Southern California - Commuting East-West across L.A.

So, I finished my first week of commuting from Los Feliz/Silver Lake to Santa Monica. After getting pushed off the road by a box truck within fifteen minutes on day one, everything's gone pretty well. I've spent most of the last twelve years working an off hours schedule to avoid rush hour traffic. It was truly strange to get home at 6 o'clock at night. I had the energy to cook dinner and get the dang dishes done. I drove yesterday and I was anxious not to be riding my bike.

It's about 15 miles each way. I've been taking Fountain almost to La Cienega then Santa Monica Blvd till Beverly Hills then switching to Carmelita till Century City, then I'm back on Santa Monica Blvd. till I'm past the 405, then I take Colorado to 26th finally to Bergamot.

It's taking me about an hour and fifteen minutes each way. I'd love to hear about any improvements to the route. Does anyone making a similar commute have any suggestions?

I find that Sixth and Olympic are good cross town streets. Last time I rode to Santa Monica from Silverlake, I did Fountain to Wilton to Sixth, then cut down to side streets when Sixth hit San Vicente (maybe I took Charleville?) then finally down to Olympic when I hit Century City.

You are rugged. That sounds like a nasty commute.

I would also suggest Olympic since It's fairly wide, but you are brave! The traffic through Century City is insane. You work at Bergamot? That must be nice.

I'll try out sixth and olympic sometime. it's not as direct, but to me that's definitely not the priority. The bike lanes in WeHo, Century City and West L.A. are actually really helpful. Beverly Hills set aside little to no room for bikes, but Carmelita (like Arthur's girlfriend on "The Tick") is a nice shaded street, so it's fine. But I have to cut through the Beverly Hilton private drive to get back to S.M. Blvd. Santa Monica Blvd. west of the 405 can be okay, but not during rush hour when the there are parking restrictions. Seems like a handful of people commute to Bergamot. Doubt if any come from as far as me. I don't know if I'm adventurous or stupid. Either way, I'm certainly happy to be out of my car.

All I can say is..

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e316/tfranzen/myspace-comment-friday-damn.jpg

I commuted 2-3 times a week from Miracle Mile to Pasadena (and back to Koreatown) for over 2 years. I took a similar route using fountain. I'd MUCH prefer fountain over Olympic, having done both countless times. Parts of Olympic is pothole city, and 6th is ok, only when traffic is moving slowly in K-town.

But the best bet is fountain for a balance between speed/safety, and probably 4th for safety. For pure speed, 6th or Olympic is best.

My trip was around 37 miles roundtrip, and also took a little over 1 hour. Hated the false flats up to Pasadena though.

I would also suggest Olympic since It's fairly wide, but you are brave! The traffic through Century City is insane. You work at Bergamot? That must be nice.

Olympic is, although "designated a bicycle route," widely considered to be the worst method of heading east/west. It's a freeway.

Good alternatives: Melrose up into Beverly Hills -> Little Santa Monica into Santa Monica (where there is a bike lane).
Venice, if you're headed further south - but it's dullsville.

Once within WestLA/Santa Monica, Colorado or Arizona are great routes to take East/West.

I commuted 2-3 times a week from Miracle Mile to Pasadena (and back to Koreatown) for over 2 years. I took a similar route using fountain. I'd MUCH prefer fountain over Olympic, having done both countless times. Parts of Olympic is pothole city, and 6th is ok, only when traffic is moving slowly in K-town.

But the best bet is fountain for a balance between speed/safety, and probably 4th for safety. For pure speed, 6th or Olympic is best.

4th street is okay, but it's blocked off at Park LaBrea, at which point a twist down to 6th is a good move.
then, 6th to San Vicente -> up into Beverly Hills -> Santa Monica Blvd.

6th street through Hancock Park is dangerous - blind corners, fast traffic, not recommended.

I haven't seen bike lanes on Little Santa Monica Blvd. What part are they on? Beverly Hills? A lot of Little Santa Monica doesn't exist anyone in Century City since the road construction. But there are bike lanes on it now. I like Fountain though there are plenty of spots that don't have much room.

cutterfilm,
I may make the same commute tomorrow, any new info on the ideal route since you first started doing it?

