Upcoming Rides

To play the video, hit the arrow in the center of the frame.

Select a past ride from below to view it. Then hit the replay arrow in the center of the video frame. 

August 18, 2024: Phil's Ride: Whale of a Century

August 11, 2024: Phil's Ride: The Orange Coast Tour

June 30, 2024: Jacques' Ride: Corner - Will Rogers to Mount Holyoke

March 20, 2022 Phil's Ride: Oak Ridge Rides

December 12, 2021: Phil's Ride - Foothill Footsie Century

November 28, 2021: Phil's Ride - Cal Poly By Golly

September 19, 2021: Phil's Ride - Wandering To Whittier 

September 12, 2021: Phil's Ride - The Grand Tour Lite  

April 18, 2021: Phil's Ride - Laguna Canyon Century

August 15, 2021: Phil's Ride - Huntington Beach Go Around 

April 11, 2021: Phil's Ride - Winding Roads of Orange County

November 12, 2020: Phil's Ride - The Triple Dippers

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 Lewis Singer lewissinger@nullgmail.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,  June 29th – 8:30 a.m.

Start Location: PINE TREE PARK in TUSTIN.  From Santa Ana Frwy (I-5) in Tustin, off & east on Redhill, L- Bryan one block to park.

For a map and directions, click Start.

Routes:   

• Long – 57 miles – 3500 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Medium – 43 miles – 1800 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Short 37 miles – 1200 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Combined Routes

Summer is upon us so this will probably be the last non-coastal route I schedule for a while. And even if it is warm today, these routes are relatively short so we should be done before the worst of the heat in the afternoon. They are not overly hilly either. My biggest problem with these routes is lunch. Both the long and medium ride through Santiago Canyon where there is no place to stop. By the time we get through the canyon, we are ready to eat, but there really isn’t that much to choose from. There is a small commercial area that has a Subway (as part of a Chevron Station), a Starbucks (which some people think is fine for lunch), a Taco Bell (which it seems no one thinks is fine) and a restaurant called John’s Place (which looks good on the web, but the last time I rode this ride, I couldn’t find it). That really should be enough choices. Well, it will have to do because I don’t see anything else in the area. Personally, I’m, going to make a better search for John’s Place. Google Maps and Yelp both say it’s still there and the pictures of the food look good.  As mentioned, the main feature of today’s routes is a trip through Santiago Canyon which goes both up and down. Both the long and the medium do this, but the long adds trips through Trabuco Canyon and Live Oak Canyon. I’ve always thought the ride through Live Oak Canyon is rather nice and worth the extra miles and extra climbing. The medium route heads fairly directly over to Santiago Canyon while the long makes the extended loop to take in Trabuco Canyon and Live Oak Canyon first. They meet up at Cook’s Corner and continue together through Santiago Canyon before circling around back to the start. Meanwhile, the short makes an easier tour around southern Orange County. So why not join us and together we can find the elusive John’s Place. NOTE: This is another ride that we temporarily moved to El Camino Real Park, but we have now returned the start to Pine Tree Park.  

Friday, July 4 – 8:30 a.m.

Start Location: EL DORADO PARK in Long Beach. From San Diego Frwy (405), off & North/East on Studebaker 1 mi. to Park. Park in Library lot on right just before Spring St. 

For a map and directions, click Start.

Routes: 

• Long – 41 miles – 800 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Medium – 37 miles – 400 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Short – 25 miles – 300 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Combined Routes

It’s the 4^th of July and we are now one year from the 250^th birthday of the country. My understanding is that this will be called the “semiquincentennial” which means half of 500. I would rather think of it as making it a quarter of the way to a millennium. Either way it’s a major birthday. Not as great as the bi-centennial maybe, but still significant. I’m a little surprised there hasn’t been more said about it. The lead-up to the bicentennial started a couple of years before the actual event. Well, I’m sure that as we approach next year’s 4^th of July at least some companies will run semiquincentennial sales. This year the 4^th falls on a Friday which means everyone will be enjoying a 3-day weekend. Our rides today are a good way to kick it off. Like most of our holiday rides, these are relatively short and easy. I suppose that is to give you time to get home and celebrate the holiday in other ways. The rides are so short, you really need to slow down or you will arrive at lunch before the restaurants open. The long and the medium are the same as they wander around the Long Beach area until they eventually stop in Long Beach or Belmont Shores for lunch. Our usual stop at Five Guys has closed, so the route has been shifted a little to get us to a Shake Shack. The long makes a run up to Signal Hill (for a nice view from the park up there) before returning to the start while the medium heads more directly back. The short is pretty much a shorter version of the long and medium, riding in the same area. The long has only about 800 feet of climbing and that includes Signal Hill, so you can imagine how flat the medium and short are. They are all short enough that you should get home in time to watch some fireworks. You will also get home in time to calm your pets for a night-long barrage of illegal fireworks that usually doesn’t stop until about 3 a.m. We generally stay together on this one and the trip up to Signal Hill for a group photo is always fun. We also often see a few members out on this one that we don’t see on other rides. 

 

Sunday, July 6 – 8:30 a.m.

Start Location: BOYSEN PARK in Anaheim.  From Artesia/Riverside Frwy (91), off & south on State College Blvd, R - Vermont to Park.

For a map and directions, click Start.

Routes: 

• Long – 61 miles – 1800 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Medium – 53 miles – 1100 feet of elevation gain (barometric)
• Short – 36 miles – 500 feet of elevation gain (mapping software)
• Combined Routes

Today is the last day of the 3-day 4^th of July weekend so if you didn’t get to celebrate with a ride earlier, here is your last chance. And if you did get out on our usual 4^th of July ride and you get out for this one too – well good for you. As the name implies, we spend a lot of time on a river today. The river in question is the Santa Ana. Today the short route goes down the river almost to the coast, has lunch and then returns up the river. Both the long and medium take the river all the way to the coast and then head over to Balboa Island followed by the Back Bay and a portion of the San Diego Creek trail. The long makes a few extra loops for added mileage and adds a climb through the Tustin Hills, but both work their way back toward the start, eventually hitting the river once again for the final portion of the return. So you get the river at the start and at the end. Only the long does any significant climbing and even that is not so bad. This time of year I like to schedule coastal routes and these routes do go to the coast. However, they start and return inland so the return could be hot. If the heat is too much, I would suggest switching from the long to the medium which cuts the return short and avoids some significant climbing.