Southern California - Moving to Santa Barbara...

In another year I'll be moving back to SB, I moved away in '86 and only been back down there a couple times. Each time I was back it seemed like MAJOR changes took place and now I'm sure NOTHING is the same :p

I'm looking for any touring based or friendly shops clubs and so on. When I left there was not much interest in bikes on the streets, a few paths where started but I have no clue what has happened sence I left. My wife and I use our bikes for 95% of our transportation needs and would love to hear about the bike commute issues. That should be in the commute forum I guess :p

Glad to hear that you are moving back to SB. I moved to SB in 1987 and the biking is wonderful lots of bikepaths now.
There is the Obern trail in southern Goleta and the little know but very nice north Goleta route. Also here is video link
showing a bunch of elite riders blasting along highway 101 from ventura to SB going 30 mph or so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7nNW4SNnuU&feature=related

if you click the posters link on video he has lots of videos of other SB rides.
Charlie

There is some wonderful rides in and around SB, including some gnarly climbs!

Ventura County, next to SB, has some great rides as well.

Enjoy!

PS: Check out the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure SB edition. They have descriptions/maps for their 67 and 36 miles rides. Try 'em! :)

Moved from SoCal Rides & Events to SoCal Regional.

here is video link
showing a bunch of elite riders blasting along highway 101 from ventura to SB going 30 mph or so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7nNW4SNnuU&feature=related

if you click the posters link on video he has lots of videos of other SB rides.
Charlie

Nice pace, looks like the camera man started to get behind.

video is from ex-BF'r umd (Steve), it seems to be some of the usual crowd from the Saturday 'Round the lake' ride & the Sunday 'Worlds' from the Eastbeach Bathhouse.

OP -
There are lots of dedicated bike paths and class 2 paths (marked lanes on open roads) in town. There are only a few roads which might be deemed 'unfriendly' to bikes. That said, there is always controversy between cyclists and the motoring crowd - often for good reason on both sides.
Even so, I would say the area is generally a safe place for someone who rides with their head up and their brain engaged. Not making assumptions is always the safest tactic when it comes to dealing with local traffic.
Riders are all mostly friendly, however the number of 'touring' type organizations is limited. A lot of the organized cycling (except for charity and organized 'rides') revolves around racing and 'sport' riding...
There are quite a few teams and a few clubs. The broadest of which is Echelon - http://www.echelonsantabarbara.org - and has a variety of riders from a very active junior squad, through the age brackets and up to a sizable contingent of geezers, like me. It also has a large and active women's group which do quite a few regular women's rides through any week.

The SB Bike Coalition seems to have been fully merged with BiciCentro, which was a more direct community organization, but still a good/THE start point for variety of things bike related - http://bicicentro.org/
I'm not real familiar with much of the 'townie', cruiser nor hipster/fixie options in town, although that scene seems very active as well.

Goleta Valley Cycling Club - GVCC - http://www.goletabike.org/ - although not a 'touring' club does have a more leisurely pace to their rides, and is generally an 'older' group. They do a lot of volunteer work, both for rides as well as bike path maintenance. Good people, many of who I call friends also.

Then there are quite a few 'groups of friends' who ride together.

A lot of commuters... info of that can be found through the coalition.

welcome back -
Until a few weeks back I was not frequenting BF since last year; but back on now, for some indetermined period...
feel free to PM me if you want more info or just want to roll a wheel together... I'm happy to ride whether it'sa hammerfest or an easy bimble to any coffeehouse... :) I'm out in Goleta, past UCSB...