Upcoming Rides

Every Thursday, 8:30 a.m. (unless otherwise specified). 

Start Location: Ballona Creek Bridge.  From I405 exit Culver Blvd and head West or take Rte 90 West and take Culver Blvd exit turn left. Right on Esplanade St, left on Convoy St, and right on Pacific Avenue. Park by the Lagoon on the right. The bridge is about 2 blocks North on Pacific.

For a map and directions to the start, click Start.

Riders usually goes South to Palos Verdes on the bike path and then do some riding on the Peninsula. There are optional climbs including the 3 “dips” which give the ride its name. The group usually stops for a break at the Golden Cove shopping area. Occasionally the group will decide to vary the route and explore specific sites elsewhere in the city. A typical day is 40 - 50 miles but often individual riders either cut the day short or add extra miles as desired.  Contact Nancy Domjanovich nancydomx@nullicloud.com for details.

Check out our weekly newsletter here to get a preview of some of our past rides...Newsletter (http://www.lawheelmen.org/vp-newsletter)

We hope to see you there!

Sunday, April 21st - 8:00 am.

Start Location: CARLSON PARK in Culver City. From San Diego Frwy, off and east on either Culver or Washington (careful--neither exit actually put you directly on those streets). Right on Overland and Left on Braddock a few blocks to park.  We will meet near the restrooms. (Check parking signs around park – if you drive, you may need to park a block away.)

For a map and directions to the start, click Start.

Routes: 

• Full Century – 96 miles – 2500 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Metric Century – 63 miles – 1400 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Half Century – 56 miles – 1400 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Combined Routes

(NOTE EARLIER START TIME) This is the official century and metric century of the month for April and this year we have added a half century route. These are distinctly urban routes, but I have always found them fairly pleasant. Despite staying close to the city, they find a lot of open areas to ride. Even riding through downtown in the early hours of the day is nice. You get to see some of the newest building and some of the oldest. Later the full century rides some semi-rural areas such as Brea Canyon Cut-Off, Fullerton Road and East Road/West Road. All routes start in Culver City and first head downtown to ride through the heart of the city in the early morning hours. You ride along Broadway and can see all the old theaters that line that street. Some of them are still being used as theaters of one kind or another. Then it’s on to Alhambra and West Covina where the routes begin to diverge. The long continues east as far as Walnut. It then climbs Brea Canyon Cut-Off and a bit later Fullerton Road to the top of East Road. East Road and West Road are always fun. After lunch in Whittier, the return is fairly flat as it heads west through Lakewood and then north to complete the loop. The metric and half centuries are somewhat similar except that the metric century heads a little further east before turning back. They join up again for lunch and then make a direct return taking them back through downtown.  The metric and half centuries miss the Brea Canyon Cut-Off, Fullerton Road and East Road/West Road hills done by the full century. Don’t be scared off by the urban riding. I think you will be surprised how nice these routes can be. 

Sunday, April 28th - 8:30 am.

Start Location: NEAR DENNY'S in Valencia  Take Golden State Frwy (I-5) North, Exit R on Magic Mtn. Parkway, R Tourney Rd (1st R) and R Wayne Mills Pl (1st R) toward Denny's  Park along street in front of Dennys. 

For a map and directions to the start, click Start.

Routes:

• Long – 65 miles – 4800 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Medium – 49 miles – 3500 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Short – 40 miles – 2100 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Combined Routes

For years this has been our first Grand Tour training ride of the year, but we are not holding the training rides any longer. However, this route is too nice to simply abandon, so I have converted it to a regular Sunday ride by the addition of a medium and short route. All routes have a fair amount of climbing (including the short) but the scenery is so spectacular, you really won’t want to miss it. Last year, due to a road closure, we couldn’t ride the full long which made it difficult to view the many poppies along Elizabeth Lake Road which is one of the more spectacular sights on this ride. However, I just checked (on 4/15) and it appears the roads are open this year. So, unless they get closed by a late spring storm, we should be good to go. All routes ride Bouquet Canyon. I remember my first time going up that canyon and it blew me away how nice it was. The long starts by climbing up Bouquet Canyon to the reservoir which should be full this year. We then do a second climb up and over Spunky Canyon to Green Valley where we usually stop for lunch or a break. The long then climbs to the top of San Francisquito Road which includes a rather tough last mile. From there we ride Lake Elizabeth Road where we pass hills which are often covered with poppies this time of year. With all the rain, this could be a great year for the poppies. It really is a sight to see. We then ride the nearly 13 mile downhill on Lake Hughes Rd to our final climb of the day (which we call Calvary) before we finally descend past Lake Castaic and take the Old Road back to the start. The medium follows the long to Green Valley, but then takes San Francisquito down (instead of up) back to Santa Clarita and the start. You miss a couple of major climbs, but also miss the poppies. I wanted everyone to experience Bouquet Canyon, so the short follows the other two routes up to the Bouquet Reservoir, but then turns around and rides back down to have lunch in Santa Clarita. It cuts some miles and a major climb off the medium. It makes for a late lunch, but once you get to the top, you can practically coast back down to lunch. I hope to see a lot of you out for this one because it’s such a nice area to ride and very few of our Sunday rides get out this way. 

All Newcomer Rides are announced on our Meetup Group...

 Los Angeles Wheelmen Hosted Bike Rides 

 

Typically we offer one or two Sunday rides per month; these are announced around the middle of the prior week.  Join the Meetup Group to receive email notices.