Southern California - Cycling Hawthorne/Carson area of LA, Query...

Hi Guys, In a few months time I'm going to be staying in the Southern part of LA in the Hawthorne/Carson area of LA & want to get in some cycling while on my visit. What I need to know is whether or not anyone has any experience/s cycling in this part of town???... And whether or not its any good for cycling or the cyclist???... In hindsight I can't see it being like the Santa Monica mountains, Mullholland Drive/highway area which ideally is where I would love to cycle in LA, but I don't know if I will be able to get out there.

Any comments would be appreciated...

Kind Regards.

I have some limited experience cycling in this area when to and from the soccer stadium at the Home Depot Center, which is on the University of California, Dominguez Hills in Carson.

First piece of advice when you get here is to make your way to a local bike shop, and ask for a Bike Metro Map. They're free and it will provide you with a map of where the Bike paths/lanes/routes are and where the light rail stations are and major bus routes go. Better yet - call around to find out who has one before you get here.

Then I'd hop on the Blue Metro Line, and go down to Long Beach and ride the Beach bike path there. However, with a Bike Metro map in your hand, you can pretty much get anywhere in LA if you have enough time.

banbanban89 - don't cycle in that area. go west a couple of miles until you get to the ocean and then cycle on the beach bike path. go south on it through redondo beach and then climb up the hill into palos verdes. go north on it all the way to santa monica and back. :)

And while you're here, don't miss your chance to ride the only indoor velodrome in the US. It's in Carson and has a lot of programs going on-- check the link in my sig. If the calendar's not up for when you'll be here, the daily stuff is pretty consistent from month to month, and just the special events change.

yeah +1 on not cycling in that area except the velodrome. make your way west towards the beach and cycle along there or hit up the Palos Verdes Loop.

I work in the Carson area, and while there are ocassional packs of cyclist going down the bigger streets, I would say go west to the beach, you will have a better time, and better scenery, plus there are alot of Semi-s around here.

+1 to riding on the beach. Also, if you get tired of going north and have access to a car you can drive 10 miles or so south to Long Beach and ride Pacific Coast Highway south to Newport Beach, Laguna or up Santa Ana River Trail. This link http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=270006 has maps of bike trails in Orange County.

+1 to riding on the beach. Also, if you get tired of going north and have access to a car you can drive 10 miles or so south to Long Beach and ride Pacific Coast Highway south to Newport Beach, Laguna or up Santa Ana River Trail.


if i was going to park my car somewhere in long beach and then get on my bike to ride south on pch, where would you suggest?

Used to live in Hawthorne and El Segundo. Not much good riding around Hawthorne, very old, narrow streets lots of traffic, not all that safe (like gang violence safe) but if you head out towards Manhatten Beach (ie go West) then there's lots of lovely riding. You can catch the "strand" from Rat Beach in Torrance and ride all the way up to Santa Monica and back (through Venice Beach always a Zoo). Or ride up into Palos Verdes and do the Loop to San Pedro and back. Beautiful area, lots of good climbs. You can also get to PV and Rollings Hills from Carson/Wilmington.

Give us somemore details on where you are staying and I can give you general directions. Will you have a car?

if i was going to park my car somewhere in long beach and then get on my bike to ride south on pch, where would you suggest?

Like where to park or where to ride?

You can always park over at the Marina Village/Ports of Call and catch Ocean South to PCH. Actually I would take Ocean to Belmont Shores to Marina Pacific and then catch PCH.

If you just want to ride PCH then park at Marina Pacific Village (off PCH) and ride from there.

if i was going to park my car somewhere in long beach and then get on my bike to ride south on pch, where would you suggest?

Marina parking lot, on 2nd street and PCH. It's a very popular cyclist parking spot, especially on weekends:

Here's a link: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&country=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&cat=&address=2nd+and+pch&city=long+beach&state=ca&zipcode=

thanks bcipam and haimtoeq - i forgot about that big shopping center at marina pacifica. no need to ride through long beach and belmont shores....i don't want to die. :)

banbanban89 - don't cycle in that area. go west a couple of miles until you get to the ocean and then cycle on the beach bike path. go south on it through redondo beach and then climb up the hill into palos verdes. go north on it all the way to santa monica and back. :)

Thankyou for the reponses guys, appreciate it.

I was wandering, Is it possible to cycle all the way from Hawthorne/Carson to the Santa Monica Mountains/Malibu Canyon/Mullholland area (avoiding packed highways & regional transport???... And if so, Would any happen to know how many miles where talking about???...

go south on it through redondo beach and then climb up the hill into palos verdes.

Question for ya: I ride there every weekend from west LA (Ballona creek), but always stopped in Redondo after the path ends (where it goes to the bike lane on the road). Where do I go from there to the hills?

Used to live in Hawthorne and El Segundo. Not much good riding around Hawthorne, very old, narrow streets lots of traffic, not all that safe (like gang violence safe) but if you head out towards Manhatten Beach (ie go West) then there's lots of lovely riding. Or ride up into Palos Verdes and do the Loop to San Pedro and back. Beautiful area, lots of good climbs. You can also get to PV and Rollings Hills from Carson/Wilmington.

