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 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. 

 

Sunday, May 5th - 8:30 am.

Start Location: PICO PARK in PICO RIVERA.  From San Gabriel Frwy (605), off & west on Beverly Blvd to Park on left.  (If coming from the North, the Beverly exit puts you on San Gabriel River Rd which you follow for 1.3 mi. to Beverly).

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

Routes: 

• Long – 78 miles – 4400 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Medium – 52 miles – 2300 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Hilly Short – 37 miles – 1400 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Flat Short – 36 miles – 600 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Combined Routes

Today is Cinco de Mayo, so you can consider today’s ride as our own little celebration of the holiday. I have read that Cinco de Mayo is a much bigger holiday in the United States than it is in Mexico. Maybe that’s not surprising. It’s not Mexican Independence Day (September 16) as some think. It celebrates a relatively minor victory of Mexico over the French which was undone a year later when the French retook control of Mexico. It’s a wonder it is celebrated at all. But for some reason, it’s a big deal here in California. Maybe we’ll even hear some mariachi music as we ride along. There are a couple of locations where this might happen. The first is our start/finish location of Pico Park where maybe there will be a holiday celebration going on. The second is on the return of the long and medium routes which rides the San Gabriel River path. We used to pass a Mexican rodeo along the river. I’m not sure it is there any longer, but if it is, they might be celebrating the holiday with some music. But the highlight of these routes is of course Turnbull Canyon. Three of the four routes today go up and over Turnbull. It is the only major hill for everyone except the long riders. The long and the medium also do a short climb on Grand, but that’s not so bad. The long and the medium are identical as they climb over Turnbull and make their way over to the top of the San Gabriel River Trail in Azusa and then take the river trail back to the start. The only difference is that the long makes an extra trip a few miles up San Gabriel Canyon and back before going down the river. The short routes simply go over or around Turnbull, but pretty much stay in the area. These routes are some of the few we have left that go to Carl’s Jr. for lunch, but I believe there are also some Mexican restaurants in the area and they may be playing mariachi music at one of those. So come on out and celebrate the holiday with the Wheelmen. 

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.