icyclist 

THE HEAT of the day had broken and I was ready for a bike ride on a late July afternoon in the City of Angels. My goal: the top of the Hollywood Sign, which sits in near-mythic repose high above the Los Angeles Basin. The sign has long served as a symbolic load stone to those who have sought fame in Hollywood, the entertainment capitol of the world. I wasn't seeking fame, though. I just wanted a scenic ride, take some time to meditate about the meaning of life, and work off some of the massive quantities of orange sherbet I had after lunch.

My route would lead me through the heart of Hollywood (known originally as Hollywoodland) and up about 1,600 feet into the Hollywood Hills, which are part of the Santa Monica Mountains. The last, steep section of the ride would take me over rough pavement on a road closed to motorized traffic, except for maintenance vehicles servicing the television towers and equipment atop the summit of Mt. Lee.

The mountain was named for a prominent Cadillac car dealer in the 1920s. The iconic sign itself sits just below the summit, facing out from the Los Angeles side of the mountain. Behind the sign are the cities of Glendale and Burbank, and beyond them the Verdugo and San Gabriel Mountains, the latter sometimes snow-topped in winter.



- THERE COULD be no better place to initiate a human-powered journey to the Hollywood Sign than the famous intersection of Hollywood and Vine.


- THE LEGENDARY Capitol Records building is just up the street on Vine. Famous recording artists who made innumerable hits at Capitol have included Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Queen ("I Want to Ride My Bicycle") Radiohead and Coldplay.

Past the building, several routes can be taken that lead up toward the Hollywood Sign. Once I had passed Caheunga Blvd., pedaling above Vine, I chose streets, some of them randomly, that featured one important attribute: they traveled up.

- Below: THIS STATUE sits in the front yard of a house; the figure seems to survey the steep street below.

- THERE WERE some sharp and steep hairpins along the route; this one was one of the first. Except for the palms, the scene reminded me of Europe.

- EVEN garages come with a view of the city up here. The tall buildings in the distance are the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles.

- SOME HOMES look like chateaus, others like castles. The Spanish Mission Revival style is also popular.

- MANY HOMES, while posh, and crammed together. Several are cantilevered out over the canyons. I suppose such homes are a source of much merriment during strong earthquakes that occasionally shake the city. (That's yours truly on my Specialized Roubaix.)

- I MET two other riders, both on mountain bikes, and neither of whom went to the top with me. Mountain biker Dave led me over a stretch of dirt road that was about 1/4 mile in length, and mercifully level. The dirt road led from the end of the paved route, and over the driveway of one the houses in the background (who negotiated that right-of-way?). Beyond the house I carried my bike up a few steps and through an entry gate, beyond which was the final mile and a half or so that leads to the top of the sign.

- THIS GREAT looking couple would take a photo of me near the top. It was time to put my earphones on, crank my iPod up, and jam along a final, steep, lung-busting stretch to the top.

MY ROUBAIX performed as advertised on the rough roads. The Verdugo Mts. and city of Burbank are in the background to the north, as I apparently try to perform a track stand. Over this last 3/4 of a mile or so, the road switches from the south side of the mountain to the north, and then back again just below the summit itself, so that I eventually found myself pedaling above the 30 ft. high letters that make up the Hollywood Sign.

- THE VIEW from the summit: The ridge I rode is visible just to the left of the Hollywood Reservoir. The Capitol Building is visible at the bottom of the ridge. Downtown L.A. is at the upper left. The dirt road connecting my ridge with the final stretch of pavement is just above the "W" of the sign. The house with the driveway which provides access to the sign via the dirt road is above the "O." Beachwood Canyon, another way to begin the climb to Mt. Lee and the sign, is in shade and to the left of my ridge, and is the route on which I would make my return.

- MY RETURN to the flat lands was underway. As I dropped down the way I'd come, the city of Glendale and the Verdugo and San Gabriel Mountains were in the distance. Even though gravity was impatient with me, I tried to take my time, because soon enough I'd be dealing with the cost of gasoline, news about the occupation of Iraq, and potentially errant automobiles paralleling my path at twilight, all in the City of Angels.

--

My other ride/photo reports:

https://www.bikeforums.net/long-distance-competition-ultracycling-randonneuring-endurance-cycling/427577-celebrating-tour-de-frog-10-photos.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...39#post6970739

Myfirsttrek

Awesome post! Thanks!

RT

That's great - thanks for the view!

EDIT: Check out the No Bicycles signage on the corner! Fight the Power!

icyclist 

>Check out the No Bicycles signage on the corner! Fight the Power!<

The "No Bicycles" signs are gone.

rdk

Great post. Thanks

KirkeIsWaiting

Nice to see a view from your world.
Thanks for sharing.

rusto

Great photos, excellent commentary: thanks!

derath

Thanks. It's like I got a tour. Now I dont have to actually go there someday


-D

maalea

Very nice but you've never been to Europe if you think that they don't have palm trees. Hell, Ireland even has them.

dolophonic

good job. nice photo's....

hammond9705

Nice report!

aham23

nice pictures. great views up there man! later.

bdcheung

Totally would not hit those chicks

HAMMER MAN

i remember those rides well also mullholland hwy via laurel cyn down to pico blv

riding wth St. Clair bike club in the 70's and 80's,

Raerfani

Cool pics, is that an ultegra wheelset you have?

Hammertoe

Great Left Coast riding report...

And nice climb...

Seems to me that ride should be on some kind of Americana Tour...

damocles1

+1

That looked waaay fun...

El Diablo Rojo

Just beyond the Verdugo (I live at the top of of one of them) mountains is Angeles Crest (about 12 miles north). Some very good climbs there as well. You should also take some time and do some of the climbs in the Santa Monicas.

roadiejorge 

Looks like a great ride, especially with those views waiting for you at the end. Thanks for sharing, and the pics are really nice!

rollin

Really enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing. Great pictures and narrative.

c0urt

thanks for the post, nice work

rousseau

Nice pics. So now Europe doesn't have palm trees? What other information do you have to share with us in your parochial American wisdom? Do tell!

icyclist 

Yep. I don't know much about wheelsets. The Ultegras came with a special spoke wrench and areo-magnet for cyclometers, and the rims are shaped funny, so I'm guessing they are better than some, and worse than others.

icyclist 

> So now Europe doesn't have palm trees? What other information do you have to share with us in your parochial American wisdom? Do tell!<

Oops - I didn't mean to offend. My apologies. I meant the curvy road reminds me more of what I imagine Europe to look like, while the cars and the palm trees don't. I'm sure there are palm trees in Europe, but I've not been to Europe in a long time - that's the country next to France, isn't it, or is it Portugal? Italy? Er, Monaco? Isle of Man, Swaziland? My memory of my tour with my parents of the Isle of Capri, for example, lets me recall images of hairpin curves, cliffs, and the blue sea, but the trees are missing. And t.v. cameras on the Tour de France rarely focus for long on foliage. A quick google search, though, shows me those darn palm trees are all over Europe!

LanceFanBoy

ha, fun little story to read during lunch! thanks