Overall, I'm happy with it. I take it about three days a week. I've noticed one other guy who takes about the same route between the 405 and Western. A couple guys just take SM Blvd through B.H., but it's not too safe IMHO.

Good luck!

This is pretty much the route I've been taking...
http://tinyurl.com/2poadl

except...

Going west...
out of WeHo, I usually take SM Blvd until it gets narrow at Beverly Blvd/Palm. Then go up to Carmelita. In Century City, I ride on the sidewalk for about 3 blocks.

Going east...
Into Beverly Hills, I take South Santa Monica, then take Linden up to Carmelita. I take SM Blvd. in WeHo till Formosa, then go up to Fountain. at the end of Fountain, where it turns into Hyperion, I ride up Landa St to Griffith Park Blvd.

I woke up late and left after the morning rush (10:30) so I took a more direct route which took me about 45 minutes on the dot. Going to try to do it 2 or 3 times a week. If you see a guy with a polka dot helmet and various fixed builds, that's me.

my google route I took today (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=2095308021859255539,34.045830,-118.450740%3B698721737096826671,34.083460,-118.338580&saddr=2415+Michigan+Ave,+Santa+Monica,+CA+90404&daddr=34.032176,-118.453903+to:Santa+Monica+Blvd+%4034.045830,+-118.450740+to:Melrose+Ave+%4034.083460,+-118.338580+to:Los+Angeles,+CA+90029,+USA&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=13&via=1,2,3&dirflg=h&sll=34.049104,-118.429184&sspn=0.09373,0.149689&ie=UTF8&z=13)

taking the same route on the way home put me at 45 minutes on the dot (Bergamot Station TO santa monica blvd & normandie- Little Armenia)

Bev Hills along Santa Monica Blvd at night is hella sketchy!

nice time. it still takes me almost an hour to get there.

i'm gonna stay off of SM Blvd in BH for now. how's Melrose?

I live a few miles closer to than you, it usually takes me 10 to 15 to get to Silverlake.

SM Blvd at night in BevHills is not safe by any means. I certainly wont' do that again.

I left late, so there was probably less traffic than rush hour, but found Melrose was quality and overall the road is in good shape (at least west of western and especially La Brea)

So you got me tempted and I tried SM Blvd again. It wasn't as bad as I remembered. There are just a couple blocks going west that are narrow for bikes. And going east is better than I remember. I think the hedges can get a lot more overgrown. Plus it's faster than Carmelita. Seems like splitting hairs, but minutes add up.

I work over at Track 16. Where at Bergamot do you work?

I am a permalancer at Brand New School.

going to try your route to get around BevHills tonight but going to jump back on Melrose (more direct to my crib) when I can

That's like a commercial shop? What d'ya do? I'm curious 'cause I'm a director/animator, etc.
http://www.dantefilm.com
This will screen at SMMoA this summer.

-sean

That's like a commercial shop? What d'ya do? I'm curious 'cause I'm a director/animator, etc.
http://www.dantefilm.com
This will screen at SMMoA this summer.

-sean

yes, the majority of what they do is commercials, but not limited to that.
it's a pretty wide assortment, from live action, CG, character design, graphics, environmental and other ****.
I'm a designer/art director.

been commuting out there 3 or 4 days a week. amazes me how ****ty LA drivers are (not that I didn't know that)

4th street rules.

Iggy Reilly

yeah, really crappy sometimes. i haven't commuted in almost four weeks. on the 18th, a car door opened right into me on SM blvd in WeHo. Emergency Room, crushed bike frame, driver who's claiming that it wasn't his fault, etc. my baack is still healing and I'm looking for a new bike. hopefully I'll be commuting again in a couple weeks.

ah **** man, that sucks!
100% positive it is their fault. Opening your door on cyclist is always their fault, idiots don't look.

I know I am going to get it one of these days. I have had many close calls, usually involving rich pricks in German vehicles.

