Southern California - Uninterrupted paths in the San Fernando Valley?

Are there any roads with few/no stop signs and stop lights in the Valley?

The Chandler bike path has a stop sign or light every quarter mile/half mile. The loop around Balboa park appears to be strewn with goathead thorns and I don't want to repair a flat every other ride.

Do I have to drive all the way out to Angeles Crest or Alhambra to get to the SART/SGRT? That seems excessive. Driving down to Santa Monica is useless since it's impossible to bike at a decent clip amongst kids and pedestrians.

I just want a stretch of at least 5-10 miles with no stops for a benchmark ride to measure my progress. Less hills the better, but no random stops is the big thing.

TOA-

I'm not familiar with the SF Valley bike routes, but between Ventura and Carpenteria there is a good bike path; here's a map:
http://www.cibike.org/images/UptheCoast/CarpinteriaVia192elevationmap.jpg

Most of it is along the old coast highway; RV's are parked along the beach side but there is a bike path on both sides and not much traffic.

Also, the roads out in the agricultural areas of the Oxnard plain provide some good cycling. Snoop around the cibike site to see other rides.

Probably further than you want to go for a bike ride, but depending on where you live it may be closer than SART.

Hope this helps....

-Tom in SoCal

TOA-

I'm not familiar with the SF Valley bike routes, but between Ventura and Carpenteria there is a good bike path; here's a map:
http://www.cibike.org/images/UptheCoast/CarpinteriaVia192elevationmap.jpg

Most of it is along the old coast highway; RV's are parked along the beach side but there is a bike path on both sides and not much traffic.


-Tom in SoCal

Thanks Tom, that looks like a good trail, but Ventura is about 60 miles from the SFV, so SART is still closer at about 20 miles. I hear there is uninterrupted riding near Griffith park on the river trail there? But isn't that only a 4-5 mile stretch?

I am at the 101 and 405, btw.

Not too close to you, but you might consider highway 126 between Castic Junction just north of Valencia and the first light at Piru. From the light at Commerce Center Drive on 126 to the light at Piru, you have 11.2 uninterrupted miles. Not really flat as you drop 450 feet in those 11 miles. On the return trip, you will have a tail wind. After Piru, if you continue, you have another 7 uninterrupted miles to Fillmore, (which has four or five lights). Pretty wide shoulders; not marked as a bike lane ... just wide. You could safely ride two or three abreast. All agriculture/orchards, so little local traffic. Mostly high-speed, (e.g., 55-65 mph), through traffic.

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edited to add:

Highway 118 between Moorpark and Somis is another long, few light stretch, but the shoulders are much more narrow and the traffic is much heavier. I feel safer on 126. 118 is a two-lane road. 126 is four-lane; and even with a center dividing/turn lane, the shoulders are wider than on 118. More lights on 118 also.

LA River Bike path. The entrance is at Victory and Riverside. It goes about 3-4 miles. It is the path next to 5 fwy.

Valencia is littered with bike paths if you want to head up that way. I don't ride up there, I just work up there.

Yeah, I think the LA River Bike Path is your best bet as far as distance from you. It is about 7 miles of uninterrupted path. Turn on the bicycle layer on Google Maps and you can see everything.

Mullholand form Barham to Sepulveda. La Tuna Canyon. Rose Bowl. LA river trail in Grififith Park. Trash Truck to Ferndell in Griffith Park. Big Tujunga. Little Tujunga. Angels Crest. Chevy Chase . Lida/Linda Vista. Verdugo. PCH north form Santa Monica. San Vincente. Latigo. Encinal
Quit being a p***y. The hills are where its at in socal

Mullholand form Barham to Sepulveda. La Tuna Canyon. Rose Bowl. LA river trail in Grififith Park. Trash Truck to Ferndell in Griffith Park. Big Tujunga. Little Tujunga. Angels Crest. Chevy Chase . Lida/Linda Vista. Verdugo. PCH north form Santa Monica. San Vincente. Latigo. Encinal
Quit being a p***y. The hills are where its at in socal

Hills are of course fun! But just wanted somewhere I can bike to for a daily workout barometer without having to drive, and also for a flat section gauge to more easily compare performance.

Just did LA River trail today. 7.3 according to the computer, Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Los+Angeles+River+Greenway+Trail&daddr=Los+Angeles+River+Bike+Path&hl=en&ll=34.119053,-118.248253&spn=0.084416,0.15604&sll=34.154858,-118.298507&sspn=0.021095,0.03901&geocode=FTgSCAIdbPvz-A%3BFaAsCQIdePvy-A&dirflg=b&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=15&t=m&z=13&lci=bike)

Completely devoid of stops or slowdowns except for one bridge overpass that has to be negotiated a bit slower. Roundtrip of almost 15 miles is pretty decent and the foot/bike traffic was light at 6pm. It's slightly downhill from north to south, a 2mph difference in average speed, not bad.

You almost always have a head wind heading south and the complimentary tail wind coming back.
If you are seriuos about improving your performance it will come much faster with some hill drills.

I hear ya on the SFV. I live in North Hills and would love a long stretch of uninterrupted roadway. Closest we have is Valley Circle around Chatsworth Lake out west. Lovely stretch of road, though shorter than I'd like.

I also take the LA River Trail occasionally commuting home from work. Nice path. False flat from south to north and slight downhill north to south (though with a headwind due to freeway traffic). It makes for good TT training.

There's also riding out south-west from the valley, through Calabasas into Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village. You have the Santa Monica's to the south, rolling hills to the north. There's still traffic lights but much less frequent than in the SFV, roads are relatively wide, and motorists expect cyclists (there's alot out there).

try hansen dam, foothill and wentworth have pretty good stretches of open road. foothill has some lights but thy're rarely a problem

Browse the TrailLink catalog of trails in that area.

Traillink.com

http://www.traillink.com/viewnationalmap.aspx?z=9&lat=37.179920405972&lon=-119.462267276166