Where Can I Ride a Bike Near Me

Los Angeles and the bicycle accept a love/hate relationship. With gorgeous weather and tons of space, the city is perfect for riding. On the other hand, riding a bicycle in L.A. ways traffic, desultory bike lanes and aggressive drivers who don't respect cyclists.

That'southward why all of these rides take identify on roads that are entirely automobile-costless or have light traffic. They'll besides work for folks of all fitness levels. They are listed, roughly, in ascending order of difficulty, from a pleasant summer evening spin to a sweaty mountainous circuit. And we've included Google Maps hyperlinks to all the routes. Happy pedaling!

The whole Cogswell Dam wheel ride looks like this. (Matt Tinoco/LAist)

Cogswell Dam

Allow's commencement out with the 1 you lot probably don't know about.

In the San Gabriel Mountains above Azusa is the gorgeous 7.5-mile Devils Coulee Dam Truck Trail. This gentle climbing from Highway 39 to the Cogswell Dam is i of the most beautiful rides in all of Southern California.

The road itself parallels a small only always audible creek, fed past the upriver dam. Oftentimes shaded by trees and mountains, the road offers riders a cool, relaxed ride. No cell service here. It'south just you, your bike, a bubbling brook and the San Gabriel Mountains. Picnic tables are plentiful along the road, then you tin end and nosh or have information technology all in. Remember that you're in the Angeles National Wood, and any trash you bring in, you'll take to pack out.

Every bit for the difficulty, the between Highway 39 and the dam has a gentle slope. Yous probably won't fifty-fifty notice the grade until you lot turn effectually and realize yous're going faster. If you want to get upwards to the dam itself, there's a curt, steep course at the end of the route just the first 7 miles of the road are the master allure. This is an easy, low intensity ride and so bring the kids.

Aside from its haunting dazzler, the route is closed to all public vehicular traffic. You lot might laissez passer a car or truck driven by a public works employee merely they're courteous and know to wait out for cyclists and hikers. Pedestrian traffic, especially on weekends, can be loftier for the first mile or and then. One time y'all get past the main recreation and fishing areas, it's like you're solitary in the forest.

Directions: You're going into the mountains for this one, then you lot'll demand a machine is. Go out the 210 throughway (in Azusa) at Azusa Avenue/Highway 39. Orient your automobile north (towards the mountains) and go along driving. The road you're looking for will exist 20ish minutes from the expressway, just by the junction of Highway 39 and East Fork Route (you'll run into a bridge). Hither's a Google Maps link with the precise location of the dam road. Yous can park on the side of the road, or in a parking lot a quarter of a mile back off Highway 39.

The end of the Ballona Creek bike path in Marina Del Rey. (Matt Tinoco/LAist)

Ballona Creek Bike Path

Running from Culver Metropolis to Playa Del Rey, the Ballona Creek path lets Angelenos ride 7.4 car-gratis miles straight to the beach. The path picks up shut to the intersection of Jefferson and National boulevards, where it's bumpy and in poor condition for the first mile or so. Your best bet is to go on the path at Duquesne Avenue in Culver City, and head for the beach.

If you're going in the afternoon, you'll likely have to deal with a light headwind while heading w. On the bright side, this volition turn into a great tailwind on your way back. Y'all'll find drinking fountains along the pathway, in adjacent parks and parklets.

For extra credit, stop at the Baldwin Hills Stairs and Breathtaking Overlook, at the intersection of Hetzler Road and Jefferson Boulevard. It's a great outdoor park without the pretension of some other hiking areas in Fifty.A. There are enough of bike racks at the bottom of the stairs, but if yous're feeling particularly daring, try riding upward to the top on Hetzler.

