Southern California - Speed Bumps installed south of Playa del Rey

I went for my usual ride up from Dockweiler State Beach towards Playa Del Rey. I always take the service road that parallels the bike path, since the path is too twisty and the service road is usually wide open. I went out there this afternoon and they have installed three friggin speed bumps along the road. I'm not talking about those big humps made out of asphalt that you can easily roll over at 25MPH, I'm talking those 10" wide hard rubber ones. You either gotta slow way down or be prepared to bunny hop them. If you hit them at any sort of speed on a road bike, you will kill your wheels and possibly crash. They go across the entire width of the road and there is no way to go around them. :mad:

This was one of my favorite 1.5 mile stretches of road with practically zero cars and no stop signs. Oh well.

As I am sure a bunch of you ride this route I thought I'd give you all a heads-up.

I vote for bunny hopping them.

***Insert expletive here***!

That is one of my favorite time trial stretches! Jeezz... seriously bummed out now. :mad: :( :mad: :( :mad: :(

I'll probably take to the streets now, as I'm sure the path will be crowded with peds now that the weather's warming up. Thanks for the info. Where did they install them?

I vote for bunny hopping them.

That is what I and all of the other roadies out there were doing.



***Insert expletive here***!

That is one of my favorite time trial stretches! Jeezz... seriously bummed out now. :mad: :( :mad: :( :mad: :(

I'll probably take to the streets now, as I'm sure the path will be crowded with peds now that the weather's warming up. Thanks for the info. Where did they install them?

They are on the service road that leads to the Dockweiler beach parking lots that starts at the guard shack @ the end of Imperial Highway and ends at the south end of Trolleyway St. in PdR. This is a very popular route for the roadies who use it to avoid the bike path.

It was a great stretch of road to just hunker down and go balls out, now you gotta be prepared to show off your bunny hoppin skillz.

You could take Vista del Mar, but the road is in bad shape, the traffic moves fast and there is a pretty good danger of car doors.

Rats, I have to go throiugh there a week from Wednesday. I liked that little path as well.

I just remembered that I sometimes take my fixie on that road. How does one bunny hop on a fixie??

Hmm... are they clearly marked? I'll be going through there in a few days, just after dawn so I hope I'll be able to see them in the early a.m.



I just remembered that I sometimes take my fixie on that road. How does one bunny hop on a fixie??

What George means is that he dresses up in a bunny suit (ears and all) when he goes riding through there in search of onomiyaki. :p

Hmm... are they clearly marked? I'll be going through there in a few days, just after dawn so I hope I'll be able to see them in the early a.m.

What George means is that he dresses up in a bunny suit (ears and all) when he goes riding through there in search of onomiyaki. :p

:lol: :lol: :lol:

What George means is that he dresses up in a bunny suit (ears and all) when he goes riding through there in search of onomiyaki. :p

not bad...not bad....:p

they must have put em in today, cause i rode that yesterday and don't remember seeing any.
now they need to do something about the peds, rollerbladers, razor scooters etc. on the "bike" path...( i can dream can't i?)

It's a safety measure to keep the speed down and force you to use the bike paths. Just about everybody was using the service road, not just cyclists. Last time I went down there, the lifeguards were talking about getting the county to do something about it, since it was a prime emergency road to get somebody to the hospital/emergency, quick police access, and they wanted it to be free of traffic and safe for their vehicles to get back and forth from the main lifeguard station in a timely manner plus allow pedestrians, esp old folks that can't hear or see too good or kids to cross the road in relative safety without some clown wanting to play a game of chicken with them or refusing to slow down and yield the right of way.

You may not agree with it, but from what I gathered, there were more than a few ugly confrontations and some unnecessary and avoidable accidents. Wouldn't have been so bad if people used it for speed tests either before or after the lifeguards go on or off duty (sunrise/sunset time, when nobody is around). So one might say everybody abused it and ultimately blew it...and a few went out of their way (attitude wise) to force the issue to the forefront.

S. La Cienega Blvd is in pretty good shape and you can go balls out between signals, which is usually a mile or more, between El Segundo and Manchester. But that might be too far out of the way for most of you.

I'd just launch off them and do a can-can to a tabletop...or maybe a backflip.

Think of it this way: a 1.5 mile stretch with jumps every few hundred feet...sweet.

i'll take the speed bumps over the dockwiler charcoal fire pits any day.

It was a great stretch of road to just hunker down and go balls out, now you gotta be prepared to show off your bunny hoppin skillz.


S. La Cienega Blvd is in pretty good shape and you can go balls out between signals, which is usually a mile or more, between El Segundo and Manchester.

I don't have balls. :o

lucky. They just get in the way.

lucky. They just get in the way.

I don't have that problem.....

...well you just toss 'em over your shoulder, don't you.

I don't have balls. :o

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Yes, they are as bad as Dazedone said! There is no easy way to roll over them, they're hard and can do damage if you hit them with speed. Going northbound the first one is next to Parking Lot #1. The second and third ones are .38 miles apart, with the last one just north of the service parking garage.

Here's the northernmost one (viewed looking southward):
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/236/455464553_6580c1468e.jpg

No way to get around them. Closeup:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/455464595_c34a0b7a0f.jpg

My bike disapproves:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/237/455464607_3369e58645.jpg

Sounds like you'll be adding a pry bar to your saddle pouch.

That thought has crossed my mind, Mo...

I also like the three women side-by-side taking up the entire lane.

Pry 'em off or bunnyhop 'em.

So they did this so that the road is clear to for emergency vehicles? Jeez, I'd hate to be in the back of the ambulance going down the street. "Sorry, sir, we can't get you to the hospital ANY faster due to the speed bumps."

So they did this so that the road is clear to for emergency vehicles? Jeez, I'd hate to be in the back of the ambulance going down the street. "Sorry, sir, we can't get you to the hospital ANY faster due to the speed bumps."

I think they did that to slow the bikes down. The bike path is curved intentionally to keep bicycle speeds down.

The bike path is curved intentionally to keep bicycle speeds down.

That makes sense. I always thought they were curved for aesthetical reasons. :)

I hate this. One more thing to protect us from ourselves. Bah!

The funny thing is that if it really IS to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles, it's likely to slow them down even more than a road full of people.

Some studies show that speed bumps add between 30 and 45 seconds per bump to the response time in urban settings.

Can't wait. :(

i'll take the speed bumps over the dockwiler charcoal fire pits any day.

I seriously think I have gotten high from riding through there and breathing all of the pot people are smoking.

I have also been chased by gang members who let their kids play on the path and then complain when a cyclists almost hits them.

I've visited California, from what I see.Speed bumps are for SUVS. Either drivers of SUVs use them like a BMXer wouuld use a small jump or the other type of SUV driver uses them as a reason to make a dead STOP..it's your basic lose / lose type o' situation. Everyone else suffers.

Just came back from there... those things suck. But what's worse, the wamer weather is bringing out lots of moving targets, er, I mean, people. Yeah, that's it. This summer's going to be very interesting down at the beach.

Oh well, back to early morning rides!