Southern California - A Taste of Topanga and Malibu

It was time for my longer favorite loop ride up and around the Santa Monicas, starting and ending at my door. This one is 25 miles and 2700 feet of climbing, which takes me up Topanga Canyon, west on Mulholland, up Stunt Rd, down Fernwood and back home on Topanga Canyon Blvd. With the temps at just over 60 in the sun, I brought a windbreaker for that sure to be cold descent down Fernwood. By the time I reached Saddle Peak via Stunt Rd, I was drenched in sweat, and just in time for a large cloud to settle over Saddle peak and block the warming sun while I rested and attempted to dry off:( So without enough warming sun to dry me off completely, the descent down Fernwood was indeed cold. I sure hope this is the last time I have to worry about being cold on a ride until next December. Then again, it was probably because of the cold that I managed to beat my previous best time for this loop ride by over 5 minutes. No overheating at all!

Here's some shots of the views.

First up was the view overlooking Woodland Hills and the SF Valley.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/SFvalley12509.jpg

And from atop Saddle Peak, 2400 feet up.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/SP12509.jpg

One of the peaks on Saddle Peak.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/sp12509b.jpg

Ready for take off.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/sp12509c.jpg

Heading down from Saddle Peak, a view of the Santa Monica Bay across to Palos Verdes.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/sp12509e.jpg

Looking back along Saddle Peak Rd, still 2000 feet up.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/sp12509f.jpg

Looking across Topanga Canyon, Pacific Palisades, Westwood, the Wilshire corridor and downtown LA.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/sp12509g.jpg

beautiful pics! Thanks for posting!

Beautiful pics, could you give directions from PCH and directions to your route? Maybe something on bikely.com or google maps? I've been wanting to go through topanga canyon for some time but I am not familiar at all with that area. I just got back from taking PCH from Torrance to Point Mugu, it was beautiful today...but a little windy.

Beautiful pics, could you give directions from PCH and directions to your route? Maybe something on bikely.com or google maps? I've been wanting to go through topanga canyon for some time but I am not familiar at all with that area. I just got back from taking PCH from Torrance to Point Mugu, it was beautiful today...but a little windy.

Here's one from Mapmyride.com that starts and ends in mid-town Los Angeles, but includes the essential Topanga/Stunt/Fernwood route (http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/los-angeles/751741386201) if starting up from PCH.

The version I did today goes all the way up and over Topanga Canyon Blvd and connects up with Mulholland in Woodland Hills, whereas the linked version goes up Old Topanga Rd, which is a very nice route.

Nice pics, thanks for posting. This inspires me to bring my camera out with me since I've been hitting the canyons lately.

Awesome Pix! The views lately have been some of the best I've ever seen!

great pics, I need to ride up there again!!!

Thanks for the directions. I'm not going to be able to do a ride like that in a while though, I'm coming from the South Bay so that's some decent mileage and time I'm not going to have now since school is just started.

I'm thinking of getting myself a small p&s camera to carry around with me. Carrying a DSLR isn't practical.

Ready for take off.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/michsis/sp12509c.jpg

Did you just push your bike forward two feet to begin the descent? :roflmao2:

Great pics!

Stunt is one of my favorite climbs now...love the canyons surrounding the bottom and when you reach the top and catch the view to the ocean, it's great.

Did you just push your bike forward two feet to begin the descent? :roflmao2:

Great pics!

No! I went straight out and up... until realizing I had nothing beneath me, then began the fast descent. It's always the looking down part that gets you every time:D

nice pic's.

I'm going to have to ride there again. Need a change from PV.

nice pic's.

I'm going to have to ride there again. Need a change from PV.
+1...almost all my climbing is in PV, and doing any roads all the time gets a little boring.

You should post this in the road forum. Especially now with much of the country having crappy weather :p

You should post this in the road forum. Especially now with much of the country having crappy weather :p

Hmm, you've given me an idea. How about a collection of the best of SoCal winter pics so far? I'll credit/blame you for the inspiration.:thumb:

+1...almost all my climbing is in PV, and doing any roads all the time gets a little boring.

Head north fellas, head north! And bring gears;)

If it wasn't about to turn dark, I'd make that ride! Great photos.

I'm thinking this weekend I might head up there...this week is the first week of school whichis probably going be light.

Just saw your pix in the Road forum. In that context, thanks for reminding me of how great we have it here and that I should stop complaining on the colder mornings. If I lived in the snow covered parts of the country and saw those shots, I'd be killing myself! But I'm looking out the window now into the SM's and itching for the weekend.