.


I'd like to if it was the Santa Fe Dam -> Seal Beach and back. And on a weekend.

I do this dam ride every other week. Starting 4-5pms on weekdays. I usually begin at Arrow or that park above Huntington Dr. You can spot me wearing a white/black or yellow/black Prorace jersey on a Silver Specialized Allez Elite.


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## shokhead (Dec 17, 2002)

I get to ride that headwind during the week when i ride around 2:30. Takes abit out of the old legs.


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## endomaster (Jan 5, 2006)

Since you guys are speaking about the San Gabriel River trail I think I will ask here. Are there any areas that one should be a little more attentive to? I think I remember reading that a while back Tinker got robbed while riding this trail.


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## Bixe (Jan 28, 2004)

*LA River*



endomaster said:


> Since you guys are speaking about the San Gabriel River trail I think I will ask here. Are there any areas that one should be a little more attentive to? I think I remember reading that a while back Tinker got robbed while riding this trail.


Tinker had his road bike taken from him when he stopped to yak on his cell phone while riding on the LA River in area of Paramount/Southgate (if memory serves). That was sometime ago.

For all the years I did ride the LA River and Rio Hondo paths, I saw some pretty weird stuff though I never personally had any problems. I avoid the area nowadays.

Re: San Gabriel River. There are a couple of areas that can get trashed more than others, but once again, there's not any particular areas that are problematic. The SGR doesn't pass through the sort of war zones that the LA River/Rio Hondo channels do....


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## shokhead (Dec 17, 2002)

Never had a problem. Was nice to see yesterday that they repaved that bad tunnel thats dark and rough and new asphalt going around that one hole at the golf course that goes up the hill,nice now.


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## n1civicsi (May 8, 2006)

RoundisAshape said:


> I'd like to if it was the Santa Fe Dam -> Seal Beach and back. And on a weekend.
> 
> I do this dam ride every other week. Starting 4-5pms on weekdays. I usually begin at Arrow or that park above Huntington Dr. You can spot me wearing a white/black or yellow/black Prorace jersey on a Silver Specialized Allez Elite.


what city do you start in?


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## RoundisAshape (Feb 12, 2006)

n1civicsi said:


> what city do you start in?


I start _at_ the dam. So that's either Baldwin Park or Arcadia. I live in Walnut.



endomaster said:


> Since you guys are speaking about the San Gabriel River trail I think I will ask here. Are there any areas that one should be a little more attentive to? I think I remember reading that a while back Tinker got robbed while riding this trail.


I would not do this ride alone. It's okay from Azusa to El Monte, but at the Whittier Narrows area, I noticed groups of people walking that path, not a particularly inviting sight.


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## Squeegy200 (Dec 1, 2005)

RoundisAshape said:


> I start _at_ the dam. So that's either Baldwin Park or Arcadia. I live in Walnut.
> 
> 
> I would not do this ride alone. It's okay from Azusa to El Monte, but at the Whittier Narrows area, I noticed groups of people walking that path, not a particularly inviting sight.


I've been riding this on weekends and there is enough cyclists that you are never really isolated. However, on the weekdays, there is hardly anyone out on this trail. 

A few years back, there were a few bikes stolen in those narrow tunnels. Some of the local kids would lay down broken glass and wait for an unsuspecting roadie to get a flat. At which point they would converge and take your bicycle. I've also seen this attempted in the Santa Fe Recreation Area underneath the overpasses. Fortunately at the time I encountered this, I was in a big group of riders and we drove the kids away and cleaned up the broken glass.


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## shokhead (Dec 17, 2002)

Squeegy200 said:


> I've been riding this on weekends and there is enough cyclists that you are never really isolated. However, on the weekdays, there is hardly anyone out on this trail.
> 
> A few years back, there were a few bikes stolen in those narrow tunnels. Some of the local kids would lay down broken glass and wait for an unsuspecting roadie to get a flat. At which point they would converge and take your bicycle. I've also seen this attempted in the Santa Fe Recreation Area underneath the overpasses. Fortunately at the time I encountered this, I was in a big group of riders and we drove the kids away and cleaned up the broken glass.