My most hated spot is Melrose from where it starts getting ritzy. The few blocks before and after the design center.

I'm a big fan of Burton Way at night. From Santa Monica Blvd to Robertson.
I have never taken 4th, been sticking to my route daily, I should mix it up I suppose.

Got a new bike. Started commuting again on Thursday. I was going crazy being stuck back in my car again. After the accident I've got a wee bit of nerves. Maybe it's a good thing. It'll keep me vigilant for careless drivers.

Glad you got a new bike and you're in the saddle again!

How is the back?

My back's still a bit tweaked. But not terrible. My shoulder's range of motion is a bit screwed up. The time off my bike put me into a quite a funk. Hopefully commuting again will get snap me out of it.

a friend of mine who rides the same east/west route had a horrible run-in yesterday with an ******* who drives a bmw and couldn't take being behind a cyclist. long story short, he just bought some pepper spray today.

yeah, i haven't carried it with me, but i brought home some pepper spray that someone left at our gallery once. things have been alright. i've done four commutes since getting my new bike. i'm a lot more cautious now, but it's not taking me much longer. and i'm much more courageous about just taking the lane when I can't safely ride to the right. when I get into Santa Monica, I start to notice all the cyclists are without helmets. i guess that's a beach lifestyle, but I like my brains where they are thank you.

with all the people getting destroyed on the streets lately, it seems like even the diehards would helmet up. but in all honesty, I think I am seeing more helmets now than a year ago. probably because some of the cool kids are wearing them now.

I used to commute Los Feliz to Santa Monica (bergamot station). My route was-

West down Sunset
South on Bronson
West on Fountain
South on Vine~Rossmore
West on 4th
South on Rimpau
West on Olympic

Olympic is pretty wide. Yes, cars drive very fast, and if you are there at the right time you meet the caravan of UPS trucks heading in to town. But overall, I found it was a very fast route. In the evening, traffic is completely backed up on Olympic basically from Bundy to Fairfax, which makes for great fun as a cyclist. My advice - wear a helmet, hold your line, and be aggressive.

After reading through this thread, I don't think I've seen anyone suggesting taking Ohio angling southwest off of SM Bd in West LA. That's one of the few diagonal streets in town. I don't remember exactly where it ends up, or what it turns into--Broadway maybe? I think it should get you pretty close to Bergamot.

after sharing a lane with someone a couple weeks ago, I started taking SM Blvd through West LA till just before Bundy. Then make the left that turns into Broadway. On the way home I take Colorado till a block before Barrington and head up to SM Blvd. I don't think I'll try Olympic for now.

Cutterfilm:

I think that left off of SM Bd may be Ohio.

I have just started taking Carmelita, don't know why I suffered on Santa Monica through BH. Carmelita isn't the fastest route with all the 4 way stops (and dips), but it seems way more safe.

I live in Los Feliz (near vermont and hollywood) and commute to barrington/olympic. I take mostly the same route as the original post. Basically it goes like this:

-Hollywood Blvd
-down Highland
-Fountain to Crescent Heights (that hill is super fun)
-Santa Monica (bike path starts a couple blocks west of Crescent Heights)
-stick with Santa Monica the whole way to Sawtelle, then go right on Mississippi which my office is on.

I've been doing this for a few months now, couple times a week. It's around 13 miles for me, and averages around 50min to an hour at moderate speeds.

I used to take Carmelita through Bev-Hills too, but once I got the nerve to try staying on Santa Monica, I found that it cuts off about 15 minutes of my commute, i'm assuming because of all the stop signs, cross traffic, and that slight up-grade on the back road. Honestly, Santa Monica doesn't really seem sketchy to me. Sure there's tons of traffic, but at the time I ride it (aroud 8am), they're only driving about the same speed as my bike, or slower. Most of it's a bike path and if you stay near the white line while on the path, doors are avoidable. The spots with no path are wide enough for cars to pass safely except for one or two narrow spots where I push pretty hard to get back to the wider spot (like where Santa Monica and Beverly Blvd meet for example)

The ride home's the same, but pretty mellow. I might take Carmelita sometimes since i'm not in a rush, but usually the traffic still sucks enough to make Santa Monica pretty safe for bikes. (for L.A. standards anyway)

I live down town, 9th and Broadway and commute to right around where the grove is in weho. I've been taking Olympic since I started, I wonder if I should be thinking about 4th or some other way? Anyone have any advice.... Olympic is pretty fast, but once you get toward weho, the traffic really pics up and the road really sucks in places and I find myself taking up a lane, not because I want to, but because the pavement is crap on the right.... Thanks in advance for any tips.!

