Flounce

I'm in Orange County and haven't ridden in LA much.

I'm thinking of riding a route - on a Saturday morning, e.g. 6-11am - that takes me up the LA River Trail from Long Beach, getting off at Downey Road, up Lorena and 1st street through USC Hospital area, then up to Eagle Rock:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20857163

Since I don't know these parts of LA, I just want to make sure I'm not passing through areas where someone wearing neon yellow roadie gear on a $4000 carbon bike would get jumped.

Thank you.

marquhar

You might checkout using the metro train from Irvine to Glendale if you plan a same-day roundtrip.

Or catch the LB Blueline that will allow you to skip the District/Downtown part and exit at Glendale. This means you will ride all the way from Irvine to the Wardlow exit from LA River trail.

If you ride through the Downtown-surface-street area you need a multi-tool, a folded tire (slip in the jersey from the collar), and at least 2 tubes. Many riders in the LA River ride reported broken spokes and multiple flats because of this section.

Flounce

Thanks Marquhar.

Can you clarify the part about "downtown surface streets" - is it the particular area that is on the route I posted?

Or if easier, can you tell me what specific area downtown you are referring to?

I'd prefer to route around any areas where I'm likely to get a flat and be a sitting duck while changing my tires.

Elvo

I would rather go all the way up the SGRT or RHRT, make my way to Huntington Dr, then take Arroyo Seco to the Rosebowl, go up the hill, and down Chevy Chase.

diphthong

my biggest concern is how well do you handle riding in fairly dense traffic?
once the la river trail dumps you off into the outskirts of downtown la, the
road quality varies as does the width of the streets. lots of truck/bus traffic as well.
i'd be less worried about being accosted and more worried about finding your
groove with the traffic/lights/pavement/jaywalkers. have ridden through nearly the
entire downtown la area at some point or another and recommend navigating it after and before
rush hour(s). rolling thru between 9:30am-2pm is best. during that window, some parts of town
seem (relatively) deserted.

diphthong

and unless you really dig that urban "interface" (i do but many don't), i would take elvo's recommendation above.

Flounce

Okay, I'm taking Elvo's advice and created a new route that goes up SGRT, switches over to RHRT at Durfee...

...but going to Huntington seemed to add a lot of extra miles, as opposed to going straight from El Monte up to the Rose Bowel.

Please give me some more feedback :

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20873609



FYI, this is the second half of the beach route I took previously, was 85 miles with 2500 ft elev gain, about 8 miles longer than the above route, it was planned to avoid downtown LA:

https://www.strava.com/activities/522409057

diphthong

i had decent riding in january riding in reverse from dtown la to roughly where you're starting.

https://www.strava.com/activities/849926116

i was riding in that area from roughly 7am-10am and rode whittier, harbor and katella/villa park
over to jamboree. streets were wide and altho there were plenty of lights, i made a majority of
them. boyle heights next to dtown was the only "tight" area and the road quality there was horb.
the disneyland area traffic around 9:30am wasn't too bad. just had watch out for the usual
bus/truck stuff and the freeway on/off ramps. were i riding from irvine area to glendale, that's the
route i would take to get nearish down la. dunno what time you plan on riding but the directness
of the route with the occasional stop at a light outweighs the circuitous nature of involving the sgrt or lart.

Garfield Cat

The other "safe" thing is the potential encounters with characters who may disrupt your ride for various reasons.

Flounce

Okay, based on Ooga-Booga's advice, I've made yet another route that takes the shortest distance from A to B and does not take advantage of trails, almost entirely on streets, while avoiding downtown LA.

Please vote on which route you think I should take tomorrow from Irvine to Glendale:

#1 Shortest distance, All streets, no trail, avoids downtown LA.
56 miles, 1900 ft elevation gain:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20885958


#2 From Irvine to Beach Trails and PCH to SGRT, RHRT, then diagonal up to Rose Bowl and up through Chevy Chase.
78 miles, 2300 ft elev gain:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20873609


#3 Taking the bull by the horns: using LA river trail toward downtown LA. Will go through some rough areas.
69 miles, 1900 ft elev gain:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20857163

Flounce

For those interested, I got some additional feedback and settled on this route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20887627

Leaving in 30 minutes or so.

diphthong

let us know how it goes

Flounce

went really well:

https://www.strava.com/activities/973993845

was the shortest distance route i could find that also avoided downtown LA. Got a flat 10 minutes from home, other than that, didn't stop except for all the lights and to refill water.

diphthong

👍🏻

roaming_art

I find the LA river trail much more comfortable of a ride than the SGRT. Can't believe the size of some of the camps on the San Gabriel River.

f4rrest

I don't understand why the shortest route is preferred.

3949dxer

A little late for your ride, but Santa Fe Ave. is a good north/south bike street through DTLA. It's alongside the river so is a fairly easy connection between the existing river trails and is totally flat. Not too much traffic, especially on weekends, and some interesting old and new buildings along the way.

Flounce

This ride was a commute to visit my dad, so shorter time on the ride (without too much compromise on road safety) would allow more time with my dad.

Thanks 3949 for the tip on Santa Fe Ave.