Mountain Biking - Riding in SoCal

I am moving to LA next year and will be living there for at least a year while my girlfriend does to FIDM. I was wondering if anyone down that way could give me some info about the local trails (Lots-o-climbing :thumb: ,long commutes, huge crowds anything really). I am mostly a XC rider and am not all that interested in downhill (huge drops and stuff). the reason I ask was because I am either upgrading my mountain bike :thumb: or buying a new road/CX :D depending on what the riding is like down there. Any resources would be great too.

Thanks

http://www.socalmtb.com/

That's where I usually find trails.

I live in LA sort of near hollywood and I find it hard to find good road rides starting from my house just because so many streets are insane w/ traffic, plus there's few good stretches of road to get moving on. The few thoroughfares there are, where you could go for a while without running into lights or stops, are downright dangerous imo. That's living in sort of the main core of LA. If you live in the valley it seems things are better for road riding.

MTBing there are trails sort of in town in the santa monica mountains. They're close but you really can't ride to them unless you live real close to them, which is unlikely cuz them neighborhoods are for rich people. Further away, but not much more difficult to reach because they're reached by the freeway and are in less populated areas, there's tons of biking. Within 1/2 hour drive- 1/2 hour with traffic being great, an hour is more likely- there's lots of biking in just about any direction. Really good stuff, too.

So depending on where you live road biking can be alright or sucky, and there's mtb to be found but you need to drive to it pretty much exclusively.

Oh yeah-

There's also a cool cx series, so if you were thinking of racing cx you'd have plenty of opportunity.

http://socalcross.org/

Did you decide which part of the LA are you going to move? I live in the San Fernando valley and this part of the town is great for long XC rides. I am minutes away from Santa Monica mountains and about 20 mins away(during light traffic hours)from San Gabriel mountains. If you like long climbs and some good old fun single track(optional) this is the haven. :D

Upgrade the Mtb and get a road bike.

What trails are easily accessible depends on where in LA you live. You could have an epic ride just out the door or you may be 30+min drive away. The San Gabriel Mtns offer a shyte load of long grueling climbs and long descents.

The Santa Monica mtns have some decent xc rides and you can easily plan an all day epic ride or just a quick, fun out-n-back. Park at the beach, ride up the bike path, turn inland, ride into the hills, make a nice 30mi loop and then cruise back to the car along the beach and even go for a swim.


SoCalTrailRiders (http://www.socaltrailriders.org/) - Good place to find/set up local rides and trail info

SoCalMtb (http://www.socalmtb.com/) good for trail info

VenturaCountyTrails (http://www.venturacountytrails.org/) - Lots of trails are on the border of L.A. and Ventura and this is a good guide

MountainbikeBill (http://www.mountainbikebill.com/index.htm) - Great trail info and covers a lot more then just L.A.

OTB (http://www.otbmbc.com/) - Good, friendly bunch of riders that frequent the San Gabs a lot

North Ranch Mountainbikers (http://www.nrmbc.org/) - good, friendly group of riders with more of a social club feel to the group.

:beer:

geoladders.com

wow thanks for all the info. I have been google mapping all those places to try and figure out that area. I am not sure where exactly we will be living just wanted to get a general idea of the biking scene down there. looks like there is plenty of options!

Where are you moving FROM? If your GF is attending FIDM, you will either need to find a place on the rail line (I think it has a stop near there) or suck up living downtown. Forget about her driving in. Unless she likes migranes.

Lots of MTB stuff in Orange County. But honestly, roading is way easier. There are lots of roading groups for all abilities. Though Griffith Park is supposed to have great trails. (I never rode there).

Outdoorsclub.org is one place to find stuff. Though most of it is in OC.

Meetup groups abound as well. never got to ride with them, as my other groups and activities always conflicted.

This may be better posted on the SoCal forum. Let us know where you are looking at living, as this can help us help you.