This is really good stuff.. I've been thinking about moving out to the west-side, but unfortunately I work in Burbank. It was never quite clear how I would get through that swath of west-la / bev hills / weho.

It really sucks that LA (county) doesn't have a safe, designated east-west route for bike commuters.

the biggest reason I like taking Carmelita is that you get away from all that exhaust in the Bev Hills stretch of Santa Monica. So dense in that stretch. Really wish they would extend the bike path through there.
One of these days I should take a different path just to try it out,
but it seems this is the best route for me overall. (http://tinyurl.com/6cv82j)
and I love Barton at night, one of the straightest, smoothest, fastest stretches I have found in LA.

oh man, that stretch of Melrose between La Cienega and San Vicente got me tonight. SUCH A HORRIBLE SPAN OF ROAD.
Was cruising along at a fast pace, hit a hole/bump, lost control for a split second, thought a car was on my left, clipped a parked car and totally ate it.

think I have some cracked ribs to go along with the road rash and soreness. my colnago is tweaked, but I think just the wheel and brifters will need to be replaced. I HOPE

Ugh. Man, sorry to hear. It's dangerous out there. I was just out of commission for two months with a cracked rib and sprained wrists. I'm back on this commute as of Tuesday. Half way home that evening I got into Hollywood and thought "damn, another 5 miles home, but i've already been through Hell tonight." Everyone here must have lots of people telling them they're insane to be commuting in LA on a bike, but when it's going well it feels great.

Stay alive out there.

which jurisdiction owns that chunk of Melrose between La Cienega and San Vicente? That 4 block stretch is absolutely garbage! one of the least friendly bike lines I have encountered. It is more like Paris-Roubaix than a city street.
With all that money that little area has, I find it hard to believe the upkeep of that road is so bad.

it could of been a lot worse for me, luckily my bones are more flexible than I thought.

which jurisdiction owns that chunk of Melrose between La Cienega and San Vicente? That 4 block stretch is absolutely garbage! one of the least friendly bike lines I have encountered. It is more like Paris-Roubaix than a city street.
With all that money that little area has, I find it hard to believe the upkeep of that road is so bad.

it could of been a lot worse for me, luckily my bones are more flexible than I thought.

I believe that's city of Los Angeles.

Wow!! Props to you guys who do that commute! Driving it in a car can be stressful enough...I can't imagine being on a bike and having to put up with all the crazy pigs you'd have to share the road with.

for my normal route, Melrose is the worst part. Everything else is usually pretty calm.
The most inconsiderate drivers I experience are generally in the richer part (Melrose between La Cienega and San Vicente).

so it turned out my last accident was worse than i thought. i had lingering wrist pain checked out last week... broken scaphoid... very next day i had surgery that ended with a screw in my bone for life. i get the cast off relatively quickly then a brace for six weeks. f'ing a. i have to go take a shower with a bag on my arm now. bye.

ugh, that sucks!
did you get an insurance payout for that guy who doored you?

i have to go take a shower with a bag on my arm now. bye.

I've had to do that before, no fun at all. There is a simple solution though.... stop taking showers. ;)

Heal up quick!

yeah. the car door guy's insurance adjuster hooked me nicely. so that ended well.

started physical therapy last week. it's getting better.

won't be on my bike before the new year.

need a job closer to home. (but, hell, i'm lucky to be employed)

I've ridden Olympic many times, but I seem to remember a lot of drivers gutter sniping at a pretty high speed. I'd stick to 4th and 6th street.

JMHO