Better be big kids and a lot of them to get my bike. Do you still ride there?


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## gen3ric (Jun 13, 2006)

I rode there last weekend, but I only went from El Monte to Whitter Narrows. I'm interested in riding from El Monte to the beach. My parents live in Temple City, so it'd be a good ride.


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## shokhead (Dec 17, 2002)

Sure is nice to see some new asphalt, maybe 5 miles before PR golfcourse. Dont know if they've done any on to the dam.


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## Bixe (Jan 28, 2004)

*New Pavement*



shokhead said:


> Sure is nice to see some new asphalt, maybe 5 miles before PR golfcourse. Dont know if they've done any on to the dam.


I rode the SGR end to end on Sunday AM. The section between Florence and the Whittier Narrows Dam has been repaved with the exception of the underpass at the Santa Ana Freeway and the segment between the two RR bridges at Slauson.

The upper half of the SGR above the Whittier Narrows was repaved several years back and for the most part is in decent condition. There are a couple of sections between Whittier Narrows and the Beach that have needed repaving long before the upper segment was done.....

The local culturists have already autographed the new pavement in the customary places and while the tunnel under Whittier Blvd has a new surface, I'm sometimes inclined to cross the street rather than use that tunnel. There's something about riding by a guy crouched in a bit of shade amidst the garbage with a nearly finished quart of malt liquor beside him that just warms the soul. He could have completed the picture by pulling out a cell phone in a too choreographed flourish (learned from some local fifth grader) and began yakking away on it. I never saw that in Tuscany....


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## shokhead (Dec 17, 2002)

Bixe said:


> I rode the SGR end to end on Sunday AM. The section between Florence and the Whittier Narrows Dam has been repaved with the exception of the underpass at the Santa Ana Freeway and the segment between the two RR bridges at Slauson.
> 
> The upper half of the SGR above the Whittier Narrows was repaved several years back and for the most part is in decent condition. There are a couple of sections between Whittier Narrows and the Beach that have needed repaving long before the upper segment was done.....
> 
> The local culturists have already autographed the new pavement in the customary places and while the tunnel under Whittier Blvd has a new surface, I'm sometimes inclined to cross the street rather than use that tunnel. There's something about riding by a guy crouched in a bit of shade amidst the garbage with a nearly finished quart of malt liquor beside him that just warms the soul. He could have completed the picture by pulling out a cell phone in a too choreographed flourish (learned from some local fifth grader) and began yakking away on it. I never saw that in Tuscany....


Everything down by the beach was done a few years back but for one part,about a mile of bad asphalt that i go slow on to take a breather. Yep,that tunnel is abit dark but boy its a lot nicer now with the new asphalt.


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## Bixe (Jan 28, 2004)

shokhead said:


> Everything down by the beach was done a few years back but for one part,about a mile of bad asphalt that i go slow on to take a breather. Yep,that tunnel is abit dark but boy its a lot nicer now with the new asphalt.


A couple years back the segment down to the Beach was re-sealed, but no new pavement was laid down. A few of the deepest potholes were filled in, but it's still pretty rough today because the sealer does not do what laying down a couple inches of new asphalt is doing further up the River.

My demo rides include the section between the San Diego Freeway and the 22/Seventh Street because it is rough and uneven; a pretty good test for how a bike handles the rougher surfaces.

The new pavement in the Whittier tunnel is indeed an improvement. My trepidation arises because the rider has to commit to riding through the tunnel before having the opportunity to gauge the accumulation of debris within. I recall several years back when the tunnel was under water for much of the spring.


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## shokhead (Dec 17, 2002)

Your right,resealed. This morning i saw more weekend riders,you know full kit,helmets unbuckled and all in pain. They were all over the place. Pretty crowed at 7am and large groups to and as they do when its crowed,they are going way to fast in and out of the unskilled.


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