Directions: Parking is plentiful along Duquesne Avenue and in the neighborhood about the showtime of the path. If you fancy yourself more a motorcar-complimentary type, the Expo Line likewise runs nearby. From the La Cienega Station, ride southwest forth Jefferson (which has a adept bicycle lane, just watch out for doors) until information technology intersects with Duquesne, at which point you'll plow correct. Alternatively, the La Cienega Station is shut to the commencement of the Ballona Path, so you don't demand to ride on Jefferson at all, if y'all don't want to. In that location are also entry points at most major streets (and some residential ones) that the path crosses on its way to the beach. Play with the maps to see what works best for yous.

A rider along the Marvin Braude/Pacific Coast Bike Path. (Matt Tinoco/LAist)

Marvin Braude/Pacific Coast Bike Path

Riding your bicycle along the Pacific declension is paradise, peculiarly the 22 miles of the Marvin Braude Coastal Cycle Trail. Stretching between Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades and Torrance Beach, the trail connects to the Ballona Creek Path, so you can ride all the way from Culver Metropolis to Palos Verdes, if y'all have the time and the stamina.

If you're an avid passenger, yous probably know about this path, but we're plugging it here anyway because it'southward that bully. Riding conditions are usually mellow but the path tin can get crowded and sandy, especially on weekends and on the portions that run through Santa Monica and Venice. Weekday evenings during the summertime are perfect. There are lots of facilities at regular intervals forth this path. L.A. County fifty-fifty provides a helpful map.

On the coast, the path is interrupted twice -- one time in Marina del Rey, where the path circumnavigates the marina and you lot'll ride in a bicycle lane forth Washington Boulevard for a bit, and again in Hermosa Embankment, where you have the choice of riding along The Strand (often crowded on weekends) or Hermosa Avenue (very arctic).

Directions: This is an extraordinarily attainable path and you avoid the exorbitant waterfront parking fees. Find a residential area near the declension, park your auto and ride to the path. The Expo Line also runs to the declension.

What riding at the Rose Bowl looks like (Screengrab/Google Streetview)

The Rose Bowl

While it's not particularly scenic, you'll exist in expert company while riding at the Rose Basin. The Rose Bowl Loop consists of a 3-mile loop around the stadium, its parking lots and a golf course. Cyclists and joggers akin use the loop for basic grooming.

While non as adventurous as some other rides, this is a peachy place to get in shape. The loop is gently sloped, giving yous a run a risk to practice going uphill and downhill. Traffic is light and respectful, given that there are lots of other bikers and runners in the vicinity. Since you're on a bike, etiquette dictates that you remain to the left of the marked barriers that distinguish space for walkers and runners, and the street itself. At that place are likewise drinking fountains and bathrooms closer to the stadium.

Unless there's an result, at that place'southward never a bad time to ride at the Rose Bowl. Even at night, at that place are lots of people around and the roadways are mostly well lit. If you're riding at night, make sure to have working forepart and rear lights.

Directions: Drive to the Rose Bowl equally you lot ordinarily would and park anywhere. Parking is costless when there isn't an event going on. A clay lot well-nigh 176 West Drive, Pasadena is an ideal spot to park if you lot're riding around the stadium.

The Rio Hondo Cycle Path. (cromagnom/Wikimedia eatables)

Various River Paths

If you want to ride far without much hassle (or good scenery, for that matter), yous take a number of different river paths. The Fifty.A. River Path, San Gabriel River Path and Rio Hondo Bike Path offering the same thing -- long stretches of flat "Course 1" bike path. These lengthy routes, which laissez passer not bad swaths of Los Angeles, are kind of like freeways for bikes.

A bit closer to L.A., a 7.two-mile stretch of the Fifty.A. River Bicycle Path running between Griffith Park and Elysian Park is great for riding.

The Arroyo Seco Pathway, passing through northeast Los Angeles, is another good, albeit brusk, option at less than iii miles long.

Directions: It's open concluded here, since y'all have tons of options. Written report the maps, effigy out where y'all're able to get on to the paths, and merely go!

