Acura LA Bike Tour 2008 (part of LA Marathon)

[Yen]

How many of you are doing -- or have done -- the bike ride portion of the L.A. Marathon?
http://www.lamarathon.com/140.0.html

The elevation profile on the map shows steep rises and I realize that is a compressed graph. How many and how difficult are the hills in the route -- anyone know? My husband and I rode in the 50-mile memorial ride for Randy Simmons yesterday, our first group ride ever, and now we're looking for others that are comfortable (12-16 mph pace).

Would you recommend this ride and route for riders who typically ride 20+ miles in semi-hilly neighborhoods (short rolling hills, some easier than others) on a heavy hybrid? Hey, we made it up the long hard hill at the end of the 50-miler yesterday so "hybrid" isn't really a factor anymore. If you want it, you can do it.

Jen

[dddave]

i'm going to crash this with some friends.

[Pepper Grinder]

See this thread: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=386976

Yeah, I'll be crashing the ride with some friends also.

[tombunn]

Jen,

The hills are short and not too steep - easier than Stadium Way yesterday, for sure. The worst hill from last year (up 5th St. over the Harbor Fwy) is not on the route this year.

The problem is not so much the hills themselves, but the inexperienced riders - the pack slows way down and people tend to just stop where they are instead of pulling off the road. I had to stop behind someone last year just as I was getting out of the saddle, and it was hard to get started again.

Tom

[Yen]

Hi Tom. Now I remember you telling me about that yesterday. We'll just wait for the City of Angels FunRide in May... Are you going? We're planning to go for sure, we just need to register.

BTW, I really enjoyed riding with you yesterday. Thanks for the good conversation and encouragement along the way. Let me know if you'd like the recipe for the bar... it's on the back of our current Quaker Oats oatmeal box.