Best way to ride the PCH?

[cityscapex5]

Hey Guys,

I'm a Norcal'er but will be down in Socal in the next week or so. I would love to ride the PCH in the Malibu, Santa Monica area. What's the best way to get involved in a ride? I have some flexibility in my schedule (weekend, weekday). Is their a group ride i can jump in on? do some local shops have some rides?


Thanks!

[VanceMac]

I can't stand riding PCH, so take this with a grain of salt. :) For all my whining about PCH, it really is pretty nice almost the entire way through Malibu. The closer you get to Santa Monica, though, the hairier it gets. I think it's dangerous, yet our regular Wed ride includes about 8 miles on it (from malibu cyn to topanga cyn).

If I were planning a trek down PCH, I would enjoy the long stretch through Malibu, and then head into the Santa Monica mts (which is the real "E ticket" ride, imo) via one of the cyn roads, like Encinal.

[big john]

You could get with Vance and do the Wed. ride for a taste of PCH. I hate that road more than any other I ride on and until you get north/west of Topanga, it's extremely dangerous. Even where there is a shoulder, the constant sound of speeding cars wears me out. Some people don't mind it, but some of us avoid it like the plague.

[Cassave]

PCH,
Southbound from Malibu Canyon is not so great, southbound, south of Topanga is evil.
Northbound, north of Topanga Canyon is tolerable, limited number of parked cars, some shoulder.
Northbound, north of Pepperdine U. it opens up nicely with wider shoulder, fewer parked cars.

Go north some distance then pick a canyon road to come back on,

I'd avoid Malibu Canyon and Kanan Rd. both busy and not so much fun.

Latigo is nice, quiet with scenery.
Decker is steep but pretty.
Encinal is not bad, wide road.
Mulholland, intersecting PCH at Leo Carrillo is excellent, all the other roads I mentioned intersect it along the way if you want to descend back to PCH.

[surfjimc]

We used to park at the Malibu Courthouse/Sherriff's Substation and ride North. 50 - 80 miles round trip depending on your turn around. Las Posas is a good place to call it. Stop at Neptune's Net for a snack or water. It's an interesting mix of surfers, cyclists, Harley riders and tourists on the weekend. Pretty open with few signals from the courthouse on, but there can be a lot of cars at rush hour or weekends. You can do as many miles as you want and can always head up one of the canyons for more.
UCLA to Pepperdine and back (about 35 miles) was my basic training ride on MWF for years. PCH can be pretty nasty through there, but not unrideable. The bike path up to Temescal can eliminate the worst of it.
There is always a cross wind in the afternoon, and it often angles and comes out of the north, making the ride out of Santa Monica a little tougher. Hope you get some great rides in.

[ronjon10]

My favorite PCH ride starts at Malibu Bluffs Park (across the street from Pepperdine) and goes North

- Take PCH to Latigo (it's just about a mile) and take it up and then descend down on Kanan. Latigo is my favorite climb and Kanan is a nice straight and fast descent, no switchbacks.

- Take a right on PCH and go to Encinal (or Decker if you like steeper climbs). Take Encinal or Decker to the top and descend down Mulholland back to PCH.

- Take PCH all the way back to Malibu Bluffs.

That route is ~50 miles and ~5000 feet of climbing. The views are awesome along both climbs and you often get the wind coming back to Malibu bluffs.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Latigo-and-Encinal-Loop-from-Pepperdine