Take a bike ride through Griffith Park and chill. (Matt Tinoco/LAist)

Griffith Park

Arguably the best urban park anywhere, Griffith Park offers you all sorts of options for unlike styles of riding. If you lot want a relaxed easy spin, ride along Crystal Springs Drive and Zoo Drive. If you want a piddling climb, consummate the loop by adding in Griffith Park Drive. These two routes are piece of cake, well paved and take sizable lanes or shoulder areas to ride on. Traffic is rarely a trouble, but the park gets busy on weekends.

If you want a conditioning, Griffith Park has lots of hills, most notably Mount Hollywood, which is crisscrossed with a multitude of ridable roads that let you elevate your torso and your eye rate. We recommend circumvoluted through the park by climbing upwardly Commonwealth Avenue to the Griffith Park helipad, over Mount Hollywood, and back downwardly to Vermont Canyon. This route has two climbs, punctuated past some flats and descents. Be sure to visit the Observatory while y'all're tooling effectually.

Directions: Y'all should already know where Griffith Park is. Parking is free throughout the park and frequently permissible on the side of the route. Park close to where you want to ride and starting time pedaling. You lot could also ever ride to the park.

The roads in Elysian Park await like this. Traffic is ever very light, and very deadening. (Matt Tinoco/LAist)

Elysian Park

Despite beingness 10 minutes away from downtown Fifty.A., this park flies nether the radar and is often sparsely filled. Even on weekends, it'southward piece of cake to discover a quiet spot in the park. The roads were repaved a few years agone, so you're riding on smooth, grippy asphalt. Fifty.A.'s oldest park, it offers a cornucopia of transplanted tree species mixed with first-class vistas of downtown, merely it'southward not the best place to go if you oasis't been on a cycle in years.

Elysian Park is a hilly environment. None of the hills are particularly large or steep only you'll definitely be climbing. Although cycling and hiking aren't the same thing, a ride in Elysian Park requries roughly the amount of effort you'd demand for the Wisdom Tree Hike to the top of Mount Hollywood, or even to the Hollywood Sign (to which you lot tin can besides ride your bike!).

If you're new to climbing on a cycle, the most efficient fashion to practice it is to use an piece of cake gear and spin quickly. Your legs volition probably feel like they're burning, but that means you're doing it right. None of the hills in Elysian Park will take long to climb and you'll be treated to fun downhills. Drinking fountains and bathrooms can be institute throughout the park.

The view from the top of Mt. Wilson. (Matt Tinoco/LAist)

Mountain Wilson

We had to include this one. If you lot've been riding a lot and y'all're bored of Elysian Park, Griffith Park and the beach, explore the San Gabriel Mountains. Riding to the summit of Mountain Wilson is a peachy introduction to the vast Angeles National Forest. Information technology's about nineteen miles and 4,500 anxiety of climbing from the pes of Angeles Crest Highway to the top of Mount Wilson.

It's a challenging climb by any metric. Y'all're looking at roughly two to iii hours of riding from the base of operations of Angeles Crest Highway (at Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada-Flintridge) to the peak of Mount Wilson. You can find water at the ranger station at Clear Creek Junction (the showtime junction after heading into the hills) and again at the turnoff for Mount Wilson Road (the second junction). The payoff is a fantastic view of the greater Los Angeles area. Later, indulge at the Catholic Buffet at the Mt. Wilson Observatory.

Traffic is usually light although it gets heavier on weekends. Weekend mornings and evenings are great, as well as midday on weekdays. Brand certain to avoid blitz hour equally Angeles Crest is used past fast-driving Palmdale commuters who don't want to sit on the 14 freeway.

Directions: Again, directions are open ended. There's plenty of unrestricted residential parking close to the beginning of the route. The Gold Line also passes relatively close to Angeles Crest Highway. It takes roughly 30 minutes to ride from the Memorial Park station to the pes of Angeles Crest.

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Source: https://laist.com/8-amazing-los-angeles-bike-rides

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