Give us somemore details on where you are staying and I can give you general directions. Will you have a car?


Hi BCIpam, Thankyou for the advice. Riding up into Palos Verdes and doing the Loop to San Pedro and back w/ the Rollings Hills alternative, sounds good. I do drive, but driving takes the enjoyment out of cycling in my opinion, so hopefully I will do all my commuting on the bike.

I will certainly be giving the cycle routes around Hawthorne the cold shoulder (which in hindsight I thought would be the case) and go west very quickly to Long/Hermosa/Redondo Beachs as my starting points.

What I need to know is, from these beaches on the West, what freeways am I taking straight south to complete the Palos Verdes/Rollings Hills Loop???...

It's only a few minutes on the bike to hit the coast. Really, no need to drive out there...

Question for ya: I ride there every weekend from west LA (Ballona creek), but always stopped in Redondo after the path ends (where it goes to the bike lane on the road). Where do I go from there to the hills?

At some point (not sure exactly where) you will find yourself on Catalina Avenue, if you keep going south, Cataline will end at Palos Verdes Drive. From there you have a choice of either doing the loop or doing portions of it with some extra climbing to the top, or both.

Thankyou for the reponses guys, appreciate it.

I was wandering, Is it possible to cycle all the way from Hawthorne/Carson to the Santa Monica Mountains/Malibu Canyon/Mullholland area (avoiding packed highways & regional transport???... And if so, Would any happen to know how many miles where talking about???...


Yes and no - it is possible although it's a good long ride but avoid traffic - hardly. Carson is much further out than Hawthorne so really I know no other way to get to the strand other than either climbing thru RH and PV or taking PCH through Wilmington - lots of congested traffic. Once on the strand - which starts at Rat Beach Torrance you can ride that all the to Santa Monica but then the path ends and you have to take PCH. PCH is busy. There is a decent shoulder and many cyclist will be out. I'm assuming you want to ride out to Mulholland or Topanga. It's doable. But are you planning on taking say Topanga inland? Wouldn't be by favorite thing to do.

Just a suggestion either park at Rat Beach or up at Malaga Cove (PV) and start your ride. At least you'll get some good strand riding in. JUst remember switch to bike path mentality especially if riding ont he weekends.

* * *

Freeways to do the PV/RH Loop. I used to start my ride in El Segundo and ride up to (trhough Manhatten and Hermosa Beaches) Malaga Cove, Torrance/PV and then do PV West to San Pedro, back around to RH and back down. There are many, many places to start your ride. Many start it on the east side. The basic freeway is gonna be the 405 but really it's not close at any point to any of the roads you need to take. Some inland driving is involved. Do this, from your "home"address mapquest to the Redono Beach pier. Should give you some indication as to where you want to park or drive. Also try goolging "bike rides around the Palos Verde drives..." Hopefully some bike clubs has a route slip posted.

At some point (not sure exactly where) you will find yourself on Catalina Avenue, if you keep going south, Cataline will end at Palos Verdes Drive. From there you have a choice of either doing the loop or doing portions of it with some extra climbing to the top, or both.

Keep going past the RB pier on the bike path (or you can take the street) that leads to Rat Beach Torrance. Where the path ends - take the steep but short climb up and into the parking lot. Exit onto the street and turn right. This nice little climb will connect with PV drive, turn right. Take the bike path to Malaga Cove and then onto the street for the ride around the PV drives. Good place to stop and assess is Lunada Bay. After Lunada its gets kindof sparse until you hit San Pedro. You can also try and tackle Hawthorne Blvd if you are felling your oats! Good luck with that!

Thanks!

Would anyone happen to know where or what roads, or have a list of the steepest/best climbs in the Palos Verdes/Rolling Hills region???...

Hawthorne Blvd from either the East or West side is probably the steepest climb.

Crenshaw Blvd is pretty good. I'm not much for hills, but that one kills me. My easiest gear on a double and I'm barely moving ugh! My Garmin has it at about 2 miles for the part I repeat and elevation gain of about 800ft.

Typicailly the roads (Palos Verdes Drive North, PVD South, PVD West, Western) going around PV are pretty much rollers. The roads that go over the hill are going to be steeper especially coming from the ocean side, Hawthorne, Crenshaw, PVD East. Well you can't really get Crenshaw from the ocean side. I ride the area at least once a week. The best climb I think is PVD East. It has less traffic, and is more scenic. I usaully ride from the north, I live on this side and at the foot. Another good climb is from Malaga Cove Plaza, from Via Corta make a right on Via Campesina, stay on this as it turns into Via del Monte, when it ends turn right onto Granvia Altamira. When you reach Hawthorne Blvd you're now at the top. A right takes you to the ocean and a fast downhill run. A left takes you back towards the city and another fast downhill run.

Enjoy your stay.